Although Ducati is now owned by Automobili Lamborghini, the Bologna company is regarded as the Ferrari of the motorcycle world. Since the 1950s, its sporting motorcycles have been a favorite target of racers, tweakers and customizers.
In the custom world, the SportClassic is regarded as the archetypal modern-day café racer. Designed by Pierre Terblanche and launched in 2003, the SportClassic was way ahead of its time and sold poorly until its demise in 2010. But nowadays, values of Ducati models are rising rapidly and the styling is uniquely pleasing to the eye.
The Pantah and Monster have always been popular Ducati bikes with builders, but we’re now seeing the purer sportbikes creeping into the scene—often with ‘retro fighter’ builds—and a huge number of Scrambler customs.
For most pro custom bike builders, working to a brief is the norm. So any opportunity to take on a carte blanche project is relished. This brawny Ducati café racer from Kris Reniers is one such machine—which is why it has of his favorite things rolled into one. Kris is the man behind Deep Creek…
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Most customs are driven by aesthetics. A handful are defined by engineering, and this very strange Ducati from St. Petersburg is one of them. It comes from Vitaliy Selyukov of the Balamutti workshop, and he’s a dab hand at pushing the engineering envelope. He’s the man who built a three-wheeled Hypermotard ice racer, and he’s…
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At first glance, the world of custom motorcycles is all about breaking with convention—stripping away the constraints of manufacturer ‘design language’ and legal mandatories. But in reality, bike building has its own set of conventions; from the small pool of suitable donor bikes to the way bodywork is usually restyled. Which makes this custom Vyrus…
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It’s not always pretty when the worlds of fashion and motorcycles collide, but some companies know how to do it right. Vietnamese apparel brand NUEN is a fresh face on the scene, but their first custom motorcycle build proves that they’re not playing around. Built using a 2015-model Ducati Scrambler 800 and named ‘Nu-One,’ this…
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Word of mouth is a powerful thing. You might not trust what you read on social media or see on TV, but…
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Flat track racing covers a whole spectrum of participation levels—from pro leagues to grassroots ‘run what ya brung’ events. And that’s great…
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Alex Earle broke onto the custom scene emphatically ten years ago, when he designed a monocoque carbon fiber body for the iconic…
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We’d love to take a peek inside Edi Buffon’s mind. The Sydney-based custom builder specializes in bobbers that deliberately eschew practicality in…
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Ducati enters the adventure bike fray in spectacular fashion with the new DesertX. We also look at a custom Honda CT125 from…
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There’s something lacking in contemporary superbike design. Aside from the odd alluring exception, most modern superbikes look sterile—even if they are lightning…
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This week’s bikes come in all shapes and sizes. We’ve got a Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer from Poland, a Suzuki Thunder 125…
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I’ll admit, my knowledge of vintage Ducatis is rudimentary at best—so I always feel a little out of my depth when talking…
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