Last night, Royal Enfield pulled the covers off a new custom bike built by the highly respected Carl Cerra of Skunk Machine, dubbed the Cerra GT 865.
The long-awaited custom Royal Enfield is based on the brand’s highly popular Continental GT 650 retro naked and takes inspiration from 80s era racebikes with a full carbon-fibre fairing and complimenting Suzuki GSX-R forks, Brembo brakes, custom header pipes with SC Project slip-ons and many other cosmetic touches throughout.
Melbourne-based engine builder Hallam Cycle Works managed to push the standard 650 motor up to 865cc in capacity, fuelled with a custom throttle body setup and surely generating significantly more horses than the standard model. Just how much power it makes has yet to be revealed.
“The vision was to differentiate it from a generic custom bike and make it look and feel as a special edition production motorcycle,” said Royal Enfield in a press release.
“Further, taking inspiration from the 80s motorcycle culture, the motorcycle has been endowed with interesting elements and shapes.
“This creates the impression that each motorcycle part was designed separately then amalgamated together to look like a perfect modern custom motorcycle with a distinct personality.”
Bike builder Carl Cerra began the project with a series of concept sketches, before modelling its shape in clay.
“The thing I really loved about this project was the support I got from my network of creators; they believed in the project and they didn’t hesitate to help out,” said Mr Cerra.
“They are real supporters of Australian design and manufacturing and were glad to be given the opportunity to let the world see what we have to offer down under.
“And with results as sleek and innovative as this, what a great ad for “Made in Australia” this retro racer has turned out to be.”
The standard Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 ($11,290), and its Interceptor 650 sibling ($10,990), draw power from a 648cc air-cooled parallel-twin engine that makes 35kW and 52Nm.
Speaking at last night’s event, Royal Enfield’s local distributor told media that the Interceptor 650 has become Australia’s best selling retro naked bike above 125cc in capacity.
Spencer has a keen eye for hard news, and does some of his best living on deadline day. He loves more than anything to travel on his motorcycle, and is adamant that Melbourne Bitter is a world-class lager. He also knows how to operate the big computery thing in the office. By night, Spencer plays guitar with Melbourne punk outfit LOUTS.
