The mechanophile who brought laurels to the city

The guys at Reza Hussain Customs (RHC) give riders the feeling of God with their creations, all exclusive pieces of art. Going by their tagline ‘Your ride, our customs’, it is obvious that the guys in the business are all passionate about bikes. But the man behind the label, Kuwait-born Reza Hussain, who fell in love with motorbikes at the age of nine, is more than just passionate. In 1999, he made his first custom build on a Yamaha RX100.

“I got my first bike, a Yamaha RX10, during my intermediate in 1998. But I wasn’t happy. Every Tom, Dick and Harry had this bike. So in two months, I started altering it,” Reza said. It was no surprise that Reza’s Yamaha was a hit among friends, neighbours, passers-by and even the cops. It was a nightmare too — every time this Yamaha stopped, traffic came to a halt, his bike was mobbed.

“Now I take these customised bikes out at night or early in the morning only,” says Reza, who commutes on one of his two regular bikes. He didn’t want to stop at that, so after completing his masters from the UK he gave up his nine-to-five job to give wings to his dream.Reza has managed to defend his title at the India Bike Week (IBW) 2015, which concluded in Goa recently.

His ‘Da Bang’, a customised Harley-Davidson (a serious Sallu fan maybe) looks quite like the one that Batman rode in ‘The Dark Knight’, won the ‘build-off’ contest. Last year, he had topped this category with ‘Valeno Mortale’, a Royal Enfield fitted with the world’s biggest motorcycle tyre.

“I first attended IBW in 2013 as a visitor. I was shocked to find not even one bike builder from Hyderabad, who could represent our city on a national level. That’s why I decided to come back in 2014. I am glad that I won the trophy,” said the 33-year-old, who left his IT job in 2014, a little ahead of his IBW stint.

Currently, Hussain is living off his savings, investments, customising bikes for friends and customers under the label ‘RH Customs’ and selling these marvelous machines. At the bike week, someone offered to buy his Harley for Rs 35 lakh, but he refused. “I don’t want to give it away right now, so soon,” said Reza.

“I have customised cars too, I also drive them. But with bikes, you know, when the air hits your face, the experience is liberating. It’s freedom,” he chirps. But the mechanophile doesn’t plan to stick around in the customising scene. “Through the last few years, my family has been very supportive. But now I think it is time for new people to come into the picture,” he concludes.