A Rajputana Touch to Bike Customization Rajputana Customs recently officially customized a Ducati Monster 797 to celebrate the legendary model's 25 years

Sometimes things fall into place, sometimes they don't. For Vijay Singh Ajairajpura, founder of Rajputana Customs (RC) — one of India's leading bike customization shop — it was no different. After graduating from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada in June 2009 with a degree in mass communication, Singh took a gratuitous decision to follow a different path altogether. And everything fell into place.

After returning, Singh was toying with the idea of joining his family business. He had a few months to kill, an unregistered Royal Enfield engine and an unrelenting passion for motorcycles. That's when he conceptualized his first customized bike "Original Gangster', which was showcased at the New Delhi Auto Expo in 2010. Soon after that Singh opened a shop of his own, and till date he has worked with Harley Davidson, Triumph, Royal Enfield among others. The motive, however, was not to earn profits but to enjoy what he does. "We make bikes because we enjoy it. The day you remove the element of fun, we'll give up this job," he quips.

THE VISION

The company's style, attention to detail and the amount of time spent on each bike is what makes Rajputana Customs idiosyncratic in the market. "Some bikes have remained in my shop for 5 years," he says. When it comes to the designing process, Singh believes that one needs to have a conversation with the bike more than anything to get the perfect design. "She tells a story, according to which we decide how to customize it," Singh says. Biking is rooted deep in Singh's ancestry; his grand uncle headed Jaipur Motorcycle Club (JMC) in 1975, which is India's first motorcycle club.

DESIGN INNOVATION

Bike customization's popularity has burgeoned over the years. Rajputana Customs recently achieved another milestone by customizing a Ducati Monster 797 in association with the motorcycle giant to celebrate the legendary model's 25 years. The custom-built Monster, according to Singh was perfect in its own right and only required trifle brush-ups with aluminum finish paint job, a custom-built fuel tank, but no mechanical changes. Naked frames, hard tails, awe-inspiring paint job and contemporary leather work with a vintage feel is what makes their work stand out. On an average the company is customizing six bikes a year.

BUSINESS MODEL

Rajputana Customs gives a whole new outlook to bikes at a price of Rs 95,000 to Rs 8 lakh or more as per the customization demand. They follow a fluid and organic path, which does entails mishaps at times but often leads to "miracles" in the form of some eccentric motorcycles. They are also offering an interactive six-day training program to acquaint bike customization enthusiasts with everything related to bikes.