The SSie Cafe-Racer Project

The SSie was the last Ducati that i would like to deal with. The reason is the fuel tank. The accented forward slope of the fuel tank means you have to find a new fuel tank for the modification, or you have to build your own one.

Over the last 3 years i was trying to turn, not-Race Replica Ducati's (ST, Monster, Multistrada, SS) into Cafe-Racers. I was focusing on those bikes, because in my opinion, you don't mess with a Ducati Race-Replica. If you have a 748/916/996/998/749/999/848/1098/1198, you just refresh it and that's it. There is no way that you can make a bike better than the 916, from a 916! My opinion.

While everyday bikes like the ST, SS, Multi, Monster, they give you room to improve, they are dramatically underpriced and they are great bikes.

Since i'm building body-kits, i have some kind of production line, activity. So trying to build those modifications, in the form of body-kits, i soon found out that i was looking for an effective algorithm ("roughly" algorithm = a computation sequense that when executed will give a final result. An effective algorithm is the one that gives the optimum result). What were the factors that i was trying to calculate. The way that i'm approaching bike building, a Cafe-Racer has to be first of all sexy. 

This car and this bike, are classics because they are sexy. No races won, no trophys. Pure sex.

The reason they are classics is that, when you're looking at them it is like you are looking at the male symbol.

So sex first, then a modification has to be user friendly. That is when you're done with your modification your bike should be practical to use and maintain. To remove a fairing for example it is better to unbolt 3 than 5 bolts, it is better to lift the fuel tank without having to remove the rear subframe, a subframe must be designed to receive both the SC and the Imola tails, or you must have easy access to the fuse box or the battery, if it is possible easier than on the original bike. When it comes to a kit, it must also be easy to instal. Easy to instal, doesn't necessarily means easy to maintain. Then comes the cost. The building of the kit must be as cheap as possible and when it comes to cost efficiency, working hours do count. Summing up:

-sexy

-cost efficient (easy to build)

-easy to install

-easy to use and maintain

That second factor (cost efficiency) makes a custom made fuel tank, not the optimum solution. Because a custom made fuel tank, can well cost up to $1000. And it is hard to sell a $2500 kit for a bike that may cost $2000. And when you add the personal work or the work of a technician in order to put this hole thing together you may reach $5,500. And when you get that high you have a dozen of bikes that you can choose from. 

Having said all that it is better to build a kit that looks sexy with its own fuel tank. That is why the SSie was the last of the everyday Ducati's that i wanted to deal with. Because i knew that this fuel tank would give me a tough time. Big parenthesis there but at least i've made my point. 

So no custom fuel tank. That means a tank from another bike, or its own inclined one. From modifications i've seen over the net, the only fuel tank that can be used, was the one from the old SS. Ugly, plus it is hard to find one on ebay. At the time i was working on the bike, there wasn't a single one on eaby. Blessing in disguise! So i had to work with the bike's tank. 

Lets start with the bike. The bike was a silver 800s.

The SSie tank has this arrow shaped form in the front, that makes it kind of modern. This feature had to be removed. It also has the pillow shaped recess and that has to be filled. Together with those two parts, i thought i had to remove the lines that travel across the side of the the tank. The concept was that the more curved the final result the more retro would look, no lines, no arrows. Just curves. In the first pic bellow you can see the arrow shaped hump and in the second pic all the parts that had to be filled. I used polyester putty. About 800gr, needed.

Here is the result, painted but not clear coated yet. The tough part was to form the arc on the front edge of the fuel cup hole. So with all those lines removed, it definitely looked more old-timer. The next thought was to get it a little higher on the front with some sort of support and then find a way to cover the hole under it. But while working on the front fairing, i realised that if i give to the front fairing and the seat the same forward slope of the fuel tank, the bike will look proportionate and classic despite the fact that the tank's upper line won't be parallel to the ground. I knew of course from the ST project that when you put the front fairing low, the headlight will hit the front fender under heavy breaking, so i had to deal with this issue as well.

 First i build the front subframe in the same jig that i use for the STs, by just altering the bolt holes that will attach it on the bike's main frame.  Next pic, front subframe finished.

Then i build the SC fiberglass front fairing, bolt it on the front subframe and start modifying. I wanted the  fairing to be an extension of the fuel tank and vice-versa. That is the reason i didn't fill the hole on the lower part of the fuel tank. Somewhere on that line i wanted the tank line to continue on the fairing.  First i cut the rear part of the fairing and then i used some aluminum tape to form a surface that unites the tank with the fairing. I covered that aluminum tape surface with polyester putty, to create a solid surface. For the part of the fairing that i wanted to be a continuum with the tank's lower recess, i used the front fairings inwards curves, pointed out with red in the next pic. I just flipped sides on them. The left side curve was placed on the right side of the fairing and vice-versa. To build those two parts i waxed the fairing mold only on that particular place and build only those two small parts. On the pic bellow this part it is already been placed on the fairing, with aluminum tape.

Then i took the fairing off the bike and started to fill it with putty and then sandpaper and fill again and sandpaper until it took the shape that i wanted. In the next pic you can see the rear end of the fairing, almost finished. On the fairing you can also see the lines made in the beginning of the proccess with a black marker, when i was trying to found out where exactly this arc should be placed. I must also say that because the SC fairing was big for the SS, the side is 4cm shorter, than the SC one and the side line, has a different angle.

Then from the new fairing, i made the molds and from the molds the new SSie front fairing. Bellow you can see the final result primer coated on the bike.

Regarding the seat first of all i wanted it to be at the same hight as the stock seat, because from my experience, the SS has a perfect set-up, so i didn't want to mess with it. The hole kit works on the bike without messing with the hight of the clip-ons or the hight of the fuel tank wich can have up to 16kgs when full, or the hight of the seat. When building the new seat i wanted it to embrace the fuel tank. but when i placed the SC fiberglass seat on the bike, it looked like there was something wrong with it. It was rather too big for the bike's size. So i've desided to built a new seat, based on the form of the SC seat but smaller. The way i worked was the same as in the front. I build an SC cowl and seat that they were smaller than the original ones. Glued them together with fiberglass, cut the front end of the seat in a way that it had the same width with the fuel tank and with aluminum tape, i connect it to the tank. On this tape i placed putty and then sandpaper and putty and sandpaper like before.



If you follow this path when you try to build original parts, you have the oportuniity to see the final shape of the bike, before you start working on your parts.  Check the pics bellow.

So new parts made from new molds, primer-coated, placed on the bike and i roll it out of the workshop to see it from a distance, under day-light and make some pics. 

Both the owner and me were speechless. Man what a bike? Here on those pics it looks even more aggressive, because there are no exhausts on. So we are on the right track. Back in again for painting and assembly.
Remember when i said earlier that a low placed fairing would make the headlight hitting the front fender under heavy braking? To solve this issue i new that i could gain 2cm if i create a hole on the front fender, exactly in the place where the light would have hit it. So the front fairing is placed so low that the headlight won't hit the tyre by a mm. Also i didn't like the fender's square back end but i had to keep the plastic trail that keeps the brake line clear from the tyre. This is the result on the front fender.

I must say that i love the shape of this fender and of this seat.

The rear subframe placed on the bike. For an under-tail i used a piece of plastic 1cm thick, bolted on the bike's oil-fumes boxes bolt holes and on another two bolt holes i've opened on the metal part i welded on the frame's end.

You can see that in order to bolt the rear subframe on the bike i've opened two holes on the bike's central beam and i've cut the flap to the subframe's base width.
Turning signals bolted on the plastic undertail, rear stop on the cowl, license plate on the side and we are ready for the first ride.

The color combination is the owners choise. Red and green with a white logo sticker. He wanted it to be in the colors of the tricolore, but not necessarily in the shapes that we know through the years. The yellow headlight was also his choise. We both think that the bike will look great with, green wheels with white logo stickers, but it also looks great with those black wheels. So we decided to left it like it is for a few months and then moove on to the green wheels.
Although i find the color combination very unique and successful, my choise would have been red with a white number plate. So i couldn't resist the tepmtation to paint the bike in "my" colors on the Photoshop. And here is the result. Right in the heart of my philosophy for life "LESS IS MORE". Plain, simple, beautifull.

Here you have some "less is more" examples. No ABS, no traction control, no wheelie control, no air-conditioning, no ESP, no power steering. A blue-jean and a t-shirt. The less you wear, the easier you can get naked. Good old-fashioned. sex.

If you point out only the most essential part of something, then you feel very strong about this part. Those are the cases where "less is more" and thus beautifull and thus classic. 

The SSie Cafe-Racer kit costs $890 worldwide shippment included. The kit contains: The front fairing, the windshield, the front fairing bracket, the rear subframe, the seat/cowl, the under-tail the rear turning signal holders and a 20 page PDF file with modification instructions.

For orders, or further information, you can contact me on:
ducatitifoso@hotmail.com

Best
Kostas