If you're the kind of monk who's looking to sell his Ferrari and get a motorcycle, Moksha's for you
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| Moksha by Wheel Vedas Customs (Image credit: Wheel Vedas Customs) |
Wheels Vedas Customs is nearly two-yearly old custom house by Gaurav Desai & Jalraj Shetty. Jalraj is responsible for all the design elements while Gaurav is the engineering maverick.
At this year’s India Bike Week, the Mumbai-based duo unveiled with their latest offering – Moksha. Even in a clutter of customized creations at India Bike Week’s Custom Bike tent, Moksha’s unique look stands out.
This is the mother structure out of which we can make more designs; it’s the blueprint. This is 110% original – we haven’t copied or gotten ‘inspired’ from anyone else’s designs. There’s sentimental value attached to it and we’re never going to sell this.~ Jalraj Shetty
Here’s a closer look to see what makes the bike tick.
Name: Moksha
Creators: Wheel Vedas Customs
Concept: Drag Vintage style motorcycle
Chassis: Royal Enfield Bullet 350 Twinspark
Materials used: Leather, brass, aluminum, cast iron and perfume bottle casing.
Frame: It's a Z-line frame. The rear half is chopped off but the mount and the front are kept stock as per the RTO norms (to keep the chassis number intact). From behind, the swing arm has been extended separately.
Engine: 350cc engine is tweaked to provide an output equivalent to the 535cc engine. This was achieved by boring into the cylinder and adding bigger pistons.
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| Engine's tweaked to now produce 500cc (Image credit: Wheel Vedas Customs) |
Acceleration: It’s not a conventional throttle twist. Instead, the accelerator cable is connected to the lever. It’s almost the same mechanism, but, instead of twisiting the throttle, here, you pull the lever and accordingly, the cable gets pulled and the acceleration is applied.
Suspension:
Front forks: Stock suspension is covered in a shell to make it look like its rigid suspension but it’s not. It’s just a shell and it works like any other telescopic forks.
Brakes: Stock drum brakes for the rear wheel but nothing on the fronts. As per the designer Jalraj, “The brake lines would kill the look of the bike. It’s a drag style motorcycle so you’re expected to control it with your gears.”
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| One-of-a-kind rear shocks (Image credit: Wheel Vedas Customs) |
“It is basic calculations and mathematics. We’ve broken two chassis in the process of building this rear shock. After much trial & error, we’ve reached at this point of perfection. We haven’t patented it yet but I think we should.”Headlight: Original headlight is chopped off because it was made of brass – which is brittle. The current one is a custom creation.
Gaurav Desai
Exhaust pipe: Wrapped
Switches: What switches? There are no switches. There isn't a single visible wire on the motorcycle. Every mechanism that’s required to run the motorcycle is inside the tank.
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| A meditating monk (Image credit: Wheel Vedas Customs) |
Fuel tank: It’s divided into two parts. A part of it is hollow to accommodate the electronics. There’s rubber coating and a layer of glass wool, so that there’s no short-circuit to ignite the fuel that’s stored in the other half of the tank.
Monks meditate to attain moksha (liberation from the cycle of life and birth) and that’s the exact thing being depicted by the silhouette of a monk on the fuel tank.
Below the monk’s figure are inscribed the holy words ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ in Tibetan script.
Paint scheme: The air brushing and air painting is done by the in-house designer and one-half of Wheel Vedas Customs Jalraj Shetty.
Tail light: A perfume bottle! That’s correct, the tail light is a ‘212 Sexy Men’ perfume bottle.
Wheels Vedas Customs like to give a retro/classic feel to all their bikes. So far, the guys from Navi Mumbai have more than half a dozen custom bikes to their name but undoubtedly Moksha is their flagship creation.
Disclaimer: The article was first published by the author on RedBull.com
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