Pirelli 2015

DUCATI 900SS BY OLD EMPIRE MOTORCYCLES

The Ducati 900SS is a motorcycle that’s rapidly becoming a bit of a modern classic, custom bike builders have been discovering the raw mechanical beauty that lies just beneath the original fairings but no one has quite showcased the 900SS as well as Old Empire Motorcycles with the example you see pictured here.

The bike started life as a 1995 900SS with its iconic Pantah-based 904cc air-cooled L-twin, each cylinder is fed by two Desmodue valves and the crankcase was a modified version of the one used on the Ducati 851. This engine has long been a favourite amongst the Ducatista and from a purely aesthetic standpoint it looks like it belongs in a modern art museum in between a Series I E-Type Jaguar and a Riva.

Ducati had introduced the 900SS in 1989 and although it was beautiful and highly capable, it frequently suffered from cracked swing-arms – so in 1991 Ducati introduced an upgraded model with a chrome-molybdenum steel trellis frame and bearings rather than bushings where the previously problematic swing-arm attached to the frame.

This new version was a revelation, it offered impressive reliability with tire melting performance and looks that would go on to influence motorcycle designers around the world. By the late ’90s the Ducati Monster had begun to steal some of the limelight from the 900SS due to its lower cost and more beginner-friendly handling, by 1998 a redesigned version was released with somewhat controversial styling – this has led to the popularity now seen around the 900SS from the model years 1991 to 1998.

As you can clearly tell, the Ducati you see here has undergone an intensive custom rebuild and many parts from the original bike are now in the parts bin. Looking at the design closely it gives an impression of what Ducati would have built if they were competing with Indian, Harley-Davidson and Cyclone on the board track circuits of the United States throughout the 1910s and 1920s.

Any regular visitor to Silodrome will be well aware that we have a significant soft spot for anything board track related and I have vague memories of writing an article a few years ago demanding that the frequently lethal sport be brought back with immediate effect. I’m reasonably sure I even offered to bring my own hammer to help build the wooden tracks.

With this in mind you can imagine how interested we were to receive a folder of images from the team at Old Empire Motorcycles containing the Ducati pictured here. The build project took them almost 2 years and unlike the other customs they build, this one wasn’t built for a client. It was a personal project for the team and the freedom afforded them by not having to keep a client happy allowed them to throw out the rule book and fire up the acetylene torch.

Perhaps the most immediately eye-catching element on the build is that Girder fork front end and brass headlight, when combined with the 21″ front wheel and quad leading shoe drum brake you’d never know that the bike was less than 20 years old. A single leading shoe drum is installed inside the 21″ rear wheel and the swing-arm has been entirely removed in favour of a solid rear – far more fitting on a motorcycle designed to race on a circuit made of two-by-fours.

The copper tubing and braided wiring around the engine are tasteful touches, as is the extensive use of brass and leather. The fuel tank is a hand-fabricated twin-tank with copper plugs and the seat is a similarly handmade unit – the guys at Old Empire tell me that the seat is perfect for blasting around British B-roads but is probably not entirely suitable for long distance motorcycle touring.

If you’d like to read more about this Ducati or see some of the other custom motorcycles to roll out of the Old Empire garage you can click here to visit their official website.

Photography by Onno Wieringa.

via SILODROME

deBolex London

DEBOLEX MK5

There’s one thing that unites builders, bakers and candlestick makers; the ability to stand back and say “I did that”. Even as an unvocalised thought, it holds the power to strive for more, for better, for improvement. And one thing that unites humans is the natural desire to be liked or acknowledged. Calum from deBolex Engineering is one of those happy blokes who does what he loves, does it well and people like him. Not only that, they like his bikes. So much so that there’s a virtual queue forming outside his countryside shed. One man in line was Ricardo, a record producer living in Ibiza. (No this isn’t some fairytale) Ricardo wanted to blast around in Balearic music industry style and a deBolex bike exactly fitted the bill.

One of Calum’s previous builds, the MK3, had Ricardo reaching for the chequebook and a Honda CB750f2n was sourced. With all the visual bulk up-front on these CBs it pays to graft in a set of fatter upside-down forks. The deBolex tried and tested R1 fork upgrade allows the mention of the original Honda front wheel. Twin discs keep the look balanced and keep Ricardo from flying off a cliff somewhere.

The top yoke has been machined to accept the Motogadget speedo, clean and efficient; got to love German engineers. The Brits get a look in too, Renthal clipons give a good degree of adjustability and are really nicely made. Keeping things multicultural, Brembo levers pump fluid form billet reservoirs.

The fuel tank is from a CB650 which was encouraged to fit with a few mods, good behaviour was rewarded with a sumptuous paint job. In a break from the deBolex black the front half of the tank is metal-effect silver with multiple coats of lacquer over this and the deep cherry red metalic. Just under the tank is a meshed battery box containing slimmed down wiring and lightweight Shorai Li-Ion battery.

The now ubiquitous chop ‘n’ loop has a slight twist here, a pair of LED tail light housings are neatly grafted into the subframe. The holes you can see aren’t an oversight, deBolex don’t do oversight. Ricardo wanted to be able to whisk bikini-clad crumpet around the White Isle so a removable pillion seat cover was fabricated. A subtle cafe style tail, with practicality and simple installation. It took a few attempts to achieve a “duck’s beak look” whilst hugging but not touching the leather.

The colour scheme continues with a vibrant, diamond stitched medium grain leather seat, complete with a slight hump which looks better than a flat plank, brat-style wafer. The frame in silver powder coat sets of the red and the flakes in the red, as well as the aluminium castings on the rear shocks. If you know Calum you’ll know the colour match was no coincidence.

The Öhlins shockers don’t disappoint in performance or looks and the trademark anodised gold is picked-up on the brake caliber piston caps and fork adjusters. Attention to detail, we like that.

Dunlop Mutants are fast becoming a go-to tyre for builders wanting a very slight whiff off flat-trackery whilst keeping their customers in once piece, and more importantly in the queue for another build. So, ever the gentleman, and businessman, Calum fitted a pair. Tarozzi  rear sets and pillion pegs are softly knurled to prevent wear to Ricardo’s dancing shoes.

Rebuilt carbs running handmade mesh filters, which match the battery box, fuel a standard engine but a far from standard exhaust. When asked to specify this component Ricardo simply said “short and loud”, so a nearly baffle-less 4-into-1 stainless system gives road users the heads-up “the sound, Wow! It BARKS, like a furious dog, haha, really noisy, but i love it!! There are some tunnels in the highway here, I cannot get tired of going there…” Mission accomplished!

After a few late nights the shipping deadline was looming, but good planning left enough time for a good road test. Calum left his shed near Croydon and went for a ride, with now real plan, just to put some miles on the clock. Sometime later he pulled up at CRC Motorcycles in Wembley. I know this because I had to down tools when I heard something loud and lairy roaring through the industrial estate. On a fine sunny autumn day the paintwork looked excellent and worthy change from the usual black.

The rest of the bike warranted positive comment from myself, CRC bossman Will and his crew; a really decent build, built for riding. Calum left us, still with no plan, and rode into the afternoon, through the night and into the early hours knowing he’d soon have to say goodbye to his endeavours.

But not just yet, a few hours later the DGR London kicked off from Borough Market under a scorching sun and the deBolex MK5 behaved in a gentlemanly manner through the throng of some 800 slow moving custom bikes. Riding alongside I was lucky enough to cop an earful of that exhaust going through the Blackfriars Underpass, Ricardo is right, a furious dog indeed.

Whilst Ricardo and his Honda enjoy paradise together Calum is back in his shed working on the build queue, and another exciting venture…more to follow soon. Keep an eye on the deBolex website and their Facebook page, or check out the latest video here.

via The Bike Shed