Perfection. It’s a glittering prize that many of us endlessly strive for but few rarely achieve. For all the polished-to-perfection show winners you see around the traps, there’s a million builds that are quit on or just left to rot. But what if, instead of throwing in the towel on the build itself, you gave up on the idea of that ‘perfect’ bike? What if you took more of a racing approach and simply considered the bike as something that was constantly evolving? A new part here, a modification there. And all with the aim of making something that was just straight up badass and damn fast. Because that’s just what Jens and the boys at JvB-moto have done. And if this is what happens when you kick perfection to the kerb, we’re not so sure it’s such a big loss after all.
“The aim with this special was to build a usable, fast, unrestored, everyday machine,” says Jens. “It’s not a design concept aiming for a final visual perfection. Instead, it’s a work in progress; ride, modify, repeat. Now, I usually don`t care much about cars, but I am a big fan of the Magnus Walker Porsche 911s and I wanted to somehow give this bike a similar spirit. A hard ridden, tuned classic with some ‘illegal street racing’ style.”
The base for the project was a low milage Ducati 750 sport from ‘88. JvB say they chose the 750 because of the death-proof engine, the clean lines of the fuel tank and the 16” wheels. Especially the wheels. I think we can all agree that, together with the new Avon radial tyres, they work damn well, despite (or maybe because of) their distinctive ‘80′s formula 1” balloon look. The fuel tank was slightly modified and mounted about 20mm more towards the front. Together with the clip on’s, lowered footrests and the newly designed tail unit, it gives the Duke an comfy, all-day riding position.
“The frame was cut and heavily modified. Of course, the airbox had to go and some we added some Mikuni flat slide racing carbs, themselves fitted with K+N Filters give the bike a beautiful response and a completely different power delivery. The suspension is a Showa damper from the 750SS series in the rear and a stock Marzochi front fork, both modified to work with the lower weight. We’re proud to say that the tail unit and the distinctive headlight are both JvB-moto custom parts.”
Similarly, the electric box and a barely there alloy front fender are one-off parts. The stoppers are modified stock units and apparently work quite well with the new-found low weight. The 2-in-1 exhaust was made from stainless steel leftovers and the raw Italian screams are barely hushed in a Termignoni Titan can, originally made for a 1100 Monster.
Jens finishes on a hooligan note. “Of course you can’t compare it to a modern superbike, but with a weight of 155 kg without gas and about 80 horses, it runs incredibly well and if you want to; you can be very, very quick.” Naturally, the bike will stay a one-off. But JvB was keen to point out that some of the parts you see here are available in their web shop, should you be overcome by a sudden urge for imperfection.
via PIPEBURN
