We love a nice custom motorcycle around here at RideApart. Take this Ducati S2R from Kickass Tuning, a custom shop in Estonia. If you’re thinking maybe they’ve taken a beautiful Italian motorcycle and made it even more Italian, you’re not alone, and you’re right.
Listen Up Manufacturers:
This bike started out its life as one of the lesser-known variations of the Ducati Monster—the S2R 800. Like its pre-2015 siblings, it’s powered by an air-cooled L twin. This one, though, has an 803cc engine and a high-zoot slipper clutch, from back when factory slipper clutches weren’t really a thing on street bikes.
This bike wasn’t really a hit, though, since folks who wanted small bikes went for the 600cc Monsters and those after raw, naked power went after the 1,000cc machines. The riders who coughed up the extra dough for Ducati’s Goldilocks Monster somewhere between 2005 and 2008 were not disappointed, though.
The bike’s owner brought it into their favorite Estonian garage for a bit of a spiffing and apparently got a little carried away. The new paint job morphed into a full but subtle custom job. Deep green paint on the gas tank perfectly accentuates the gold wheels and forks. The design is pulled together in the Gucci-themed brown leather saddle and the gorgeous gold calligraphic-font “Ducati” name on the tank.
That single-sided swingarm is an original piece, as are the wheels and upside-down forks, though those latter parts have been gold powder-coated. The rear subframe has been expertly bobbed under that fancy saddle. The good news about the S2R 800 is its classic styling keeps it from looking dated, unlike a lot of the other Monsters of its day.
The headlight is from a modern Ducati Scrambler, and this S2R has been upgraded with clip-ons over its original handlebars and a new aftermarket speedometer from Acewell. Those super sexy low-profile bar-end mirrors, all in a really gorgeous satin black, finish the look of the cockpit. The front fender has either been replaced or thoroughly cut down. The original rear fender, as with so many customs, is altogether missing.
The only wart on this otherwise-stunning motorcycle is that exhaust. It is true that the original bright silver pair of high pipes would not have complemented this build in the least, but the silencer the garage has gone with looks like a home-made spray-painted last-minute blob. I hope very much that the new owner replaces it with something, I don’t know, perhaps in a carbon fiber finish?
Source: Kickass Tuning FB, BikeExif, Bennetts, Kickass Tuning