There’s a system for releasing a particular version motorbike these days, and it’s a lazy one. Take an current bike out of your mannequin lineup, give it fancy graphics and a handful of shiny accouterments, and name it a tribute to somebody who could or could not have had a obscure connection to your model in some unspecified time in the future. However this was not all the time the established order.

There was a time when particular editions had been really particular—like the long-lasting Ducati 900 MHR. Primarily based on the Ducati 900 Supersport, the ‘Mike Hailwood Duplicate’ celebrated the racer’s legendary 1978 Isle of Man TT comeback with race reproduction bodywork, and sought-after upgrades like larger Dell’Orto carbs, Brembo brakes and Conti silencers. It offered like hotcakes.

The Ducati MHR Mille adopted just a few years later, with an improved 973 cc motor making 76 horsepower, an electrical starter, a hydraulically actuated clutch, and a complete whack of different enhancements. Whereas over 7,000 MHRs had been produced between 1979 and 1985, just one,100 had been MHR Mille items. That, and the truth that it was the final bevel-driven twin produced by Ducati, makes the MHR Mille remarkably uncommon.

So who on Earth could be daring sufficient to customise one, and why? The reply is Benjie Flipprboi and his crew at Benjie’s Café Racers. And the reason being as a result of his consumer requested him to.

“Sure, I do know it’s historical past, however I need one thing distinctive,” Benjie quotes his consumer as saying. “It’s my bike, my cash. F*ck the purists.”

Regardless of the bike’s heritage, the BCR crew was greater than able to sink their enamel into it. And if the thought of chopping up a Ducati MHR Mille nonetheless sends you into apoplectic shock, relaxation assured that the donor bike was in dire want of saving. A sufferer of a restoration try within the 90s, it wore light paint, low cost plastics, cracked tires, and had a mountain of mechanical and electrical faults.

The 1985 Ducati MHR Mille was an icon of the blocky late-70s and early-80s race bike aesthetic, however Benjie envisioned a extra up to date and streamlined search for the ageing sportbike. BCR tore the bike right down to its body, constructing it up with new bodywork that reveals hints of Pierre Terblanche’s good 2001 Ducati MH900e design.

Just like the MH900e, shades of the MHR Mille are nonetheless current in BCR’s re-imagining. “The unique tank’s form is unmistakable,” says Benjie, “some of the iconic in motorbike historical past. We retained its general form—however adjusted the size for higher proportions.”

BCR created a mannequin of the brand new tank, which was then used as the idea for a mildew. That mildew was then used to make an outer shell out of carbon fiber, with a bespoke aluminum gas reservoir mounted beneath.

Relatively than reference the MHR Mille for the bike’s new tail part, BCR let the form of the gas tank dictate the design. A prototype of the tail unit was fabricated out of metal, earlier than being recreated in carbon fiber and handled to suede upholstery.

The tail sits atop a custom-made stainless-steel subframe, set at a pointy angle to create an aggressive silhouette. Gone are the MHR Mille’s twin rear shocks; BCR widened and braced the OEM swingarm and put in a mono-shock as a substitute.

BCR additionally put in a set of Showa upside-downs up entrance, as a result of, as Benjie places it, “the outdated Eighties suspension needed to go.” The operating gear was upgraded additional with a set of gorgeous (and light-weight) carbon fiber wheels from BST, plus trendy twin disc brakes, and Michelin Pilot Road Radial tires. (An offset entrance sprocket ensures that the chain traces up completely with the wider-than-stock rear wheel.)

The Ducati MHR Mille’s slender entrance fairing is one other well-judged murals. BCR as soon as once more began with a metal mannequin earlier than shifting to carbon fiber, aiming for a stretched design that may movement seamlessly to the tank. It’s held in place by basic fairing stays, with a slick-looking aluminum bezel cradling the low-slung headlight.

The same aluminum barrel holds the speedo simply behind the windscreen. The cockpit additionally sports activities Brembo brake and clutch controls, and contemporary Domino grips.

The MHR Mille’s once-neglected L-twin motor now seems clear sufficient to eat off, fed by a pair of burly FCR carbs. Gasses exit through a wonderfully proportioned asymmetrical twin exhaust system, made out of pie-cut stainless-steel. With one conical muffler exiting alongside the swingarm and the opposite flanking the seat, it’s the kind of system that wouldn’t look misplaced on a well-sorted Ducati SportClassic.

The bodywork alone is a tour de power, however the Ducati’s new livery pushes it into the stratosphere. Uncooked carbon fiber dominates the construct, punctuated by inexperienced and white graphics that pay homage to the unique MHR graphics. A coat of gunmetal gray on the body ties the entire thing collectively.

Should you should customise a bike as particular because the Ducati MHR Mille, take a web page out of BCR’s e book and do it proper. We love the MHR as a lot as the following man, however there’s not a single misstep on this impressed reimagining of it.

Should you’re nonetheless pining for an authentic MHR Mille although, there’s a one-mile instance on the market over at Iconic Motorbikes proper now, for a cool $53,500. Simply think about parking each in your storage…

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