Almost no businesses are not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in some way. Paris style shop Bad winner know all about it — they had to adjust health regulations, lockdowns, and supply chain issues. And they almost couldn’t finish this brutal Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 towing bike.
Construction was initially commissioned by Royal Enfield Europe near the end of 2019, and aims to compete with popularity. Sultans of Sprint race series. But when all the events were abruptly cancelled, Bad Winners founder Walid Ben Lamine received a call to put the project on ice.
Uncertainty loomed for more than a year, until news broke of a ‘ghost version’ of the annual Basque Country festival of Wheels and Waves. With the full event unable to continue, several insiders banded together to try to keep its spirits up, and Bad Winners were invited.
Walid welcomed the news, but he was also worried; Wheels and Waves is only a few months away, and much work remains to be done. With everything on board, the crew finally buttoned Enfield just eight hours before she was set off on duty on the infamous Punk’s Peak, nearly 500 miles away.
Apparently they didn’t cut any corners. Dubbed ‘Pegasus l’Étalon Noir,’ roughly translated as ‘Pegasus the Black Stallion’, this Continental GT is all business. Low, long and light, it’s a compelling mix of carbon fiber and performance upgrades.
There’s no horse show though. Hidden under the hood is a large 865 cc barrel from S&S Cycle USA, complete with upgraded camshaft, Carillo connecting rod and reinforced clutch. S&S also reworked the cylinder heads and provided the Bad Winners with a two-in-one exhaust and a programmable ECU.
The Bad Winners traded the airbox for a pair of velocity stacks and rewinded Enfield from the beginning. And they also plummeted in a nitrogen system from Nitrous Express.
Since the main goal of this bike is to run fast in a straight line, Walid and co. decided to extend its wheelbase. They started with the existing swingarm, stretched and splintered it with new chrome-plated steel segments.
The OEM dual suspension system is also gone, replaced by a single Öhlins unit. Bad Winners built a new shock-absorbing upper and subframe, along with extended footrests to place them as far away as possible. They are equipped with custom latches, controls and links.
The wheels are made of aluminum from Dymag, and are wrapped in Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SC2 tires. A full set of Beringer brakes take care of stopping the car.
Up top is a full complement of custom carbon fiber body panels. Bad Winners first designed the entire body using CAD software, then 3D printed prototype parts. Those prototypes were used to make the final components out of carbon fiber, including the front number plate, fuel tank cap, and tail section.
Fuel is stored in a custom aluminum tank mounted under the ‘tank’. Usable through a hole in the carbon cap, it holds less than half a gallon – enough for 1/8 mile races.
Bad Winners stripped the cockpit down to the bare essentials. At the front is a Koso speedo, flanked by Renthal clamps and grips, and Beringer levers. This bike doesn’t have to be street legal, so it’s not equipped with any lights or turn signals.
Like most racing bikes, the Continental GT carries the sponsor’s logo proudly. But unlike most race bikes, it’s not brightly painted — Bad Winners keeps everything monochrome, wrapping raw carbon fiber in a high-gloss lacquer.
Pegasus l’Étalon Noir lives up to its name; a mythical creature designed to bring thunderbolts to the gods. We’re sure Walid is counting the days until the Sultans of Sprint is back on the calendar and he can start burning those Pirellis.
In the meantime, if you want to see this menacing Royal Enfield in the flesh, it just debuted at the Bike Shed Show in London.
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