The vanquisher – RE Thunderbird 500 “Leo” by Maratha Customs

Imagine yourself, riding on an open stretch of highway, which suddenly disappears and you find yourself in the middle of soup, only to realize that your bike has passed that nightmare without you noticing? Well, that exactly what makes you feel invincible, and that’s exactly what the Leo is about.

From the stable of Maratha customs, Mumbai, we present to you Leo – the slick, no-nonsense scrambler..!! A bike which poses in a pretty tall stance, has handsome, bare to the bones look.

When Maratha customs set out to design this bike, they had only two things in mind. One- by all means, it had to go everywhere, two- It had to be fast, and that’s exactly what they have achieved this bike. Based on a RE 500 – Thunderbird, the bike sets out to stand apart from the crowd due to its looks.

The bike has an extensive list of modifications done to it. The motorcycle now sports new USD forks in the front as against the conventional telescopic ones on the stock bike. The chassis, now is exposed, bare to give it a more industrial look, and this has been achieved by modifying the chassis. The true purpose of a scrambler is to go anywhere and everywhere, and hence the rear swingarm now is wider to accommodate the wider offroad tire in the rear, and the front also has been widened to fit an offroad tire.

Since the client was a mariner, the bike sports a custom paint theme and a compass integrated on the tank. To add more flare to the project, Maratha has managed to attach a miniature of Jack Daniels onto the Tank.

As mentioned earlier, the bike had to go fast. Quite an amount of work has been put into the motorcycle. To get the bike going, the Head has been modified along with the piston and the carb has been adjusted to compensate for the power. All these extensive modifications have resulted in the bike breaching a top speed of over 150 kph and all the way up to 170 Kph.

All show and the power right from the word go, makes this bike, one hell of a package.

Fact Sheet:

1	Bike	Thunderbird 500
2	Type of mod	Scrambler
3	Engine tune	Tuned for power. Head, piston carb changed. Top speed 170 Kph
4	Tires & Rims	Continental button tires
5	Mod List	Front Forks – USD. Custom FenderTwin – offset headlights. Wide raised handlebarCustom bend exhaust. Under-seat exhaust