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“Love is the feeling you get when you like something as much as your motorcycle”
Steve McQueen
It’s obvious there is no shortage of bikers in India. For some it’s a way to blow off steam, for others it’s just a way to commute, and for Shail, of Bombay Custom Works (BCW), it’s a canvas for collaboration. Shail lives to create slick rides and operates in the sweet-spot of retro sensibilities combined with a performance mindset. The result, well, it’s the sort of smouldering sexiness that good custom bikes command, especially BCW’s cafe racers.
There are many of schools of thought when it comes to customising bikes. Jumping back in time we’ve seen Bobbers become the first customised style in the states, and cafe racers taking London by storm. These custom bikes started gaining real traction back in the 1950’s, turning the heads of wide-eyed girls and jealous gents (pardon the sexism). They were at the forefront of expression, harbingers of a generation’s identity coming into its own.
If you want anyone to help define the future identity of custom bikes in India, BCW takes the cake. BCW is not the only name in the Indian custom bikes game, but their approach is what sets them apart from the crowd. Shail has leveraged his background in automotive design to cater to an emerging crowd of bikers who don’t want a crotch rocket with an engine so big it practically shouts, “damn straight I’m overcompensating for something”. Instead, it seems he is paving the way for riders who want to emulate iconic bikers with style, like Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando and of course, Peter Fonda, while encouraging them to add a personalised touch of their own.
That’s why biking enthusiast Faizan, also an architect and illustrator, approached Shail. He wanted to customise the love of his life, his Enfield of course, but as an artist he felt he should be involved in the process of tuning up his better half. Put an artist and a student of automotive design together, and the aesthetic of making a bike look badass, but not overdoing it to the point the two-wheeler looks as flashy as a disco ball, is not lost upon them.
The result: Banshee – A wailing ghost from ancient Irish mythology. Known for her wails which warns of impending death
We decided it was about time we picked these two customisers brains’, giving you a little insight into the, currently, niche world of custom bike design and collaboration in India.
Who is Faizan (in his own words):
An architect, illustrator and an educationist. More often than less, bubbled up into a parallel world while the real one goes on like clockwork, my designs being the only form of connection between the two.
I’ve grown up with the likes of DCs, Marvel, Image AND Vertigo comics, whilst also oogling at humble folks like Mr. Robocop, Street Hawk, Mr. Bruce Wayne, Mr. Ghost Rider, Mr. He-Man who would ride atop his awesome battle-cat.
The love for bikes has been synonymous with adventure and this subliminal sense of heroics since then for the meek bookworm of a kid with a pigeon chest cos of chronic asthma. The first ever stint as a rider was when I started off with an involuntary wheelie on the two stroke version of the Bajaj Chetak in a bid to secure a learning license. Rest was history. (Note to self: still hafta try and succeed at sustaining an intended wheelie)
Getting to know Faizan
What did you tell people you wanted to be when you were young?
A Superhero, specifically with a cape / an Artist / Architect (in that order)
Describe a typical day in your life.
There is no typical day with the varied things I end up interacting with. Life then yoyos between intense brooding, to hyper days (and nights) at site, to lazy days of sketching and doodling, to juries and research, to vintage/limited action figure hunting on websites. And in between all this, riding happens. Unpredictable as well, but surely marks its paws through the twisted turns of a ‘typical’ day in my life.
You guys are both creators using different mediums. What does it mean to you to be able to do something by hand and create it yourself?
As a designer, the hand necessarily becomes an extension of the mind. We start feeling, hearing and speaking with your own hands. Your creations then follow suit, usually ending up encompassing your thoughts and aspirations through whatever medium you interact with.
What do you think is the most defining characteristic of the motorbiking community is ?
In developing countries like ours, motorcycling are predominantly viewed as utilitarian due to the benefits they offer to the masses. The ‘community’ which hints towards riding as a luxury lifestyle here then shapes up out of an interesting evolution of the people’s mindset. The identifying factor or the prominent characteristic would then be factors like an important and necessary stress reliever, a tool to fulfill the adventure one seeks from time to time, to maybe inch as close to the feeling of flying as possible when one twists the throttle.
What has been the best road trip you have done till now?
The best ones usually have been the ones you don’t plan for. I specifically remember taking the highway for a short burst of an impulsive ride in the night while returning home which ended taking me to the end of Maharashtra. This was when my awesome spidey senses started tingling to remind me to maybe get back to homebase.
What does is mean to you to customize your own & other bikes?
When you spend years and years with your bike, it starts responding to your moods. It starts talking to you. It no longer remains one of those many mass-produced outcomes of the industrial revolution. Which is when you start finding it necessary to let the appearing evolve to what you perceive it as. Banshee for me, has been that process of evolution and Shail has skillfully helped bring that to life.
For this specific build, how did you guys come together to make it happen? How did you bring the concept to life?
I was searching for someone who custom builds bikes but at the same time, doesn’t turn them into UFOs; someone who respects the idea of vintage bikes, and era bikes. I stumbled on Shail’s first take at customizing the Bajaj Pulsar into a café racer online. It spoke of a certain highly controlled aesthetics, which struck an instant chord with my sense of aesthetics as well. Jammed up with him on what my custom build should be heading towards, evolved the idea, got some great deal of sketches done, drafted out a wishlist and got going on the journey immediately.
From what I hear, this build has both your inputs & craftsmanship. Can you tell us how this partnership worked?
Shail has been dabbling with automotives since ages. Having a good control on how his visualisations hit reality was something of a second nature to him. I on the other hand was completely new to the realm of automotive design but was equipped with an intensive experience is micro detailing of space design with elements like metal which have been an important part of our designs at studio Eight TwentyThree. Incidentally, metal is an integral part of a bike build too. Thoughts were exchanged, sketches flowed, simulations were modeled, design discussions ran into hours and hours of debates.
Can you tell us some of the challenges you faced while building this?
My Enfield has been an extension of the self. I prefer riding in the scorching heat any day comparatively to the caged experience of the car. I used to tour on my bike as well and intended to keep that trait intact after the custom build as well. Which meant, no changes to the chassis, no changes to the main electrical wiring harness, extremely comfortable seat, no mods which wouldn’t stand the test of time, be fragile or difficult to maintain, wheels not going wider than absolutely necessary, minimal and controlled mods to the swing arm.
The bike needed to retain its commuter identity in that regard, to be as useful as it used to be and should retain its ability to get repaired by the most local of mechanics while on a ride away from the city. This made the process a challenge in itself. As Shail puts it, ‘the more you try to fulfill functionality, the more you start moving towards the stock nature of the original bike.’
Considering all these restraints, Bombay Custom Works has done a bloody well job with the Banshee build.
How long was the process from start to finish?
It took about six months from the time we rolled the bike into the Bombay Custom Works workshop to the time we rolled her out.
Do you guys think that the process of the bike build and a space build is somewhat similar? If yes, can you describe that feeling in 1 word when you see the final product?
Of course! I think we both would unanimously agree to this. There is a functional requirement to both and then there is the dream realm of what’s desired. The designer critically and carefully starts binding the both together and begins to churn out solutions. Both go through rigorous durability challenges of their own. Both need to stand the test of time. Both rely on intimate human interaction with the design. This overlap of both could go on and on.
Quick Fire Round:
1. Your ultimate roadtrip: India | Abroad ?
Spiti Valley, also Darjeeling-Sikkim | Amalfi Coast, Italy (being a UNESCO heritage site as well)
2. Dirt or Tarmac?
A balanced mixed of both. (Indian tarmac roads offer both )
3. Your dream bike?
BMW 1200GS, Ducati Hyper Strada, Triumph Explorer, Triumph Bonneville
4. If you could switch your profession, what would you take up?
Superhero (am willing to let go of the cape now)
5. Your fav munchies top during a road trip close to Mumbai
Shri Dutt / Vithal Kamat
Getting to know Shail
Shail you are the owner of BCW & Faizan you are part of Studio Eight Twenty Three. Could you give our readers a little bit of insight about yourself, your background & your love for bikes?
I graduated with degree in automotive design from Coventry University in the UK. I run this small shop in Bombay, called Bombay Custom Works. We design and build bikes, anything from 100cc yamahas, to 500cc enfields, to restoring vintage bikes. We would do anything and everything that relates to design. Design has always been a passion and bikes and cars have been an integral part of our lives.
What did you tell people you wanted to be when you were young?
A car designer
Describe a typical day in your life.
I wake up at 11am, and I’m out of the house by 12 am, spending the rest of the day at the shop. I get home by 11:30-12 pm, have dinner, and then get on the computer. There I follow up with emails and design work. I wrap everything up by around 2:30 to 3:00 am, and hit the sack around 3:30 am.
You guys are both creators using different mediums. What does it mean to you to be able to do something by hand and create it yourself?
These days everything is available off the shelf, and if not, it can be made through some mechanical processes. However, there are a few things that you cannot explain unless you do it yourself. Stuff, like, a quick sketch of a part while the fabricator shapes the tank, or a tool box, or a detail on the fender. It has a connect with the other person.
What do you think is the most defining characteristic of the motorbiking community is ?
I think it’s the brotherhood that really defines the community. To be able to ride with like minded people, like they say, “ it’s the thump that binds”.
What has been the best road trip you have done till now?
Have not ridden enough to be able to answer that, but our last ride to Velas was nice. With a mountain on one side and the sea on the other. The two extremes on either side was quite a contrast.s
What does is mean to you to customise your own & others bikes
Customising a bike for someone is giving them a part of themselves, expressing their emotions through our skills.
Quick Fire Round:
1. Your ultimate roadtrip: India | Abroad ?
India - spiti valley
2. Dirt or Tarmac?
Tarmac
3. Your dream bike?
BMW R-12
4. If you could switch your profession, what would you take up?
Never thought of it really, but would love to be a part of something called maker’s asylum.
5. Your fav munchies top during a road trip close to Mumbai?
I’ve not ridden enough to know that.
Click here to see more photographs of Bombay Custom Works’ creation.
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