There’s a formulation 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 sooner or later. However this was not all the time the established order.
There was a time when particular editions had been actually particular—like the enduring Ducati 900 MHR. Based mostly on the Ducati 900 Supersport, the ‘Mike Hailwood Reproduction’ celebrated the racer’s legendary 1978 Isle of Man TT comeback with race reproduction bodywork, and sought-after upgrades like greater 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 an entire whack of different enhancements. Whereas over 7,000 MHRs had been produced between 1979 and 1985, only one,100 had been MHR Mille models. 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 staff at Benjie’s Café Racers. And the reason being as a result of his shopper requested him to.
“Sure, I do know it’s historical past, however I would like one thing distinctive,” Benjie quotes his shopper 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 tooth into it. And if the concept of reducing 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 getting older sportbike. BCR tore the bike all the way down to its body, constructing it up with new bodywork that exhibits 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, “one of the vital iconic in motorbike historical past. We retained its total form—however adjusted the scale 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 gasoline reservoir mounted beneath.
Reasonably than reference the MHR Mille for the bike’s new tail part, BCR let the form of the gasoline 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 chrome 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 an alternative.
BCR additionally put in a set of Showa upside-downs up entrance, as a result of, as Benjie places it, “the outdated Nineteen Eighties suspension needed to go.” The working gear was upgraded additional with a set of beautiful (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 strains 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 transferring to carbon fiber, aiming for a stretched design that may move 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 to be clear sufficient to eat off, fed by a pair of burly FCR carbs. Gasses exit through a wonderfully proportioned asymmetrical twin exhaust system, produced from pie-cut chrome 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 pressure, 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.
For those who should customise a bike as particular because the Ducati MHR Mille, take a web page out of BCR’s guide 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.
For those who’re nonetheless pining for an unique 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…
BCR Designs | Fb | Instagram | Pictures by Ben Chan
