CAFÉ RACER 76

It’s hard to believe that this pristine looking bike was totalled after a crash last year, as not only has it been totally rebuilt, it’s become one of the nicest Ducati Sport Classic 1000s we’ve come across – and we’ve seen a few.

The owner, Andy, is part of a group of crazy Belgians who ride in a cafe racer club called the Flying Hermans, which they started up a couple of years so. Last summer he crashed his pride and joy on a ride, and although it was a insurance write-off Andy simply couldn’t let the bike go so he decided to rebuild it, with “one or two few improvements”…

Purists, look away now, …because, Andy needed a new frame and the donor was a limited edition Paul Smart replica, which he painted black. (Gulp). The gas tank also came from a PS1000LE, which unlike his original bike is cut flat at the front to accommodate a steering damper and the fairing mounts, which he wasn’t gonna need, so this was modified. What Andy also did before re-painting the tank – in his shed – was to strip it back and leave a clear fuel window, echoing the way Ducati racers used to check fuel levels at the track side back in the 1970s. It works too.

The cafe racer seat is home-built and is a huge improvement over the original wide rear-end that Ducati saw fit to attach to these otherwise gorgeous bikes. The leather upholstery was by Motokouture. The aluminium wire spoke wheels were ditched and replaced with a pair of Marchesini wheels from a Ducati 999, which are a lot lighter than the original hoops, but also allow the use of tubeless tyres and made it possible to fit Brembo four-pot calipers from a Ducati 998, biting down onto a pair of Braking wave discs.

The small headlight is from Motowheels, while the gauges are lowered with a couple of clever little bracket adapters, flattening the line of the bike above the bars. The black clip-ons come from Speedymoto and mini mirrors are from the UK bling-maker, Oberon.

Down to the engine – and all that exposed bling. Those awesome steam-punk twin exhausts that look like a left over prop from a Flash Gordon movie are a full titanium system from Zard. Providing a literal window into the workings of the Ducati twinspark desmo 1000cc engine are an open clutch cover from DPM and a transparent belt covers from Rizoma.

Most of these rare Ducati Sport Classics are either bog-standard and modded to the max, but this one is a little bit special, with a combination of tastefully selected aftermarket parts, unique bodywork and paint, and high performance parts donated from higher performance machines in the Ducati range. The finished bike is our idea of perfection.

Andy wants us to give his special thanks to Bart, aka ‘de langen’, who helped him to make the seat and did the painting, and a hug for his long-suffering wife, Anneke, for the many hours she spent alone in the house while he was in his shed. Amen to that.

Photos by Fred at True Biker Spirit from thebikeshed