Soul ride

Updated on: 07 September,2009 07:02 AM IST |
Shashank Shekhar |

Mumbai-based chopper designer customises bike with Hanuman chalisa calligraphy on it

Soul ride

Mumbai-based chopper designer customises bike with Hanuman chalisa calligraphy on it

He turned heads with his ghost bike, the only Skeletor chopper in India, designed for actor Jackie Shroff. Now, after months of brainstorming and sweating it out in his workshop, Akshai Varde has created the Vedic chopper with the Hanuman chalisa written all over it.

"I wanted to design something simple, not too jazzy. Our client wanted the bike to look pure so we chose white and inscribed the Hanuman chalisa all over it. The bike was to be nine feet long and so low that the rider's heels would scrape the tarmac. I wanted the tank to look slim and long, accentuating the structure's lean design. The handlebars have a comfortable grip with minimum wiring. They look like the wings of a bird just before it takes flight," said Varde.

The Vedic is dedicated to the newly born son of the customer and his name is encrypted on the tank of the bike.

Like all Vardenchi bikes, the Vedic chopper uses a Royal Enfield engine. Varde said the precision of the calligraphy on the body was the most challenging part.

Designer wheels
Customised choppers in an unexplored segment with hardly any major player.u00a0 India being the second largest market for two-wheelers has drawn attention of many international auto companies and now the master itself Harley Davidson has announced its entry into the market. But the customised chopper segment is going to give a tough fight to the monsters.

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