The Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show 2022, held on December 4 at Pacifico Yokohama, is one of the largest custom car and motorcycle events in Japan, gathering custom builders and manufacturers from Japan and abroad.
This year's event marked the first time that Royal Enfield, a manufacturer from India, exhibited at the show.
The company displayed a custom model designed by a builder based on its Continental GT650.
The "KAMALA" made by Sosa Metal Works (overseas site) attracted a great deal of attention.
Classic café style with even more style
「KAMALA」was produced by Sosa Metal Works, a company based in Las Vegas, USA. The company, which has been active in the automobile customization scene, envisioned a classic racer equipped with a fully original frame that utilizes the metalworking techniques developed there.
The result is KAMALA, a more classic board-track racer style based on the originally classic café-style Continental GT650. A board track racer is a racing-style machine that ran on a wooden oval track that was popular in the U.S. in the 1920s and had a very low ride height, small seat, and slender body compared to modern vehicles.
Royal Enfield, exhibiting for the first time, will display three special models based on the company's classic sports Continental GT650.
KAMALA is one of them.
The Continental GT650 on which it is based is also oriented toward vintage café style, but KAMALA is even more impressive with its long, lowered stance and girder forks.
The width of the vehicle is so narrow that it could be mistaken for a bicycle. The design was based on prewar board track racers.
In order to recreate such a board track racer in the modern era, Sosa Metal Works created an original frame made of chrome molybdenum. The engine was left unchanged, and the intake and exhaust parts were shortened to a shorter size. The brakeless front wheel is held in place by a single-spring girder fork, and almost no plastic parts are installed, allowing the beauty of the metal to shine through.
Even with this full customization, the engine is still in harmony with the stock engine. This suggests the possibility of a custom machine based on the Royal Enfield air-cooled model, which has not been mainstream as a custom base. We hope that this custom model will stimulate the Royal Enfield customization scene even more!
The engine remains unchanged, but the intake and exhaust systems have been replaced with special parts.
The front suspension is by girder forks, and like a board track racer, there are no brakes. However, it is equipped with a tiny headlight, so it is expected to be fun to drive in the real world, though of course, it will be difficult to do so in Japan.
The board track racer, which became the concept for KAMALA, was a style that was very popular in the United States before World War II, at the dawn of motorcycle racing. Harley-Davidson, Indian, and other American manufacturers' machines, which still exist today, competed in the fierce competition. The photo shows a 1920 Harley TWO-CAM RACER. It is clear that KAMALA has faithfully followed the styling.
A Continental GT650, the base model, was also on display at the event. It is a neo-classic sport bike equipped with a 648cc air-cooled parallel twin-cylinder engine and is of course road-legal. It has a beautiful chrome-plated tank that looks custom-made, but this model can be purchased as is from the official Mister Clean lineup.
Reference: Continental GT650 Main Specifications
Overall length x width x height: 2119 x 745 x 1067 mm
Seat height: 820mm
Weight: 212 kg
Engine: Air-cooled 4-stroke, parallel twin-cylinder SOHC 4-valve 648cc
Maximum output: 34.9 kW (47.5 PS) at 7,150 rpm
Maximum torque: 52.3Nm/5,150rpm
Fuel tank capacity: 12.5 liters
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Brakes: Front=φ320mm disc/ABS Rear=φ240mm disc/ABS
Tires: Front=100/90-18 Rear=130/70-18
Original Source. [ Royal Enfield ]
