Learning is one of life’s greatest gifts. There’s no end learning, but there is always a beginning. Brothers Rahul & Birju Sinroja were born in a small Indian town and were exposed the wonders of mechanical objects from an extremely early age. The family manufacturing business produced moulds for shoe soles and plastic toys so factory visits were a way of life for the boys. Spending their formative years surrounded by fascinating equipment and encouraged by their father, it’s no surprise that we’re talking about the Sinrojas on these pages.
When it became time to impress the ladies Rahul & Birju decided they needed to buy a set of weights to bulk-up but their father suggested; “we own a factory in which you can let your brains go wild with imagination and even better we have machines to make anything you want, so why not make those weights.” Thankfully the guys pursued bike rather than body building.
A few years later and the Sinroja family were in the U.K. and the brothers were studying, engineering of course. Rahul became obsessed with all things mechanical and during his time at university became inspired by the New Wave Custom Scene. The two stroke RXS100s and Royal Enfields that were a backing soundtrack to his formative years became aural fuel to stoke the fires of motivation and after a trip to Bike Shed London Rahul’s mind was made up. Despite family pressure to stick to four wheels he worked every spare hour available selling mobile phones, saved-up and bought a BMW R80, despite not even having a licence.
On the 3rd of January 2015 Rahul celebrated his 24th birthday, not with a Jagerbomb drenched blowout, but with a decision to get go big and follow his dream. He took out a loan, cleaned out the shed, built a wooden bench and rolled in the R80. With the Kickback festival circled in red Sharpie just 2 pages away on the calendar, Rahul had his work cut out.
Luckily the donor was a 1989 Monolever that had been fastidiously cared for by enthusiast owners and the overall condition was a testament to their old school regard for proper maintenance. Despite this Rahul completely stripped the R80 down to its component parts, with the aim of concentrating on detail and finish. After de-tabbing the frame, fork legs, wheels and triple trees were blasted and painted. Yup, not powder coated. Despite advances in the latter, paint still gives a superior finish and is easier to touch-up, especially when the bike is delivered with a paint pen so customers can take care of chips as they happen.
Being build number 1 Rahul’s welding skills were still in their infancy so Vonzetti were enlisted for the subframe and seat, which looks great. In a bid to get his family involved, perhaps a ploy to avert them from the reality of him actually having a licence, Rahul’s mum was enlisted to stitch the leather fork covers. (Good mother management skills, this boy will go far).
Whilst the tank was being treated to a retro inspired, two-tone paint job by GD Design attention turned to the mechanicals. The word rebuild simply doesn’t do this bike justice. Every single bearing, piston ring, seal and gasket has been replaced on the inside whilst the cases have been vapour blasted and painted. The finish is stunning (we’ve seen the bike in the metal) with the cooling fin edges and raised lettering returned to bare aluminium. They guys at Scriminger Engine Developments returned with a zero-hour, better-than-new engine.
With so much attention given over to the aesthetics and mechanicals it would have been a shame to mess things up with errant wires and cables so Towzatronics put in a fresh loom to run the Motogadget keyless RFID ignition system and all-in-one Speedster Tiny gauge. A small battery is hidden under the seat leaving the rear triangle open. Personally I prefer the look of the Monolever set up, which now has a bespoke Hagon shock keeping the rear under control.
Dunlop Streetsmart tyres are a pleasant change from aggressive knobblies from a visual standpoint and with the forks properly lowered by 10mm and stiffened with Progressive Springs, the ride is apparently excellent compared to stock.
An awful lot has been done with BMW’s R Series over the years and neither Rahul or the Bike Shed would try to suggest to readers that this bike is groundbreaking in its deign but that’s not the point here. This is a fine example of a young, intelligent guy having the guts to chase his dream and make damn sure that he does everything within his own powers and skill-set to deliver on a promise. After all, customer satisfaction is what makes a business thrive, not cutting corners. As a result, this bike, the R1, wasn’t just ready in time for the Kickback show, it won 2nd place in the Young Builder Competition.
Bike Shed don’t do show awards, we are 8-time World Procrastinating Champions so nobody would ever make it home on time, but if we did the Sinroja brothers would definitely win the Polite Young Gentlemen Award for being thoroughly charming and pleasant to deal with at Bike Shed London 2015. Not just our opinion either, one show visitor decided he liked the R1 so much and the cut of the Rahul’s jib that on the Sunday night an order was placed for 2 commission builds. R2 and R3 were in the making.
Since then another three customers have placed orders and Sinroja motorcycles have planted their exquisitely finished flag, neatly on the map. Sadly though, business is a cruel mistress and demands her pound of flesh,so the R1 needs to find a new home to help fun the dream. With 1 years mechanical and electrical guarantee and 3 years free servicing, it won’t hang around for long. And if the bike submission we received is anything to go by, expect excellent levels of professionalism. In fact, note to builders with iffy photos, please make them like this, thanks.
We’ve left a load of detail out as we’re beginning to sound like the Sinroja press officer, so do get in touch for more details or meet the guys at the DGR in a couple of weeks.
via The Bike Shed
