Updated 23 May, 2012, 6:39 pm IST

A Chopper With A Personality of its Own

07 Sep, 2010, 9:52 am IST | by Kamakshi S

Akshai Varde from Vardenchi Motorcycles tells us what it takes to make a custom bike.

Motorcycles are often associated with daredevilry and are a symbol of an adventurous and carefree soul. While young riders look for speed and the latest rends, their taste, perspectives, and most of all, their capacity to spend, increases manyfold as they grow older. And when it does, Akshai Varde from Vardenchi Motorcycles will be more than happy to help you create a custom bike that suits your style and persona.

FIRST STEPS
Akshai has been into motorcycle customization for almost four years. Being a bike fanatic from since childhood, he traces his first steps in the business. “I was always interested in motorcycles. I had an RD350 when I was 16 years-old. I was working as a flight attendant with Jet Airways for three years, and in my last year of flying, I bought myself a Royal Enfield and started customizing it. I started with very basic aspects, like changing the head lamps and the handle bar, putting a wider tank and a slightly wider tire in the back. I really started to enjoy it. That’s when I started really customizing it in detail and I got a lot of appreciation for it. People started approaching me to modify their bikes too. That’s when I got into it as a business, and we’ve been growing the business ever since.”

A 29� year-old� hotel� management� diploma� holder,� Akshai� has� been customizing bikes for four years now. Vardenchi has modified around 100 high end bikes, and also offers bolt-on kits and styling services. The company not only serves a broad clientele in big cities like Delhi and Bangaluru, but also in places like Shimla, Goa, Vapi, Mysore, Behrampur, and internationally to Nepal and France. Apart from the Royal Enfields, the company also stylizes and modifies bikes like the Kinetic Aquilla, the Honda Steed and the Harley Davidson Sportster. Akshai plans to launch an� independent� custom� motorcycle� to� take� his� brand� ahead.� A� self-confessed tech freak, Akshai always likes to carry around the usual list of gadgets like a mobile phone, an MP3 player, and a GPS system for bikes.

PERFORMANCE VS LOOKS
Generally referred to as cruise bikes or choppers, bikes like Royal Enfields or Bullets are not ideal for city riding. Akshai takes the engine of a Royal Enfield and modifies the chassis completely, and in the process, alters the overall aesthetics of the bike. But does it affect the performance of the vehicle? Akshai clarifies, “I wouldn’t call it performance enhancement, but I would call it a better ride quality. So we do put more ergonomic handle bars, foot control systems, etc, so the motorcycles feel good to ride. There is no higher performance in terms of speed, torque, or pickup though.”

OWNING A CUSTOM MOTORCYCLE
One look at Akshai’s creations and you will realize that the motorcycle in front of you bears no resemblance to the Royal Enfield it once was. So you must ensure that this new body around the original Royal Enfield core is not just road safe, but also registered and insurable. So do Akshai’s bikes pass these norms? He tells us, “We first get these motorcycles registered as Royal Enfields, then we do all the customization; but we make sure that they are still registered as Royal Enfields and pass the noise and emission norms.” He goes on to add, “You can get an evaluator to come in and evaluate the motorcycle and get a comprehensive insurance for the value of the bike.” As for road safety and authorized vehicle certification, Akshai says, “We do a lot of testing ourselves, but we don’t have certification from any authority. Going forward, we are looking at doing many things to become a certified automotive manufacturer. That’s the direction we are moving in, and it it will pretty much be actual manufacturing of motorcycles, which we are doing as a process even today. We manufacture everything, except for the engine, so nothing stops us from importing engines and building our own motorcycles.”

THE CONCEPT OF BIKE CUSTOMIZING
Given that each motorcycle has a different look, weight and length, doesn’t that effectively make each model an on-road concept? Akshai confirms, “Every bike we do is kind of a concept. All our bikes have a theme, a paint job or small things that we keep in mind when we make the entire motorcycle, and that’s the way we style its different parts. This is done for every custom motorcycle; people want them to be style statements.”

THE LOOK OF THE MOTORCYCLE
The paint job is the one of the most important aspects of a custom bike. Along with the art work and chroming of parts, the paint job is the most imperative part of the style and personality of the motorcycle, and it needs to be impeccable. Akshai tells us, “We do our paint jobs ourselves and it takes a huge amount of effort to get it right. We used to design the artwork using traditional methods like pen and paper, but now we have adopted modern methods like using software like ProE and Max. I create some myself, while I outsource others.” The other essential component of the look and safety of parts is achieved by choming them. Akshai explains,”Chrome does add value to the motorcycle, but in India, it’s very difficult to maintain chrome, so we now offer a powder coat option as well. It’s different from the mainstream, it looks nice, and it works well. Powder coat definitely lasts longer considering that in coastal areas, the corrosion of the chrome job occurs very fast. But there are people who come to us and insist on all chrome, and we comply.”

CHAIN DRIVE VS BELT DRIVE
Instead of being chain driven, Akshai’s custom bikes sport a belt drive. While this is more of a Western concept, it is an integral part of the design of these modified bikes. Akshai points out, “It definitely adds to the ride quality. The belt allows for some amount of elasticity, which gives you a jerk-free and smooth ride. Also, the friction of a rubber belt on a metal object is less than metal-on-metal friction, so it gives a smoother ride.”