A factory retro racer straight from the team that designed the GT 650 Twin.
The initial concept behind the Nought Tea was to take a Continental GT 650 Twin and make it the best cafe racer it could be… and then to take it vintage racing.
Royal Enfield purchased the Harris Performance company some years ago, and to date, they have been using their expertise in chassis development to help bring our production models to life. They have also been instrumental in our drag bike and Bonneville projects, among others, so we wanted to highlight what Harris Performance could really do. With this in mind, we decided to collaborate on a retro-style race bike, using all Harris Performance parts. Harris, while part of Royal Enfield, still makes and sells their own brand of performance accessories, and so it was a logical fit. They are real experts at chassis development, with over 40 years of experience to their credit. They can quickly feedback on whether what we are thinking is ok or not, and suggest better alternatives as well.
While performance is at its core, the Nought Tea has been made extreme to shine at the Bike Shed event in London, where it was revealed to celebrities and custom bike lovers from all over Europe. It was built to play with some ideas, not necessarily all practical, that we're kicking around. The major modification on the Nought Tea GT is, of course, the fairing. We designed this specifically for the Continental GT 650, so it’s not just a modified off the shelf item. Same goes for all the mounts that secure it in place. For the sake of a bit of custom fun, we also removed the airbox, replacing it with two intake pipes that match stylistically to the custom exhaust we also fabricated for it. The subframe loop was chopped and moved in, to more closely align with the seat cowl, and a tail lamp was integrated into it. .A hand-stitched seat and custom three-tone paint job complete the look. Just to make the bikes sporting potential clear. The Ohlins suspension, tailored to fit the bike by Harris, have been added front and rear, with Brembo brakes to make sure it stops as well as it goes. Custom Harris yokes have also been integrated to remove weight, and the tank has been modified to accept a recessed Harris filler cap. Finally, the engine has been bored out and a 750cc S&S big bore kit installed. The lighting is all new with the factory indicators being replaced with Rizoma LEDs. Upfront are bar end units while in the back are the same indicators fitted to the rear shocks. Recessed into the modified rear cowl is an LED brake light and the new headlight unit also features an LED. The instrument cluster has also been reduced to a single Daytona tacho for a race-focused cockpit.
The concept for the wild three-tone paint came from one of our young designers, who had proposed the idea last year for our Lock Stock drag bike. We ended up going a different direction for that, but when it came time to come up with the graphic for Nought Tea, we remembered it and thought it would look perfect. Figuring out how to get all the triangles in place with three different colors was a project in and of itself! Fortunately, we have an excellent painter in house and one of our designers had the patience to spend hours masking everything off.
Our test rider has said that the bike is a dream to ride. The extra power from the big bore kit helps on the straights and the Harris chassis adjustments make it handle precisely around the track.
Make your Own, click to view accessories
