By David Swarts
In January, Royal Enfield North America announced its Build Train Race program. This program gave four female motorcycle enthusiasts from varied backgrounds a Royal Enfield INT 650 and two months to customize their bikes before racing them against each other in a series of flat track events, including a special exhibition race during the Atlanta Short Track round of the American Flat Track (AFT) Championship series, which was originally scheduled for March 28.
Then came the COVID-19 outbreak, and plans changed.
Melissa Paris, however, didn’t stop her bike build even though the mother of a two-year-old and MP13 Racing team owner spent considerable time preparing for, traveling to, and attending the now-postponed Daytona 200 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
While plans for the completion of the BUILD TRAIN RACE program remain on hold, Royal Enfield is sharing images of Paris’ Royal Enfield INT 650 flat tracker as captured by photographer Brandon LaJoie.
From Royal Enfield:
Melissa chose to leverage as many of her road racing partners as possible in the build. The suspension was her number one focus, and for that, she leaned heavily on Öhlins, who provided a stunning set of gold forks and rear shocks for her motorcycle.
The rest of the build centered around those components, which required some custom triple clamps by Evol Technology. The black and gold color theme was carried visually throughout the rest of the motorcycle, from the Dubya wheels to the bodywork. And Phillipe Danh from Beringer Brakes US came down and personally fitted an under-mounted rear brake caliper and rear brake master cylinder.
Power is always on Melissa’s mind, so a 2-into-1 exhaust from S&S was bolted on to add some bark to the INT 650. She also added a Dynojet Power Commander to optimize the performance of the free-flowing exhaust and S&S air filter that replaced the stock units. The motorcycle spent time on the dyno at Lee’s Cycle to dial in the power delivery even further.
The stock INT 650 fuel tank was kept, but the subframe was cut down and a universal flat track seat was installed. A carbon front number plate and fork guards were added to complete the look of the motorcycle. David Tovar at SBK Paint took on the bodywork and tied everything together perfectly.
Partners / Special Thanks: Dynojet, Dubya Wheels, Öhlins, SBK Paint, Lee’s Cycle, Evol Technology, S&S Cycle, Beringer Brakes, and Nick Cliing.
