Exclusive interview | MCN chats with the designer behind the bikes in Netflix film The Kitchen

Royal Enfield have bagged a starring role in new Netflix film The Kitchen, directed by Black Panther and Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya alongside Kibwe Tavares. Read sister title Empire’s review of The Kitchen right here.

Enfield produced a version of their latest Shotgun 650 cruiser for the movie, with the bike ridden by Top Boy actor Kane Robinson (otherwise known as Kano). 

Out now on the streaming service, the film is set in a dystopian London where the gap between the rich and poor has been stretched to its limits. The bike is ridden by Robinson in the film, with Enfield producing three machines in time for the shoot. 

Enfield’s Head of Custom and Motorsport, Adrian Sellers, led the team behind the project. “I guess the whole process was two to three months,” he said. “It was a very quick turnaround, but it was a nice process in the sense that it was great going back and forth with the production team and getting a sense of their vision. 

“They built this whole world – this projected future – and so understanding what their world looked like was a super-important part,” Sellers continued. “We sketched on that and threw it out to the whole team, both in India and in the UK, to generate ideas.”

Despite using the just-launched £6699 Shotgun 650 as a base, the build took place around two years ago. It’s only by sheer luck that the bike has been made available so close to the film’s release date. 

“That’s purely coincidental by the way, there was no intent in lining that up!” he smiled. “But the idea was to use a bike that people wouldn’t be quite as familiar with. 

“Obviously, we changed quite a bit of the bodywork, but also in having a base chassis that is a little less prevalent for us and a bit newer, it helps that feeling of the future.”

Changes are purely cosmetic – with the 46bhp 648cc parallel twin, tubular steel spine chassis, and running gear all remaining the same. Clip-on cladding was chosen as it can be replaced and reproduced quickly, and reduces the risk of mechanical failure. 

“Because of the very tight timeframe and because of the requirements of a movie, if something goes wrong and you can’t do that day’s shoot, that money goes away but you still have to get the shot,” Sellers explained. “The second you start rewiring, you’re asking for trouble.”

Members of the team visited the London set to make sure the bike behaved as it should, with one scene requiring a crash. 

“We had to crash one, which is a very uncomfortable feeling when you’ve put all the work in,” Sellers added. “If anything goes wrong with that, that’s a huge risk on set.”