The 749 SMF (Sexy Mother Fighter)

We are almost there with the 749 SF. With the new belly-pan and the new carbon tank protectors (which they've been placed on purpose an inch clear from the tank, to add some extra complexity to the bike's lines). What is left is a pair of stickers on the tank and on each wheel. I'll have some more photos with the final result as well. 

So i went to a road with no cars and no people, just before dawn, to have some soft light and made some more pics. I'm publishing every picture that i took, that afternoon. It is a 360 walk-arround slide show. 

When i design, i'm trying to make a bike look great from as many angles as possible. This isn't something that happens automatically when you build a bike and although i've said that i haven't design this bike, i've certainly had some opinion on what goes where in order for the final result to look harmonic from every possible angle. 

That is why i publish those photos in the exact order that i've taken them. To see the final result as if you where there walking arround it, like i did. Some of them have some Photoshop (crop, saturation and some extra light in the shadows) but most of them are uploaded exactly as they were taken. 

So there you have it. When every factor is in its right proportion, you have a result that needs (almost) no enhancement.  

Best

Kostas

PS: For communication you know, ducatitifoso@hotmail.com

The Tifoso 749 Street Fighter

                                             

I was not very enthusiastic about this project, because in general i don't like street-fighters. Why i don't like street-fighters. I just don't get them. A superbike, with no fairing and raised bars. Streetfighters seem to me like those superpowered Coupe's, like the Mercedes CL or the BMW M6. Not a supercar not a limo, just an ego booster. A big problem there with that ego and needs a big boost.

                                                        Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Same story with the streetfighters. An everyday commuter with 150hp. I don't like those vehicles because they are not the best in something. Big Coupe's: not the best supercars, not the best limo's, not the best family saloons, not the best lookers. Sum up a lot of everything and you will end up with a big nothing. Streetfighters, same story: not the best superbikes, not the best city rides, not the best cruisers, not the best lookers. A big nothing.
So in order to get through this project, i had to aproach it in a different way. I know that i would never own such a bike, but i also know that when i see one, i spend some time trying to follow its lines. By the way, i never do that on an a big Coupe.

We have to build then a bike with interesting lines. It is a superbike, so it has to be agressive looking. Streetfighters are products of the late '90s and the '00s so it has to be also futuristic. It is a Ducati so it has to be breathtaking. Something like that.

The owner wanted something like Penna's 749, with the stock 749 headlight. So i started with that. The headlight. Well the stock headlight is very big and facing upwards and for that reason i decided that i will cut it and give it a more agressive downward angle. We decided that it would be interseting to have a pair of panels on each side of the headlight. Something agressive and futuristic. We also needed some air intakes that should have those two characteristics. We also needed a new rear subframe that would bring the passenger's seat lower, because the exhaust would be underneath the bike. I used the bikes stock passenger seat. I build up with fiberglass a new lower rider's seat. For the tail panels i made molds from the stock 749 panels and in those molds i build those two carbon fiber tail panels. I have also dressed up the tank, with carbon fiber, because we are through capital controls and the owner couldn't afford an all carbon tank, which by the way costs about $1400.
Like i said i wasn't very fond of this project, so i don't have too many pics of the process, but whatever i have i'll share it with you.
First of all the bike. When it came to me it was in a very bad condition. It was parked in a warehouse for 3 years.

In the above pic you can see what part of the stock subframe i kept for the project. When i build carbon fiber parts, if the inside surface is about to be visible, i always give it an extra finish with body filler spray, paint and mate clear. In the pic bellow you can see that i've also build from the stock 749's vertical air flow conditioners, a pair of carbon fiber ones, although we didn't used them at the end.

Some refresh on the foot-pegs and the choped stock air intakes, which by the way we did't use them either.

Now that i'm thinking about it, maybe that is the real reason why i was not very enthusiastic about this project. Every i time i had a part ready, the owner was coming up to me with this phrase:
-"Do you know what i've been thinking?"
And it was always some idea that wasn't involving the part that i had just finished. So no air flow conditioners although they are finished even on the inside, no choped stock air intakes, although they are clearcoated. I also threw away a pair of headlight side panels and half a belly-pan. Maybe that is why i've stoped taking pictures after some time. Cause i knew that i won't be needing them. But because he is a great guy, i couldn't get angry on him. I 've just changed my perspective.
-"Do you know what i've been thinking?"
-"No and i don't want to know"
He just couldn't get it.
-"Well i've been thinking, that it would be interesting if we take......"
-"Well that will cost you 10,000 dollars".
And that is how we managed to get the bike on the street after 9! months.

Well i will make some comments having the pic bellow as a reference point. All in all it is a great bike. It is a stunning looker. It has that aggresive forward stance, it has all those lines to visually explore, it has a great color combination, red/silver/black. And since i'm always honest, it affects one person's love and that is not me, but the bike's owner. He believed so much in this project and he did it. He made a bike that is absolutelly astonishing. His irritating undecisiveness and my Tibetan patience, gave this unique Street-Fighter. Well done man, well done.

 You may see that in some pics the bike has no intakes and in some others it has two. Also in some pics has a closed clutch cover and in others a choped one. This is because the owner keeps coming back to me with ideas. Like i said he is a great kid, (he is 30 and i'm 48) he has my big daughter's age. And i respect so much his love for this project. From what i know we're still to put on the new belly-pan!!!



PS: Through the last year i had some serious health issues, that kept me away from activity for short time periods. I want to appologize for my inconsistency through this page and state that now i'm back, in fact i am back to work since June. And the next project, the ST Full-Fairing Cafe-racer, is almost ready.

It has a new tail new rear subframe it will be available in the form of a kit and it will cost $1,130 with worldwide shippment included. Available from October 1st. For now just a sneak pic.

For questions and orders you can contact me at:
ducatitifoso@hotmail.com

Best
Kostas