Bandit9’s Liquid Metal Ducati 821 Is An Art Deco Rocketship

Blending high performance parts with breathtaking bodywork to create a one-of-nine custom motorcycle.

Photo by: RideApart.com

By: Justin W Coffey

Jul 29, at 7:26am ET

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I must be honest; I’m not really into custom motorcycles. All too often they are a bad version of an okay thing. Sure, they usually look better, but I’m more of a function-over-form kind of guy. And considering an entire team of white lab coat wearing engineers work - often for years - to design, develop, test and eventually deliver a new motorcycle to the masses, the custom bike just feels like it’s flawed, inherently.

Sure, production bikes have their flaws, too, and typically need some improvements to suit the rider or the terrain or the adventure they intend to set out on. But from the factory, they’re usually pretty good at doing the thing they were designed to do.

Photo by: RideApart.com

Take the Ducati Monster 821 as an example. A mid-sized, V-twin powered upright naked bike that Ducati marketed as a sort of entry point to their portfolio. It’s powerful, with the 821cc Testastretta L-Twin engine producing 110 horsepower and 65.8 ft-lb of torque. And it’s fast, too, with a 0–60 mph time of 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 125 mph. It has an approachable seat height, a decent sized fuel tank and is guaranteed to make you smile.

So, why screw up a good thing?

Bandit9, a Saigon-based motorcycle design studio founded by Daryl Villanueva, took the proverbial knife to a Ducati Monster 821 in order to create the Bandit9 Liquid Metal. The bike began life as a one-off custom built for a San Francisco collector that wanted to standout on the twisty backroads outside of The Golden City but evolved into a limited production run of nine custom motorcycles.

According to designboom, the bike “represents Bandit9’s approach to motorcycle design through the combination of mechanical performance, sculptural form, and material experimentation.”

Okay, I’ll admit it… This thing is a vibe. It’s like Amelia Earhart and Kristanna Loken’s character from Terminator 3 got together and cooked up a carbon fiber and aluminum totem to the motorcycling gods.

The Liquid Metal Ducati features a custom tubular steel trellis frame with cast aluminum sections, and rides on a non-adjustable 43mm Sachs fork and a preload/rebound adjustable Sachs rear shock. There’s dual 320mm Brembo discs with four-piston monobloc calipers up front and a 245mm rear disc, both with ABS. The 16-liter fuel tank provides roughly 145 miles of range, which is reasonable considering the bike weighs 386-lbs dry.

Photo by: RideApart.com

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The polished aluminum bodywork transitions into carbon fiber sections without any visible panel gaps or mounting points, like the two materials were meant for one another. The aluminum panels are finished by hand, alternating between brushed and reflective treatments depending on the direction of the bodywork. There’s a single-sided swingarm that allows our eyeballs to linger on the split-spoke rear wheel, while custom foot pegs, mirrors, and controls continue the minimalist theme.

There are more specs and numbers, but that’s not the point of something like this, is it? As much as I’m not one for custom anything, I am the first to admit when something is built and performs better than its original form.