- Twin-engine masterpiece: VITA features two Royal Enfield 650 parallel-twin engines mounted in a single bespoke chassis — a rare and technically daring custom build.
- Global custom debut: VITA and Carolina Reaper made their world premiere at the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show, one of Japan’s most prestigious custom bike events.
- CUSTOM WORLD creativity: Both builds showcase Royal Enfield’s global custom programme, giving builders freedom to push design and engineering boundaries.
Royal Enfield has lifted the covers on two radically different custom motorcycles at the 33rd Annual Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show, but it’s the astonishing VITA build that has stopped seasoned custom-bike watchers in their tracks.
Created under Royal Enfield’s global CUSTOM WORLD initiative, both VITA and Carolina Reaper made their world debut at one of Japan’s most prestigious custom motorcycle events. Each reflects a very different interpretation of Royal Enfield’s modern platforms — but one of them rewrites the rulebook entirely.
VITA: Two Royal Enfield 650 engines. One chassis. No compromises.
Built by award-winning Japanese custom house Custom Works Zon, VITA is based on the all-new Royal Enfield Classic 650 platform — but calling it a “custom Classic” doesn’t even begin to tell the story.
At its core is something almost unheard of in modern motorcycle building: two complete Royal Enfield 648cc parallel-twin engines mounted into a single bespoke chassis.
Yes — this is a twin-engine Royal Enfield.
To make it work, the builders removed the transmission from the forward engine and shortened its crankcase. The two engines are mechanically linked via a primary chain drive on the left-hand side, effectively working together as a single power unit. It’s an audacious piece of engineering that blends old-school hot-rod thinking with modern production engines — and it’s executed with remarkable restraint rather than excess.
The engine package sits inside a fully bespoke hard-tail steel frame, paired with a classical girder front fork and imposing 26-inch modern wheels. The visual result is part vintage drag bike, part industrial sculpture.
Adding another layer of craftsmanship, the bodywork combines mahogany wood elements with raw, unpainted aluminium, creating a striking contrast between natural textures and exposed metal. It’s bold without being flashy — a machine that demands closer inspection the longer you look at it.
Custom Works Zon’s reputation for world-class builds is well established, and VITA feels like a statement piece: not just a show bike, but a rolling demonstration of how far Royal Enfield’s modular 650 platform can be pushed.
Carolina Reaper: Flat track attitude with modern muscle
If VITA represents mechanical audacity, Carolina Reaper is about racing attitude and purpose-built aggression.
Constructed by Cheetah Custom Cycles, led by Tokyo-based builder and flat track racer Toshiyuki Osawa, Carolina Reaper is based on the Guerrilla 450 — Royal Enfield’s modern roadster powered by the liquid-cooled Sherpa 450 engine, also used in the Himalayan 450.
Inspired by American flat track racers and race cars of the 1970s, Carolina Reaper blends retro racing aesthetics with modern engineering. Importantly, the main frame remains unmodified, but almost everything else has been reworked to suit flat track duty.
A newly fabricated rear subframe and hand-formed aluminium bodywork define the bike’s stripped-back silhouette, while a custom chromoly steel swingarm, brass-brazed for strength and feel, replaces the standard unit. The rear suspension has been converted to a direct-mount configuration, improving adjustability and track performance.
Unlike VITA, Carolina Reaper isn’t destined to live solely under show lights. Following its Yokohama debut, the bike was set to be ridden in anger at HELL FUN, a flat track event held at Off-Road Village in Kawagoe, reinforcing its identity as a functional race machine rather than static art.
CUSTOM WORLD: creativity without constraints
Both motorcycles were created as part of Royal Enfield’s CUSTOM WORLD programme, a global initiative designed to give builders, riders and creative partners freedom to reinterpret Royal Enfield platforms without commercial limitation.
Rather than dictating themes or outcomes, Royal Enfield has deliberately allowed builders to explore radically different directions — from mechanical experimentation to race-inspired minimalism — using modern production bikes as their foundation.
The results, as VITA and Carolina Reaper demonstrate, can be wildly different — and that’s precisely the point.
Why VITA matters
Custom motorcycles often chase shock value, but VITA stands out because it’s technically daring without being gimmicky. Twin-engine motorcycles are rare even in custom circles, and using two modern, production parallel twins in a single chassis is virtually unheard of.
It’s the kind of build that reminds you why shows like the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show still matter: they’re places where imagination, engineering and craftsmanship intersect without compromise.
Royal Enfield could have played it safe. Instead, it backed a project that challenges convention — and the result is one of the most fascinating custom motorcycles we’ve seen in years.
Gallery
SUMMARY
Royal Enfield has unveiled two striking custom motorcycles at the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show, led by the radical VITA build featuring two 650cc parallel-twin engines mounted in a single bespoke chassis. Created by Japan’s Custom Works Zon under Royal Enfield’s CUSTOM WORLD initiative, VITA showcases rare twin-engine engineering, while the Carolina Reaper flat track build highlights the performance potential of the Guerrilla 450 platform.
