Bikers Cafe in Dubai sponsors a competition where three local custom-motorcycle makers are given a chance to show off their innovative ideas. All three of them are given the same bike and are asked to go crazy with their imagination; the only rule is that the engine of the bike will remain standard. This year the bike in question was a Hero Xtreme 150, a pizza delivery bike. It was VR Customs who won this year’s competition thanks to their unusual but attractive modifications.
“We are not a shop,” Marc said, “just two guys with basement space that enjoy building bikes. But we were lucky enough as a private team to be given a bike to build. The rules of the competition said that the engine must remain standard, but that was about it. It gave us the opportunity to go a bit crazy and build something unique. As our bad ideas grew it became a turbo, and we made some other changes as well.”
Both these chaps got on working on their new project. To get what they wanted, they had to implement many changes in the Xtreme 150. They gusseted the frame to add some strength, then fabricated the hardtail rear end and redesigned the lower engine mounts. They even attached a small turbocharger to this 150cc engine and also replaced the stock carburettor with a Keihin PE30 carburettor. The fuel tank was also replaced by a new one which was lying around for a different project. The front fork and brake caliper has been borrowed from a Suzuki GSX-F750. Alan made the seat pan, and the pad came from a Honda CB750 cafe racer. A set of aftermarket Triumph Bonneville rearsets and billet clip-ons complete the dragster theme.
Marc said, “Being only 150cc with the turbo on it’s not exactly scary. The jetting was actually quite easy to get on our second attempt and she runs well up to the limiter. Ideally we would put a CR150 cam in and trick up the engine for more horsepower, but we were not allowed to. We had most of the parts laying around from other builds. We really only purchased the fairing, turbo kit, and rear tire.”
He further added, “All the bikes we build, we build for racing and track time. This bike has actually spent more time doing burnouts than miles ridden so far. We finished the bike and had one day to get a video shoot and burnout done, before it went on show for three months. Once we have it back in January, it will be straight off to the drag strip to see what it can do.”
