Project Harley-Davidson Street 750
Bike India|January 2017

There is hardly an editor in the field of the Indian automotive media who has the ability, experience, and know-how to modify a motorcycle on his own. Nay, there is hardly anyone with the ability to tinker with a bike even to set a minor mechanical glitch right, blackening his hands in the process. Bike India Editor Aspi Bhathena stands alone in that respect. Here is the story of how he modified the Harley-Davidson Street 750 into a racer

Aspi Bhathena
Project Harley-Davidson Street 750

THE FIRST TIME I rode the HarleyDavidson Street 750, I was very impressed by the bike’s easy-to-ride character, performance and handling. At that time I made a mental note that this motorcycle had the potential to be transformed into a very capable café racer. Therefore, it followed naturally that at the beginning of the year I asked Pallavi Singh and Vikram Pawah of H-D if they would give me a Street 750 for the customisation I had in mind. The answer was an instant ‘yes’ and they gave the bike after India Bike Week.

Now, it is common experience that a number of people customise motorcycles and make some very nice-looking bikes, but more often than not the customised version comes across as worse to ride than its standard iteration. I have been working on motorcycles since the age of 12 and modifying bikes for racing since the age of 19. For me customisation doesn’t mean just making a motorcycle look good and different but enhance its overall performance, be it handling, engine performance or outright performance, by weight reduction and better aerodynamics.

When I undertook the Project H-D Street 750 first it was going to be a café racer. Later I thought let’s go the whole hog and make a race replica of the XRTT raced by Calvin Rayborn. This Street 750 has been built as a tribute to one of the greatest Harley-Davidson riders of all time: Calvin Rayborn.

Denne historien er fra January 2017-utgaven av Bike India.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra January 2017-utgaven av Bike India.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA BIKE INDIASe alt
BMW F 450 GS Concept
Bike India

BMW F 450 GS Concept

EICMA 2024 IS GENERALLY NIRVANA FOR MOTORCYCLE ENTHUSIASTS as they're treated to plenty of new machines from a number of manufacturers. BMW Motorrad are one of them.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
Toprak is the 2024 World Champion
Bike India

Toprak is the 2024 World Champion

Toprak Razgatlioglu took home his second World Superbike Championship (WSBK) title after a good battle with the Italian rookie, Nicolo Bulega of Ducati.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
A Toprak Sandwich
Bike India

A Toprak Sandwich

The battle for the title heated up as Toprak Razgatlioglu won Race One and Race Two while Nicolo Bulega won the Superpole Race in Estoril, the penultimate round of the 2024 World Superbike Championship (WSBK) season.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
Navaneeth Wins Double
Bike India

Navaneeth Wins Double

Navaneeth Kumar S, Rohan R, and Yogesh P were the winners in the second round of the J K Tyre Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup INDIAN RACING

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2024
Ross Branch and Team Hero MotoSports are the new FIM World Rally-raid Champions
Bike India

Ross Branch and Team Hero MotoSports are the new FIM World Rally-raid Champions

TEAM HERO MOTOSPORTS was founded in 2016 and Ross Branch joined in 2022. Since then, he has been a Hero MotoSports rider and their years of toil have borne a particularly sweet fruit: Ross Branch and Hero MotoSports are now the FIM World Rally-raid Champions.

time-read
1 min  |
November 2024
The Rise of a New 'Rad'
Bike India

The Rise of a New 'Rad'

Reise Moto invited us to the COASTT High Performance Centre in Coimbatore to experience their all-new radial road tyres, the traceRads.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2024
Feels Like Graduation
Bike India

Feels Like Graduation

The third and final round of the TVS Young Media Racer Programme (YMRP) saw us take P2 in the race and P3 in the overall championship. Here is how it went off

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2024
In the Shadow of the Colossus
Bike India

In the Shadow of the Colossus

TVS have given the base Jupiter a complete overhaul, including a new engine. We had checked it out on a closed course back in August. This time we let it loose on the urban jungle and observed if it could survive there

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2024
Pay Win
Bike India

Pay Win

THE ATHER RIZTA WAS LAUNCHED TO much fanfare in April this year and then we got to sample it for a short burst in May.

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2024
Agile and Aggressive
Bike India

Agile and Aggressive

The Kawasaki KLX 230 is a superbly built dual-sport that has the ability to take on some big hitters in our market. We hopped on it for a while and kicked up some dirt at the Prodirt Adventure Park.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2024