Motorcycle Classics — September-October 2017

that’s relaxed as well as relatively sporty — contrary to what

I was anticipating on first seeing the bike, it doesn’t put any

excess weight on your arms and shoulders.

The result is a classic-era street rod that’s fun to ride

in town, where its light, nimble steering makes the Rajah

a great tool for carving through traffic, aided by the

ultra-light clutch action and the faultless shifting of its

5-speed gearbox. In spite of the engine’s small capacity,

its long 90mm stroke means there is

pretty good torque throughout the

rev range, although with barely 20

horsepower available from the 350cc

pushrod engine you do have to work

the gear lever quite a bit to keep up

with the busy traffic. But it shifts

well, and the muted but still vibrant

thrum from the Rajah’s great-looking

exhaust concocted by Mid Life Cycles

provides a pleasing soundtrack.

Another factor that makes the Brass Rajah fun to ride

is the absence of any undue vibration from the air-cooled

single. It’s been years since I last rode a 350cc Royal Enfield

as opposed to a 500, but that was one with an iron sleeve

cylinder and separate gearbox with chain primary drive.

The Indian firm’s huge step forward in 2009 with the

launch of the current all-aluminum unit construction

engine transformed both the riding qualities and sense of

sophistication of the air-cooled engine. No wonder that

thanks to improved fuel economy — the No. 1 issue for the

Indian consumer — Royal Enfield’s 350cc models comfort-

ably outsell the bigger 500cc versions today in RE’s Indian

home market, where 96 percent of the more than 400,000

bikes built each year in its two Chennai factories are cur-

rently sold.

It was a pleasure to be propelled around the streets of

Melbourne by the Rajah’s 350cc engine, and even at higher

speed and revs it didn’t get stressed

carving corners or returning to Mid

Life Cycles via the freeway, where

it felt pretty long-legged. This is a

great-looking but completely practi-

cal custom motorcycle.

Mid Life Cycles are now looking

for more customers for Brass Rajah

replicas, marrying Indian engineer-

ing with Australian flair. “The hardest

part of the whole build has been to

ensure that every step could be replicated cost-effectively

to produce a limited series of practical and rideable custom

motorcycles using this same platform,” Michael says. “I’m

glad to say we’ve achieved that, so we’re looking forward

to building more Brass Rajahs, each of them different from

one another.” MC

For more information, visit midlifecycles.com.au or contact Michael

at [email protected]

“The Rajah’s great-looking

exhaust concocted by

Mid Life Cycles provides

a pleasing soundtrack.”

70 MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS September/October 2017