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Ducati 350 Café Racer – Proof That Less is More

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Christian Klein’s Ducati 350 Café Racer might be a work of art, and it’s certainly an example that you don’t have to make an elaborate motorcycle to make something visually stunning. Using a Ducati 350 Scrambler motor, Klein has ported and polished the single-cylinder lump, and then fabricated a custom steel frame to make his creation. Klein was meticulous in his construction, taking several years to perfect his machine. The attention to detail has paid off though, and we especially like the custom made exhaust that wraps around the rear shock, and comes to a minimalist conclusion under the rider’s handmade seat. Photos after the jump.

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Radical Ducati Café Veloce

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Seeing how popular the work of Radical Ducati has been on our site, both with the Radical Ducati 9½ and Radical Ducati RAD02 Imola, we thought we’d bring you another one of the Spanish group’s fabulous creations: The Radical Ducati Café Veloce. Based off a Ducati Sport Classic, the Café Veloce features the same DS 1000 air-cooled two-valve motor, and steel tube frame as the now discontinued Ducati, but grows upon the Sport Classic’s cafe inspired lines.

Tastefully refining the Café Veloce into a sleeker and more dynamic package, Radical Ducati has created the Café Veloce to be devoid of Ducati’s more bland touches to the GT1000. In case you haven’t noticed yet, we’re smitten with the Café Veloce, even if it’s not usually the kind of thing we’d go for in our own garage. Photos after the jump.

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News

Jack Armstrong’s “Million Dollar Harley-Davidson” – Further Proof You Can’t Buy Taste

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I suffered through four semesters of art history classes in college (thanks general education requirements!) to realize two big things about art: 1) never date a painter or anyone that refers to themselves as an “artiste”, and 2) aesthetics are subjective, and should be internally processed. So with that intro in mind, I hope you’ll see where we’re headed in this article when I tell you that this custom Harley-Davidson comes from an artist who describes his style as “Cosmic Extensionalism”, name drops Any Warhol seemingly at any given opportunity, and boasts of fastly becoming “The Most Famous Artist on the Planet”. Mmmmk…

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Bikes

Radical Ducati 9½

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From the guys at Spanish firm Radical Ducati comes the 9½, a Ducati ST2 motor wedged into a Monster 900 chassis, making an Italian beauty that’s part cafe racer, part streetfighter. Drawing inspiration form Ducati’s single-cylinder race bikes from the 1970’s, the 9½ is not only a looker, but is comprised of parts from Ducatis long forgotten past (but perhaps more memorable bikes, if you can handle that oxymoron).

If you look closely you’ll see pieces from not only the ST2, Monster 900, but also from the Ducati 916 Superbike (swingarm and rear-wheel), and 999 Superbike (fuel tank). Some other Radical parts enter the mix as well from its RAD series, and the result is a retro-esque bike that looks scintillating, classy, light, and fast. Keep your eyes trained for more bikes from Radical Ducati, we expect we’ll see some more great pieces (like this Radical Ducati RAD02 Imola) from the firm as they continue their Desmo mash-up. Bunch o’photos after the jump.

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Bikes

Wunderlich Curarê – The Gulf Oil BMW S1000RR

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Named after the poison used by Brazilian Indians to tip their arrow with for hunting, the Wunderlich Curarê is the German tuning house’s take on the BMW S1000RR. Clad in the blue and orange colors of Gulf Oil Racing and plenty of carbon fiber and titanium, the Wunderlich Curarê is mix of something new with something old, and celebrates 25 years of the company’s business. Making only modest performance enhancements to the S1000RR, Wundrlich has instead focused its efforts on improving the bikes ergonomics and aesthetics (they left the winking headlight in though). Photos and more after the jump.

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Jesse James Closes Down West Coast Choppers

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This one hits us out of the blue, but according to Cyril Huze, Jesse James has shutdown for good his custom chopper business: West Coast Choppers. If true, it’s not clear what will become of James’ Long Beach based company, but it looks like West Coast Choppers’ frames and parts will be produced by Daytec and Belt Drive LTD respectively, and sold through Custom Chrome. More info as we get it, but considering this news is hitting us during the weekend, we don’t expect to hear much before Monday.

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Source: Cyril Huze Blog via Basem Wasef; Photos: West Coast Choppers

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The Ducati Diavel That Roland Sands Design Built

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Sometimes if you want to know where something is going, it helps to know where it’s been. That seems to be the case as Ducati News Today has esnagged some photos 2011 Ducati Diavel from way back in May of last year. Caught in the United States being fitted with a new swingarm (according to DNT), this version of the Ducati Diavel shows some interesting lines that depart from the photos we’ve seen earlier of the performance cruiser.

But why does this Diavel look so different from the clay models and spy shots we’ve seen? While some will say it’s an earlier model, our eagle eye spots a few parts from the Roland Sands Design parts bin. When we saw the latest spy shots of the Diavel, the bike had some wheels on it that screamed influences from Performance Machines. It’s no secret that PM and RSD have close ties, so we went digging, and our sources tell us that Roland Sands Design has been helping Ducati kit the Diavel with aftermarket parts (note the Öhlins shock which will surely be a Ducati Performance part for the Diavel). More info and photos after the jump.

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Ducati Please Make This: Ducati Streetfighter Corse

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When Ducati released its Corse themed Superbikes at Milan last year, we knew the Italian company was onto something special. With ample carbon fiber, aluminum tanks, and a tasteful amount white and red paint, the Corse livery sets itself apart from the rest of the Ducati line as being the pinnacle of the Italian company’s offering.

So when we saw the “Corse” Multistrada 1200S that took place in Pikes Peak, we were equally excited, and begged Ducati North America to make a race replica model (we’re still begging them by the way). While Ducati might take a little more convincing, some owners have taken things into their own hands. Enter into the picture Finishing Touch 4U‘s Ducati Streetfighter Corse.

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Products

eBay: Custom Built Tron Lightcycle

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Being products of the Nintendo generation, Asphalt & Rubber can thank movies like Tron and Akira for piquing our interest in motorcycles at an early age. While there have been several attempts to build Kaneda’s feet-forward steed , replicas of the Tron lightcycle prove to be more elusive.

With Tron Legacy set to come out later this year, some custom bike builders have risen to the challenge to complete our ultimate geek-meets-motorcycling dreams, and are offering 5 custom made road-going Tron lightcycles for purchase on eBay.

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Confederate C3 X132 Hellcat – Brought to You by New Orleans and S&S Motors

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After creating the F131 Hellcat, B120 Wraith, and P120 Fighter Combat, Confederate Motor Company announced at the New York International Auto Show its fourth motorcycle: the C3 X132 Hellcat. Built in conjunction with S&S Cycle (better known for its S&S motors), the new Hellcat is being touted as “the lightest, fastest, toughest, smoothest, most exquisite Hellcat, ever”, which isn’t as lofty of a statement as you’d think considering there’s really only two other motorcycled to compare the new Hellcat to: the two older Hellcats.

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Magpul Ronin Gets Closer to Production

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You may remember that we drooled over Magpul’s take on the Buell 1125R. While we often give Buell motorcycles a hard time, we admittedly fell head-over heels for this concept.

Hinting at the time it debuted that there could be a limited production run or a kit for current Buell owners, Magpul has taken the feedback and attention from the Ronin, and refined the motorcycle further. Photos and more after the jump.

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