Royal Enfield is one of the few OEMs with a healthy, ongoing custom motorcycle program. Sometimes they outfit their projects with the brightest stars of the scene — but sometimes they like to get their hands dirty. With a dedicated in-house team and Harris Performance chassis experts under the company’s umbrella, they also tend to get good results.
For their latest project, Royal Enfield teamed up with Bikerbnb to create two handsome guys rival you are looking at here. Based on double cylinder Interceptor 650 (or INT650, if you’re in the US), the bike is designed to traverse the roads and trails of the Scottish Highlands, in style.
These Interceptors are more functional than they are flashy, but there’s a good reason for that. Bikerbnb offers guided tours around the Scottish Highlands and more recently Catalonia, Spain. Their fleet is entirely comprised of Royal Enfield singles and twins—so they know what works and what doesn’t.
Royal Enfield head of customization Adrian Sellers said: “The team at Bikerbnb are market leaders in their field and are deeply knowledgeable about the needs their tours pose. on any motorcycle and their respective riders,” said Royal Enfield head of customization Adrian Sellers. “With their local insight, combined with our long brand heritage of adventure tours, we are able to work with some of our close partners to ensure ‘Highland Scramblers’ is 100% fit for purpose.”
Many custom ‘racers’ are really just road bikes with adventure tires, but Royal Enfield took this project a little more seriously. Not only did they make the Interceptor 650 look like it had a bit of dirt on it, but they also streamlined its geometry and running gear.
You’ll find new Öhlins suspension at both ends, re-evaluated and tuned to optimize travel, with a set of bespoke spokes from Harris Performance. The Harris team also installed a custom offset head bearing cup to increase rake and a custom front spindle bushing to reduce trailing — all for more stability on off-road.
The original 18” wheels were swapped out for 19F/17R sets, built with Hagon rims, spokes and knobs in stainless steel and Pirelli Rally STR rubber. The Interceptor’s front brakes are upgraded with four-piston Brembo P4 brake calipers. Since there is only one brake, the brake calipers on the opposite fork foot have been shaved off for a cleaner look.
Next, Royal Enfield and Harris Performance did a bit of tweaking. The tank is pushed slightly backwards to increase ground clearance. And the side racks have been extended to compensate for the increased vehicle height.
Riders benefit from a high-rise ProTaper EVO flat handlebar, clamped by Harris Performance lift bars. They wear custom-made hand guards and aluminum rearview mirrors from Royal Enfield’s own aftermarket catalog. The brake and clutch controls are from Brembo, and are hooked up to extension lines for both.
The original switches are retained, but the dials have been swapped out for a single compact Motogadget unit. There’s also no key — an RFID fob from Motogadget will turn the bike on instead.
Overlooking the front are custom-built enduro-style fenders. Just above it is a Koso Thunderbolt LED headlight, housed in a 3D-printed spoke and protected by a craft grill. If the windshield looks familiar, that’s because Royal Enfield lifted it up from their own Himalayan dual sports car.
Further down the line are custom-made gel seats from Tom Hurley. It’s built for one person, with a new luggage rack mounted where passengers normally stay. Hanging from it is a stylish set of Longride saddlebags.
The complete kit includes Kellermann turn signals at both ends, and the rear doubles as a taillight. There’s also a custom rear fender extension that also holds the license plates, crash bars and bobbin from Royal Enfield’s shop.
A range of parts are finished in black, using the increasingly popular Cerakote coating. You’ll also find it on the exhaust system — a low-profile two-in-one system from S&S Cycle in the United States.
Dressed in reverse blue and white, these two Interceptor 650s are very cool. And given how easy Enfield’s twin-cylinder bikes are to ride, we’d imagine they’d be great for riding through the Scottish Highlands.
Royal Enfield will show off new Bikerbnb bikes at this week’s EICMA trade show. If you’re in town, go down and tell them we’d love for them to put something like this into production.
Royal Enfield | Instagram | Facebook | Bikerbnb | Photo of Tim Stevens
