The elegant bobber – Patina Strike Electra 350 by Maratha Customs

Royal Enfield has enjoyed massive success over time worldwide and has developed a strong fan following. Their models ranged from the timeless classic 350/500’s the desert storm etc. have garnered a massive amount of applauds and appreciations from their admirers. One such model was the Electra series. Started manufacturing in 2001, the bike had enjoyed massive success among the masses due to its torquey nature.

It was this bike that Maratha Customs, Mumbai took up for a special client, none other than Four seasons – Maldives division. Given the nature of the client, the bike had to be unprecedented. As the name of the project suggests, the bike had to have an unmatched look and exceptional allure. Keeping in mind, thus began the work on the bike.

Maratha ditched all the parts on the bike starting from the front assembly, forks, fender, the tank, the seats to the rear part of the frame. Once all the unnecessary parts were removed, the real challenge had begun.

Every part on the bike has been hand-built, that too without the use of any computer-aided design and machinery. When one begins to move his eye vision over the bike, starting from the front, the bike unfolds like a beautifully written story. Starting from the front, the assembly now sports a unique fork system with headlights in between of the assembly, which has a horizontally mounted suspension to do its duties but retains the disc assembly. But when one starts to proceed towards the rear of the bike, the bike begins to unravel itself. The conventional frame has been done with completely. The tank now sits in between of the frame of the vehicle, rather than sitting on it and that too it is shaped in a teardrop style, with a puncture right in between of the bike

Move further towards the rear side, and one would be astonished to see that the rear assembly has bee chopped off, not abruptly, but beautifully, and the custom handmade swingarm has been designed and executed in a way to blend the curves of the frontal frames with the back end. The single exhaust pipe from the engine moves out and supplements the curves of the bike. The seat has been beautifully fixed with retro-looking twin suspensions under the seat, rather than on the swingarm, evocative of the nostalgic yesteryears wherein the bikes were purposeful and elegant. All in all the custom frame of the bike has been beautifully executed. All this has been complemented by the square-ish shaped tires on the bike with thick spokes.

When Shrikant from Maratha Customs took on the project, he had envisioned to make sure the theme of the bike to be Patina, defined as “a green or brown film on the surface of bronze or similar metals, produced by oxidation over a long period” in the dictionaries. This color has a very special appeal and value in terms of aesthetics, especially the aura that is created in and around the object, and Maratha customs have perfectly achieved success in unparalleled aesthetics, keeping the design of the bike extremely minimalistic. The bike truly is “art in motion”.

Fact Sheet:

1	Bike	RE Electra 350
2	Type of mod	Bobber
3	Engine tune	Stock
4	Tires & Rims	Custom bobber tires
5	Mod List	Front Forks – custom with horizontal suspension No fendersSingle headlightWide handlebarCustom bend exhaustSingle-seat with twin suspensions underneathCustom patina finished paint