Time and place are important when you’re considering a bike build. Take custom shop Moto Exotica, for example. It’s based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which is not far away from the foothills of the Himalayans. Is that what led shop founder Arjun Raina to carefully craft what he calls the Ultimate Himalayan for Royal Enfield? Perhaps.
As we’ve previously discussed, the words “custom bike” can mean all kinds of things, and it all depends on the builder. From lightly customized creations that use off-the-shelf components and perhaps a new lick of paint, a vinyl wrap, or some new graphics, to all-out creations with a load of custom fabrication involved, the world of custom bikes is a diverse one, for sure.
Moto Exotica, though? It’ a shop that does everything it can in-house, including and especially on this build. The Ultimate Himalayan is still a thumper at heart, but Moto Exotica bored it out to 500cc of displacement (no word on what kind of power it now makes, sadly). The engine now has a high-lift camshaft installed, as well.
Gallery: Moto Exotica's Ultimate Himalayan Build
If you’re going to make a Himalayan live up to that very large “Ultimate” designation, then upgrading the suspension seems like a no-brainer. So, Moto Exotica crafted a custom swingarm with a direct mount, fully adjustable rear suspension. Up front, there’s a long-travel USD fork from WP, which has been re-valved.
Shaving grams off the Himalayan’s weight was also imperative, so Moto Exotica also built a custom aluminum tank, as well as a bunch of beautiful carbon fiber bodywork. The absolute pièce de résistance is a contour map of Mount Everest that’s ghosted into the side of the bodywork, so you can only see it from certain angles. If that wasn’t cool enough, ME also crafted a full custom exhaust system from scratch.
Other up-specced bits on this build include a 320mm floating rotor up front and a four-piston brake caliper. The wheels (21-inch up front and 18-inch in the rear) now wear full rally-spec rubber, and the Ultimate Himalayan also has a standalone, programmable ECU installed. The shop brought this bike out to play at Royal Enfield’s Rider Mania 2022, and now those who couldn’t see it in person get to appreciate it (if only for a few minutes) in this short video.
