In Cafe Racer magazine’s latest August/September issue, we cover the global custom bike building competition taking place during July’s massed World Ducati Weekend in Italy. The firm invited ten of the best Ducati custom wizards to joint his annual affair that draws over 120,000 Ducatisti to the Misano racetrack in the beautiful Adriatic region.
There were stretch choppers(!) race replicas and some truly weird Italian bikes entered into the show, but we noticed a distinct trend. For evidence, look no further than a wicked, all-black 600 Monster done up by entrant Luca Pozzato. The veteran bike designer has spent several years honing his Ducati chops and the trellis-framed special – named Lucenera or “Light To Black” in English- won him a spot in the contest’s top ten. This was a modern cafe racer style at its finest, right down to the missile-shaped front bikini fairing and stark gold frame. The top prize went to American custom impresario Ronaldo Nasso Ferretti who’s entry bore an undeniable likeness to Ducati’s short-lived Sport Classic of the early 2000s. His British Racing Green ride was named Verde and based on a Monster S2R naked. Its lines copied the now-revered retro factory cafe racer right down to the long, flat-topped fuel tank, bulbous half-fairing and wrist-stretching riding position.
When viewed alongside Pozatto’s machine, both represent an emerging trend by both Ducati owners and the factory itself towards revisiting the Sport Classic in various forms. It was just a few months earlier that Ducati introduced Project 73 a limited-edition retro ride designed to resemble the race-wining 750 Supersport of 1972. Based on Ducati’s hot-selling (and surprisingly affordable) 803cc Scrambler, only 873 of the air-cooled roadsters were offered to the public. These sold out online within just a few days.
And, as we recently saw with Triumph’s Street Twin 1200 SE, a fast-selling limited edition bike generally proves to manufacturers that a less-costly version would sell nearly as fast in showrooms.
So don’t be surprised to see a new, Scrambler-based factory custom from Ducati in the coming months as the company appears ready to capitalize on their Sport Classics, a line of motorcycles that sold poorly when launched back in 2004, only to become collectors items some 10 years later.
