V-Twin engine in Royal Enfield bikes, Future Royal Enfield bikes

V-twin Royal enfield its more or less a homemade project? Isn’t stuff like this what every motorcyclist is dreaming to?

As should be the case, it takes two nutcases to make a twin-cylinder Bullet. Dean Fernandes and Anand Bhalerao are as good examples of motorcycle nutcases as I’ve ever seen. In fact, they might even be a couple of notches above the rest of us, now that I’m standing in front of their creation, a V-twin Bullet that’s mostly made from stock Bullet parts. They only got the bottom-end, crankshaft and connecting rods made the way they wanted them.

Anyway, the bike now weighs around 165kg, around the same as any stock Bullet. The engine is heavier, but the bike’s lost weight everywhere else – the blessings of a cafe racer design. And the fact that they didn’t make it a cruiser shows they have sufficient functioning grey cells. But then again, it’s all about the engine here. And what an engine it is.

 

A single-cylinder Bullet beats with a soulful, almost idyllic tempo. This one, with its two-cylinder heart belts out a tune that beats the hell out of any nightclub around. Now, I’ve seen my share of V-twins and ridden more than I deserve to. But even as Dean kicks the mighty V-twin, the sight of it rocking to life, sitting there burbling contentedly, is almost too much. I burst out laughing, my eyes widen. It’s a sight that’s guaranteed to light the fuse in your pants.

There are no air filters and the exhausts are straight pipes – both are being sourced/made as I type this. Naturally, the bike makes one hell of a noise. At idle, it sounds like its mind isn’t quite made up. Like Frankenstein’s monster, it seems confused at first. But when you twist the throttle, it clears its mind right up. It knows it lives.

It smells like a Bullet too – complete drops of oil under the engine. You may take the oil out of a Bullet, but may never take the Bullet out of its oil. Anand guesstimates it puts out around 48bhp at the rear wheel. The clutch is a modified stock unit, so I’m a bit worried it’ll blow itself to bits with the God-knows-how much-more torque that this V-twin makes. Sure enough, by the end of my runs, the clutch is showing signs of slipping. After barely 50km, it’s run its life. That's some torque, then – the duo plan to make a newer, stronger clutch on the next engine.