Royal Enfield Continental GT650 – TG's Custom Bike Build

We’ve actually done a thing! We’ve made a custom motorbike! After a whole year’s worth of blood, sweat, tears, a full swear jar, and the help of the UK’s bike community, we’ve got a completely bespoke, one-off, Royal Enfield: the TG Continental GT650. What do you think - might this be the ultimate tourer set up?

And if you’ve been to the Savile Row Concours, Bike Shed Festival, Goodwood Festival of Speed, or Malle Mile recently, you might have seen it sat on a paddock stand or blasting up the Duke of Richmond’s driveway. Top Gear has had plenty of projects in the past – from spannering together a Caterham Seven in the actual office (only to realise it was too big to get out), to bear-proofing a Mercedes estate that ended up in Forza Horizon, plus the odd space rocket and hovercraft in-between. We’d never tackled the world of two wheels until a year ago. And now we’ve got one hell of an eye-popping machine that we’ve affectionately nicknamed Playdays, after its colourful, childish primary school hues.

Now, while we pat ourselves on the back for actually seeing something through for once, it might be worth a little recap if you’re new here. See, this all began after yet another silly idea in a pub. “Why does no one make a race-y looking but practical bike?,” we thought.

So, over the last 12 months, with the help of Royal Enfield and the awesome and eager bike community, we’ve turned a bog-standard Royal Enfield Continental GT650 into a never-been-done-before crossover custom: a café racer with panniers and practicality.

Having somehow sold our silly idea to the team at Royal Enfield, we went to its top-secret Tech Centre to settle on a design with RE’s custom guru Adrian Sellers. Once that was locked in, they got to work. If you flick through the tabs above, you can get detailed accounts of the build. But if you’re too lazy for that, here’s a whistle-stop tour.

First stop, Central Wheel Components to lace up some wider, handmade spoked wheels. Harris Performance then offered a mixture of off-the-shelf CNC billet aluminium parts, bespoke goodness, and even some prototype items like the race bike fairing. Nitron Suspension fitted adjustable shocks front and rear, Baak provided a lighter and fruitier exhaust, and Scottish-based former sushi chef turned seat guru Tom Hurley made a completely custom seat.

The look we were going for was a bike that looked a bit like it’d taken a wrong turn out of a pit lane but could also be loaded up like a packhorse. So, step in Fastec Racing (engineering gurus) and Malle London (the best-spirited luggage company on Earth) who gave the Conti GT an adventurous edge with a functional, locking luggage solution.

Finally, Urban Rider and Max Vanoni helped fit finishing touches, braided brake upgrades from HEL, and a tracker from BikeTrac. Oh, did we forget to mention Royal Enfield’s colour, trim, and graphics department slathered it in a jazzy paint scheme inspired by Alexander Calder’s BMW 1975 3.0 CSL Le Mans car? Because what’s the point in having a custom if you don’t stand out?

Since we’ve rolled it off the ramp and into the public domain, the reaction has been rather overwhelming. Lots of you have reacted to it on social media or come to see it in person as it thrashed its way up the Goodwood Hillclimb, sat next to John Lennon’s Rolls-Royce on Savile Row, or as it was parachuted into the UK’s celebration of motorcycle design, people, and culture at Bike Shed Festival.

If you haven’t had your say yet, let us know in the comments below. The whole point was to make a usable, practical custom bike. We need to test it from one tip of the UK to the other. Which is just what we’re going to do. Stay tuned.