In the UK it is nothing short of cultural phenomenon, and one of \nation’s biggest exports since The Beatles, but we never thought we’d be talking about Top Gear on these pages. From the glory days of Clarkson and Co. to the endless documentaries, national spin-offs offs and magazines, you would be hard pressed to find a person anywhere in the world who doesn’t know about the cult TV show. But over the last year, at TG HQ, they’ve been working on a custom motorcycle of their very own. And I must admit, I’m surprised, this is no slap-together pile of parts but a well thought out custom, built by some of the best in the industry. So, on today’s show, we pull back the curtains on Top Gear’s Royal Enfield Continental GT650, delve deep into its creation and meet the two-wheeled Stig, tasked with shaking down this very British bike.

The truth is, ever since the show was rebooted in 2002 with Clarkson, May and Hammond, there have been all sorts of projects and custom builds. They were often just not very functional, attractive nor the sort of thing we are likely to feature here. But the likes of the Reliant Robin Rocket, Toybota, and Mad-Maxerati have become so well known, that they’ve earned an exhibit at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, Hampshire. The crew even built a full Caterham 7 kit car in the office back in 2014, only to later realise they couldn’t get the bloody thing out the door. But it was decided that if they were to step into our world of two wheels, it might be worth consulting the experts.

Keen to get involved, Royal Enfield invited the Top Gear team down to their UK Tech Centre at Bruntingthorpe, to meet with expert designers like Adrian Sellers, to make a proper plan of things. The Conti 650 was the obvious choice for the build, and all agreed on a cafe racer styled bike, with a bunch of trick parts, improved performance, an iconic paint scheme and because there had to be a twist, lots of leather luggage. With that, a digital rendering was drawn up to be picked over by their website’s millions of visitors and the RE was packed up and sent off to suspension gurus, Nitron, to lay the foundation.

A hell of a British success story in their own right, the engineers at Nitron had already done the hard work, having developed a range of products for the RE models. So it was simply a matter of grabbing the very best bits off the shelf, with NTR R3 fully adjustable shocks for the rear and a complete cartridge kit for the front end. As these parts were being prepared, Central Wheel Components of Birmingham who have only been in the game since 1897, were putting together a sweet set of rims. The beautiful 36-spoke items were laced up and trued by four-decade veteran Chris, a sort of wheel Yoda, and then wrapped in Bridgestone Battlax BT46 tyres.

Now the roller was ready for the legends of speed, Harris Performance, now owned by RE, and they fired up the CNC machines to make some truly trick parts. The first piece of billet aluminium produced the stunning set of triple clamps, lighter, stiffer and still compatible with the stock ignition switch. These of course needed a set of clip-ons, which Harris made to suit the build and are fully adjustable, and work with an all-new set of rearsets to allow the bike to be set up for just about any rider. Having built endless race bikes over the years, HP then welded up a complete custom fairing stay, which is fitted with a full set of bushes so that the fibreglass doesn’t rattle around.

That glass body is inspired by Harris’ old Magnum racer but with the lower section crafted to beautifully hug the lines of the new engine. To give the bike a modern touch, an LED headlight has been brilliantly shaped into the fairing, which wears a clear screen and is complemented by a new front fender. The standard exhaust would never have fit, but being incredibly big and heavy it was always going to be ditched, and the French connection Baak sent out a set of their pipes and mufflers, saving 12.8kg. Time for paint, and Enfield has a seriously talented graphics department that had a special treat in store, inspired by the iconic BMW 3.0 CSL Le Mans car of Alexander Calder.

Designers Darline and Dani, transferred the photoshopped look onto the bike in stencil form, including the flowing Continental graphics. Then it was into the booth where painter and model maker extraordinaire, Pete Wycherley, wielded the paint gun to flow over the bike the incredible colour combination. Not to be outdone, seat guru Tom Hurley has gone to town, first shaping a stunning single saddle from a combination of memory foam and gel, which is then covered in a waterproof membrane. Over the top of which, he’s gone for Water Buffalo hide and Alcantara, and finished it off with a neatly stitched graphics package.

To ensure every last detail was taken care of, Urban Rider turned the functional into cool, with new wiring, grips, mirrors and indicators. And the UK’s own Hel Performance replaced all of the hydraulic lines on the bike with their braided stainless steel items. Of course, we know Top Gear love to adventure to all corners of the globe and Fastec Racing and Malle London gave the bike a complete custom set of CNC luggage holders and the most marvellous set of suitcases. And finally, to prove they weren’t messing about, BSB Rookie of the Year, Charlie ‘Spud’ Nesbitt, road the living shit out of the RE on the race track, giving it a good shake down and even dialling in the suspension to get it spot on. It might not be the kind of Supercar many Top Gear fans are used to, but for the cost of a reasonably priced car, this Royal Enfield is definitely a star.