Bandit9’s Royal Enfield Continental GT Seems Fit For a Sci-Fi Movie

Arthur’s story begins as a regular Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, a motorcycle loved by the vast majority of riders. In fact, is there anyone out there that doesn’t consider this to be one of the absolute top models in the modern Royal Enfield inventory?

It is powered by a four-stroke single-cylinder engine with a displacement of 535cc and a five-speed transmission, nested inside a steel tubular cradle frame. The air-cooled mill delivers up to 29 bhp at 5,100 rpm and 32.45 pound-feet (44 Nm) of torque at 4,000 rpm.

The front suspension is provided with telescopic 41 mm forks with 110 mm (4.33 inches) of travel, accompanied by twin coilover shocks with 80 mm (3.15 inches) of travel at the rear. Brakes are equipped with ABS, featuring a Brembo 300 mm disc and two-piston floating caliper up front, along with a 240 mm disc and a single-piston floating caliper for the rear brake.

This Continental GT 535 was one splendid street animal but had no idea what it might later become. Royal Enfield commissioned a project to Bandit9, a firm that’s built a solid reputation by creating some of the shiniest and most incredible custom two-wheelers money can buy.

Bandit9’s mastermind, Daryl Villanueva and his team are no strangers to spectacular custom builds, having collected several gorgeous works of art in their portfolio over the years, including Dark Side, Eve Lux and Merlin, to name a few.

A total of only nine units are produced for each of the models and are available for purchase at a very – and I mean, very – fair price. To get a better idea about what these folks are up to, I’d strongly encourage that you take a minute to check out their Facebook and Instagram pages!

As for their splendid Royal Enfield Continental GT project, it's been nicknamed Arthur and was completed in no less than twelve painstaking months. Villanueva’s crew “forged iron and steel into swooping arches and serpentine curves; each detail flowing to the next, with no beginning and no end.”

Every last inch of Arthur’s outrageously smooth bodywork has been meticulously hand-crafted. Its design has resulted from complex parametric calculations, which I won’t even pretend to have any clue about. Additionally, we also notice an extensive use of some ridiculously shiny chrome plating that make the whole thing come together nicely.

Its front suspension is equipped with a set of inverted forks with external springs, while the twin shocks at the rear have been mounted horizontally and are now completely exposed. To top it all off, the rear suspension has also been provided with a custom swingarm.

As you can probably tell, the amount of work that’s been put into Bandit9’s Arthur is far beyond your ordinary custom bike. Everything from the foot pegs and triple clamps, to its headlights and bar-end levers have been built entirely from scratch.

Despite the enormous efforts invested by Villanueva’s crew into this barely recognizable Royal Enfield Continental GT, the marvel is priced at a mere $19,800!

I mean, are you kidding me? All that juicy goodness for under 20,000 bucks? Just take my money already.