Well, this has been a long time brewing, but project il Bastardo is now officially under way.
How did we get here?
After a lifetime of owning lots of different bikes, I felt that I'd only be truly happy if I designed one just for me - to suit all my own preferences and to be a one-off.
I was not really sure what shape that would take until I saw what some guys in the States did a few years ago - they basically took a Ducati Monster and converted it into a big trail bike. It's an odd starting point for a traillie - granted - but to me the finished product just looked beautiful. After a long string of heavyweight adventure bikes, I like the idea of a lean, nimble middleweight bike.
Plus, I have an affection for my old Cagiva Elefant - basically Ducati's Paris Dakar vision in the 90s - and I think that in some way the il Bastardo conversion might be a purer version of what the Elefant may have become, had Ducati not gone down the Multistrada route.
Last year my planets aligned and I knew it was time to take this idea a bit more seriously.
More to follow, but here's where we're aiming:
How did we get here?
After a lifetime of owning lots of different bikes, I felt that I'd only be truly happy if I designed one just for me - to suit all my own preferences and to be a one-off.
I was not really sure what shape that would take until I saw what some guys in the States did a few years ago - they basically took a Ducati Monster and converted it into a big trail bike. It's an odd starting point for a traillie - granted - but to me the finished product just looked beautiful. After a long string of heavyweight adventure bikes, I like the idea of a lean, nimble middleweight bike.
Plus, I have an affection for my old Cagiva Elefant - basically Ducati's Paris Dakar vision in the 90s - and I think that in some way the il Bastardo conversion might be a purer version of what the Elefant may have become, had Ducati not gone down the Multistrada route.
Last year my planets aligned and I knew it was time to take this idea a bit more seriously.
More to follow, but here's where we're aiming: