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Deus Ex Machina

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When men name their motorcycles, it is usually with a feminine name. This is a tradition that dates back to early mariners, who were often away from their loved ones for incredibly long periods of time, and remembered their wives and girlfriends by naming ships after them.

It is an interesting tradition we do now though – this naming of motorcycles – especially as the horsepower figures have climbed higher and higher and the curb weight measurements have dwindled lower and lower.

Names like “Heartsbane” or “Widow’s Wail” would seem more appropriate for modern motorcycles, especially if you feel the night is dark and full of terrors.

So, when you consider the hours that Michael “Woolie” Woolaway has spent in his workshop slaving over the next iteration of his Pikes Peak race bike away from his loved ones while creates the ultimate motorcycle for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the name “Beastie” seems far more appropriate than something like “Samantha” – our apologies to the Samantha’s in the crowd, of course.

If you are going to race at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, you might want to bring something a little bit more peppy than a stock Ducati Hypermotard – not that the Italian street bike isn’t tons of fun, but its now-rated 110hp is going to be robbed blind at it approaches the 14,000+ foot summit.

That is where Michael Woolaway’s latest project for Deus Ex Machina comes into play, as Woolie has taken the Hypermotard, dropped massive amounts of power into its chassis, and then stripped every last bit of unnecessary weight off the machine.

With 200hp on tap, and a paltry 345 lbs measured when fully fueled and on the scales, Woolie’s Pikes Peak Hypermotard is the ultimate in function before form. Of course, the minimalist technical requirements play into Woolie’s bare-bones design as well.

With the debut of the MV Agusta F4Z – a custom superbike designed in partnership with Italian design house Zagato – I thought we would add some contrast to that machine with another special motorcycle that started life in Varese: Deus Ex Machina’s “AgoTT” street bike.

I recently got to see the AgoTT doing laps at Laguna Seca (note the balled racing slicks), and was immediately impressed with the build – the guys at Deus in Los Angeles really did a superb job with this machine, which has a nice balance of old and new in its design.

I also love the fact that we are seeing some great pieces of work get built from the MV Agusta platform, especially the Brutale line. Adrian Morton and his team at CRC have made a lineup of truly beautiful machines, taking on the difficult task of improving upon the work of Massimo Tamburini.

But the even more difficult task is then to take those finish production bikes and rework them into something that is not only new, but also equally as beautiful.

What we have seen from Walt Siegl, and now from Deus Ex Machina hit the nail on the head, and give us a much-needed break from the Honda CB builds of the last few year. I think you’ll agree, and also enjoy the pictures, after the jump.

Apologies, apologies, apologies for our tardiness in keeping your Two Enthusiasts Podcast addiction flowing, but never fear…Episode 13 is here, and it’s a good one.

In it, we run through some of the upcoming events in the moto-industry, one of which we will cover at length in Episode 14. We also tackle the looming sale of Deus Ex Machina to Louis Vuitton, and what it means for the beard and flannel crowd in the two-wheeled space.

And lastly, we give an update on the R1 recall and discuss the intricacies of US lemon law – though listeners should note that some of what we talk about regarding the recall has already been addressed by Yamaha, in the time it took us to get this show posted (we will wrap-up our R1 recall coverage in the next show as well).

All-in-all, we think Episode 13 is a pretty good show from the Two Enthusiasts Podcast crew.

As always, you can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

Like the word “cool” itself, it is hard to describe what exactly Deus ex Machina is, especially to the uninitiated. The motorcycle/surf lifestyle brand is 10 years old now, and will go down in moto-history as being partially responsible for the “post-authentic” motorcycle movement.

The easiest explanations is that the Deus ex Machina brand is known both for its two-wheeled creations, and also its destination stores in Sydney, Bali, Japan, Los Angeles, and Milan.

In talks now with L-Capital, the private equity arm of LVMH (which is better known for its Louis Vuitton, Moët, and Hennessy brands), Deus ex Machina looks to be the second major exit for its founder and majority shareholder Dare Jennings, who sold his Mambo brand to Gazal Corporation back in 1990.

At the Verona Motor Bike Expo, Ducati presented the first customized Ducati Scrambler models. As you may remember from our review, this $8,600 machine is pitched with a heavy lifestyle component, and Ducati hopes that fat margins on t-shirts and jackets will overcome the thin margins on the model itself. To that end, the Italian company has gone to great trouble in making the Scrambler “cool” for the younger “post-authentic” crowd.

As such, Dario Mastroianni (Officine Mermaid), Filippo Bassoli (Deus Ex Machina), and Nicola Martini (Mr. Martini) were given the first crack at modding Ducati’s newest model. The results have been interesting, and first up on our pages is the “Hondo Grattan” by Filippo Bassoli and the Deus Ex Machina crew in Milan.

Appropriately in time for the holidays with its deliciously red paint job, we bring you the Deus Ex Machina New Blood Sportster. Taking a 2004 Harley-Davidson 1200cc Sportster, the guys from down under have massaged their magic into this once dull v-twin, and made an eye-catching motorcycle (per usual). The most striking piece of the motorcycle is perhaps the hand-built exhaust pipe, which is half street-tracker, and half sportbike in inspiration. Then there is of course the matte blood red meets cream paint job that accents the otherwise blacked out bike. We think the effect is killer, and makes the Sportster design more palatable without going overboard.