His Royal Enfield V-twin near ready to ride

Aniket Vardhan, the young man in Columbus, Ohio who built his own Royal Enfield 700cc V-twin motor from two 350 motors, says he is two weeks away from having a rideable motorcycle.

Vardhan's accomplishment, seen on YouTube, has brought attention from around the world. Yes, the Carberry firm in Australia is doing a V-twin from two 500cc Royal Enfield motors. But the fact that one young man could do something similar in a borrowed workshop truly captures the imagination. Here's his latest update:

"Well, not much longer! I just got back from the shop a few minutes ago; the motor is completely test mounted in the bike with the newly made mounting plates with modified hole positions. The cut frame top tube has been connected and the timing cover has been re-installed after dismantling to check how things looked.

"Need to reposition a couple of mounts for the seat and gas tank, complete the electricals, lengthen the drive chain (bigger output sprocket and slight change in engine position compared to stock).

"This phase did take a bit of time as I had to check and recheck that alignment and access to top end was not hindered -- you can still remove rocker covers, head and cylinders with motor in frame, a must for tinkering ease, making sure that none of the fasteners fouled with anything etc.

"All this is done and seems to have worked according to plan.

"It really should be only a week or 2 before she's rideable!"

Vardhan is originally from New Delhi. He came to the U.S. in 1999 for a master's degree in Industrial Design. He left his job as an assistant professor of Industrial Design at an art and design school in Columbus in July, 2008. He says his dream has been creating a Royal Enfield V-twin. As the world saw in the YouTube video, he is thrilled. His excitement is contagious.