http://www.MotorcycleClassics.com 65
Enfields have been featured in bike building competitions
all over the world, and last year RE’s Down Under distribu-
tor, Urban Moto Imports, staged a RE-only bike build-off.
Mid Life Cycles of Melbourne, Australia, conceived and cre-
ated this delectable bobtail “Brass Rajah” Royal Enfield 350
— one of eight entries for the contest from RE dealerships
in both Oz and New Zealand, which had to be entirely con-
structed within a 31-day period, using a Classic 350cc model
as the basis. (All the entrants’ bikes can be viewed by visit-
ing the Royal Enfield Australia and New Zealand Facebook
page, or by tracking #royalenfieldausnz on Instagram).
Yet even though it only gained the runner-up slot in the
final judging, losing out to Royal Enfield Sydney’s entry
named Rough Cut, which narrowly won the online voting,
there has been demand for copies of the Rajah. Mid Life
Cycles CEO Michael Catchpole decided to construct a series
of these to special order, meaning that each bike can be
tailored to the tastes of its buyer.
“Royal Enfield Sydney won the competition with a
good bike that was very well marketed, and was all
over social media,” Michael says. “Our friendly rivalry
extended to the last two hours of voting, but the out-
come was they got the nod, and good luck to them.
But as a company that started out as a classic bike
restorer and custom bike builder, from our point of
view we achieved the purpose of showing what we
could do with a Royal Enfield Classic. So we were
delighted when after that the online custom motor-
cycle blog Pipeburn (pipeburn.com) nominated us to
be part of the judging for their 2016 Bike of the Year.
What’s more, we made the top 10 in the final judging,
which was a vindication of what we’d set out to do.
That led to significant pressure from potential custom-
ers to buy Brass Rajah replicas, and we’re building two
such bikes, plus we’re in final discussions for a third, all
within the $11,500-$15,300 U.S. price range for a brand-new
Brass Rajah bobber as either a 350 or 500. One of the first
two is not perhaps as ambitious as the show bike, and is
being built for an owner who wants to ride it in a country
town without drawing too much police attention — while
getting lots of the good kind! So his would be what we’ll
call a Rajah Lite, whereas the other one is an absolutely
loaded full-on build with everything included, and a bit
Story by Alan Cathcart
Photos by Stephen PiperMid Life Cycles Royal
Enfield Classic 350
R
Royal Enfield’s status as a manufacturer whose
product line consists of making yesterday live again
means that its bikes naturally lend themselves to
period customizing. Except you don’t need toworry about rejuvenating the worn-out mechanics
of a yesteryear model when building a custom
Enfield — just take a brand-new bike off a dealer’s
showroom floor, and you’re ready to go.