Designer Arjun Khanna is all for going retro, riding high on his obsession with old motorbikes and cameras

When he’s at work, fashion designer Arjun Khanna seeks out the newest cutting-edge trends. But his constant striving for the new and trendy conceals the heart of a collector who’s always on the lookout for old and beautiful objects. 

It could be a silent-era movie projector or antique furniture, old radios or the huge trunks that people once took on sea voyages. 

“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure and I’m crazy about collecting antique stuff. It could be anything from trunks to old embroidery and even machine parts,” says Khanna. 

But Khanna has focused his love for antiques in two directions — old motorcycles and cameras. He has 15 bikes and 20 cameras. But he insists that numbers don’t matter in the collecting game. 

Khanna started collecting motorbikes six years ago. As a kid he always wanted to own a bike and was very impressed by a PT teacher who came to school on a black Royal Enfield. “The sound of the Bullet used to give us a kick and I cherished the ambition of owning one someday,” he said, laughing. 

He failed to persuade his reluctant parents to buy him one. Then on a trip to Chennai six years back, he saw an old Enfield, fell in love at first sight and bought it. Returning to Mumbai, he became a member of UK’s Royal Enfield Club. “Today, they send me brochures and pictures of old motorcycles from the Enfield company. It helps me restore the old pieces,” he says. Besides, he is also in touch with several collectors in India and constantly surfs the Internet to network with other buyers. Mumbai’s Chor Bazaar is a “one-point market for any machine parts and antiques”, he says. Once he managed to pick up all the crucial parts of a BSA motorcycle in a gunny bag from there. He then restored the bike with his mechanic’s help.

Khanna has several Royal Enfields that have been lovingly restored. He admits that he loves their retro looks. He once drove from Mumbai to Pune in four and a half hours. “They’re not speed machines,” he says. 

Today he’s also the proud owner of a string of other motorcycles like the 1938 Norton 500cc, a British motorcycle company based in Birmingham. He picked it up for its history, innovative engineering and great road presence. Other special pieces are a 1955 Triumph, the 1950s AJS (A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd), and the Matchless (1950).

“Japanese competition had driven British firms such as Enfield, Norton and Triumph underground. But I really got hooked on to these old British motorcycles and love owning them,” he says.

Another showstopper in his collection is a 1960 M20 BSA (Birmingham Small Arms). He recalls how a Parsi gentleman contributed mechanical parts to help restore this machine. Khanna, along with his mechanic, has carefully restored it, adding new tyres, seats and other parts.

The cost factor is not crucial when restoring bikes, he insists and he has bought engine parts for as little as Rs 1,000 from Chor Bazaar. 

He keeps his motorcycles outside his studio in Mumbai. “Since these are old machines, glitches are bound to happen. I maintain them regularly,” he says.