RETROGRADE ENGINEERED BY ICON 1000
ALWAYS SOMETHING
2024 ROYAL ENFIELD SHOTGUN 650
A TRIAL BY FIRE
It was a beautiful September morning when we took our newly minted custom Royal Enfield Shotgun out for her one shot at glory. Like all ICON custom builds, hers would be a trial by fire. With heavily modified geometry, under-thunk suspension, free flow intake and exhaust, and Good-Tar meats still shiny with mold release, she was a 650cc handful. That handful quickly became a mouthful - as in a mouthful of words relayed from the closed course proving grounds back to ICON's Slabtown HQ.
"HEY BOSS...WE DROPPED THE ENFIELD".
THANKFULLY, THE DAMAGE WAS RELATIVELY MINOR AND NOTHING THAT THREE WEEKS OF INTENSE LABOR, A DOZEN COATS OF HIGH-BUILD, AND DIM LIGHTING COULDN'T FIX.
The modified Yamaha FZ750 Airtech plastics took most of the damage but left the RD400 tank assembly, complete with dry-break and the 'pumpy' parts of an in-tank fuel pump, unscathed. The custom 2-1 S&S exhaust was not quite so lucky as her headpipes endured the drama functionally, if not aesthetically. Out back, the remnants of a Buell S2 tail section managed to avoid ground contact, as did the heavily modded Kawi 650 ninja swinger. The dual Nitron piggyback shocks were tucked securely in-board and survived the carnage unscathed. Finally, the vintage Astralite wheels and ZX10 nitrogen forks walked away unbruised; unlike the rider, who used his body as a frame slider to minimize the damage—good man, that one.
