[sriad84]

Considering this is my first post, I will start off introducing myself and then Saya (Continental GT650)

I am Srinivas and I currently live in Pune. I am an mechanical engineer by profession with a keen interest for anything automotive. Outside my day job, I enjoy riding/driving, customization (DIY as much as I can) and photography as a hobby. I currently own a 2019 GT650, 2018 Africa twin and a 2011 Polo 1.6 (Polo 6r) and a 2006 CR-V 2.4 AT AWD (wife's car)

Now, about my continental GT650 and my journey from when I bought it to her transformation to Saya

I always had an affinity to cafe racers and liked the body style of the RE Continental GT. However, until the 650 twins were launched I was not too impressed by previous generation, especially the engine. After reading about the RE twins, I was impressed with what they achieved and decided to book the bike (Ice Queen) on 25th Jan 2019 and then went to check out the bike in person @ Siddh Auto on the 26th (I know this sounds back wards, but I had already made up my mind ). They did not have any GT's for test ride so I ended up testing the Interceptor and was immediately impressed on how smooth and linear the engine response was. It was clear that this was not a typical RE. It was refined and well built.

The bike arrived at the dealer on 8th Feb (thanks to nitrogary and his contacts). I took delivery a few days later. Picture below is from following weekend at nitrogary's farm house. You can see him and his GS1200 in the background here.


Soon after I got the GT, I had to make some minor aesthetic changes to make her my own, all were DIY projects. I started off with painting the head light surround black, shortly flyscreen, led headlight, single seat, tail light delete, led indicators upfront and Dustland roadrunner exhaust. Small changes but made a significant difference in appearance and sound in my opinion.


Here is a video clip fro IMOTY 2019 ride where you can hear how the roadrunner's sound

https://youtu.be/7mTgwHzjeFU

Soon after, I decided to integrate the led strip (integrated tail light and turn signals) into the single seat cowl to make it look cleaner


While this setup was unique in itself, I was not satisfied yet. This is when I started brainstorming my vision for the bike and the result was the following sketch of what I wanted todo. The design did evolve over the course of the build.


With this, I approached Ricochet motorcycles in Pune, I chose them because the guy previously worked at Rajputana customs and his previous work showed the attention to detail I wanted for my build. So After a few discussion we agreed on the following

• USD front forks from Benelli TNT600i
• Custom 17" rims with 120/70R17 and 160/60/R17 Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tires front and rear.
• DIY Carbon fiber laminated body work (2×2 tail fabric used) - I will submit another thread on DIY carbon fiber lamination and how it can be done at home!
• Custom front fairing with dual projector light setup.
• Custom tail designed around Himalayan tail light
• Koso Tnt64 gauges
• Single piece machined from solid clipons
• Powercoated engine covers, cylinder head, sump guard, air intake covers, heel guards.
• Custom paint
• Black/gold chain and custom brass fittings

Dropped the bike off to start the body work in Dec 2019 and finally 8 months later on 2 July 2020 (My birthday) I picked up the bike finally. There were few minor things to finish, but I could not wait any longer. These changes and finishes have been completed since. So without further adieu, I present Saya!











I do not think I am done yet as I keep thinking of things todo and evolve this bike with time

It would be great to hear your thoughts and if you would like more details, I would be happy to share.

[JayKis]

Originally Posted by sriad84

Considering this is my first post, I will start off introducing myself and then Saya (Continental GT650)

I am Srinivas and I currently live in Pune. I am an mechanical engineer by profession with a keen interest for anything automotive. Outside my day job, I enjoy riding/driving, customization (DIY as much as I can) and photography as a hobby. I currently own a 2019 GT650, 2018 Africa twin and a 2011 Polo 1.6 (Polo 6r) and a 2006 CR-V 2.4 AT AWD (wife's car)

Welcome to Team Bhp Srini. Great and stylish build there.
Took you a while to put the review here

[sriad84]

Originally Posted by JayKis

Welcome to Team Bhp Srini. Great and stylish build there.
Took you a while to put the review here

Thank you Jay. It indeed took me a while to post, was waiting till I had something of interest

[nitrogary]

Lovely read Srini. Most welcome to the forum! I know the pain that you have gone thru to get it up to this shape. The work and patience has paid off very well! We need to ride more often is what I've realized. Bike looks wonderful and proportionate and all the work done has been really tasteful. Wish you many happy miles on Saya!

[sriad84]

Originally Posted by nitrogary

Lovely read Srini. Most welcome to the forum! I know the pain that you have gone thru to get it up to this shape. The work and patience has paid off very well! We need to ride more often is what I've realized. Bike looks wonderful and proportionate and all the work done has been really tasteful. Wish you many happy miles on Saya!

Thanks Sarang! Yes, we need to ride more together!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Welcome to Team-Bhp.

Beautiful build! Minimalist and tastefully done. Love the stance with the beefy forks upfront as well - not really a fan of gold forks, but does full justice here!

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by sriad84

• USD front forks from Benelli TNT600i
• Custom 17" rims with 120/70R17 and 160/60/R17 Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tires front and rear.
• DIY Carbon fiber laminated body work (2×2 tail fabric used) - I will submit another thread on DIY carbon fiber lamination and how it can be done at home!

I do not think I am done yet as I keep thinking of things todo and evolve this bike with time

It would be great to hear your thoughts and if you would like more details, I would be happy to share.

The forks look massive, the sportier tyres and rims must be great at high speeds. CF bodywork is icing on the cake!

Few observations,
- Didn't see any front turn indicators?
- The foot levers are also CNC/Custom, looks solid!
- Please share the black and gold chain pictures.
- Why no 17" alloys?

Any internal mods, air filter, Powertronic piggyback ECU? This build seems the perfect candidate for a big bore kit!

Happy riding, hope to catch up on some ride with nitrogary!

/surjonwheelz

[sriad84]

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

The forks look massive, the sportier tyres and rims must be great at high speeds. CF bodywork is icing on the cake!

Few observations,
- Didn't see any front turn indicators?
- The foot levers are also CNC/Custom, looks solid!
- Please share the black and gold chain pictures.
- Why no 17" alloys?

Any internal mods, air filter, Powertronic piggyback ECU? This build seems the perfect candidate for a big bore kit!

Happy riding, hope to catch up on some ride with nitrogary!

/surjonwheelz

@surjonwheelz good observations
- Didn't see any front turn indicators? - You will have to look closely, they are connected below the levers. Ses picture below (blue circle is around the indicator


- The foot levers are also CNC/Custom, looks solid! : Yes thats right, I missed to mention it.

- Please share the black and gold chain pictures : see below (chain is BikeMaster X ring). Its subtle with black chain and rivets in gold.


- Why no 17" alloys? : I like the retro look of the spoke wheels and hence kept that. IMHO spokes look a lot better on Saya

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Welcome to Team-Bhp.

Beautiful build! Minimalist and tastefully done. Love the stance with the beefy forks upfront as well - not really a fan of gold forks, but does full justice here!

Thank you. I understand your point about gold forks. Wanted to do black forks with gold inner tube, but since that is not aluminum anodizing was not possible. But at the end, tried to match the gold from the rear shock reservoir and just adds enough pop to the otherwise black scheme.

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

The forks look massive, the sportier tyres and rims must be great at high speeds. CF bodywork is icing on the cake!

Any internal mods, air filter, Powertronic piggyback ECU? This build seems the perfect candidate for a big bore kit!

Happy riding, hope to catch up on some ride with nitrogary!

/surjonwheelz

Regarding handling and internal mods. The 17 inch wheels and wider and better tyres do make the handling better. Both cornering and high speed.

Only internal mod currently is the dna filter. Thought about big bore kit, but for now still undecided. I am happy with the power delivery for how I use the bike

[ManneAtWheelz]

Originally Posted by sriad84

Dropped the bike off to start the body work in Dec 2019 and finally 8 months later on 2 July 2020 (My birthday) I picked up the bike finally.

+1, good day to start with as it's my birthday too

[v12]

Welcome to Team_BHP Srini !

The Continental GT is one beautiful motorcycle. And you have made that motorcycle more beautiful and elegant. your vision for the GT was excellent and glad to see the execution was upto your expectation and top notch.

I love the design of the rear seat integrating the tail light and registration number. Personally I would have preferred a round headlight on the cowI instead of the twin setup - but thats just me.

Overall an amazing modification. Take care and ride safe!

[Mafia]

Wow!

The design is so elegant! It is really superbly finished!

Sad that you will have to mount the registration number plates.

[saikarthik]

Fantastic! looks awesome and with the short length, open and round profiled tires raised tail, looks like an sturdy Pitbull.
Spoke wheels adds a good classic feel.

Do you feel the side indicators rubbing against your fingers while operating brake/clutch?

Also, most importantly - can it be made road legal via RTO? because, after such a beautiful build and efforts if some cop catches you, they might ask you to take off the mods.

[TheHelix0202]

Wow, what a stonker of an introduction! Welcome to the forum! Hoping to see more bike related stuff from you.

[CarManMotorcycl]

Your customised GT makes me wanna do something on mine, but alas money doesn't grow on trees and as a student it is hard to come by, would love to see your GT in person mate!
Can you please mention how much it costed you to do the whole thing? I am guessing more than the bikes cost itself!

[sriad84]

Originally Posted by ManneAtWheelz

+1, good day to start with as it's my birthday too

Originally Posted by v12

Welcome to Team_BHP Srini !

The Continental GT is one beautiful motorcycle. And you have made that motorcycle more beautiful and elegant. your vision for the GT was excellent and glad to see the execution was upto your expectation and top notch.

I love the design of the rear seat integrating the tail light and registration number. Personally I would have preferred a round headlight on the cowI instead of the twin setup - but thats just me.

Overall an amazing modification. Take care and ride safe!

Thanks for the kind words. Dual projector was something I got inspired to try based on the rough crafts bike. I think a round headlight would look more classy, but had it to try something different

Originally Posted by Mafia

Wow!

The design is so elegant! It is really superbly finished!

Sad that you will have to mount the registration number plates.

Thank you!. Yeah, front plate does ruin the lines a little, but atleast the rear one is a sticker and not a plate so keeps it clean!

Originally Posted by saikarthik

Fantastic! looks awesome and with the short length, open and round profiled tires raised tail, looks like an sturdy Pitbull.
Spoke wheels adds a good classic feel.

Do you feel the side indicators rubbing against your fingers while operating brake/clutch?

Also, most importantly - can it be made road legal via RTO? because, after such a beautiful build and efforts if some cop catches you, they might ask you to take off the mods.

Thank you. No the front indicators do not interfere with the controls at all. From RTO point of view, any modification or after market exhaust is illegal. So I would say this is a project of passion vs practicality. Touch wood, so far I have had no issues. I dont think they recognize the bike to question

Originally Posted by TheHelix0202

Wow, what a stonker of an introduction! Welcome to the forum! Hoping to see more bike related stuff from you.

Thanks mate!

Originally Posted by CarManMotorcycl

Your customised GT makes me wanna do something on mine, but alas money doesn't grow on trees and as a student it is hard to come by, would love to see your GT in person mate!
Can you please mention how much it costed you to do the whole thing? I am guessing more than the bikes cost itself!

You can always make your plans. Not all modifications are expensive depends on what you want though

Yes, it is fair to say the cost was similar to a new GT cost. However, I did the the carbon fiber myself so saved me a a good chunk for sure.