Shed X - Bastardo
By Anthony van Someren - 13 Aug 12
Shed X are Neil & Jim; two Aussie dudes who, uninspired by the current Ducati range, decided to take matters into their own hands to build this beautiful cafe/street hybrid - The Bastardo.
The donor was this humble 2003 ST2, complete with cardigan and slippers, and a pair of beige slacks...
The guys are also fans of local custom guru's Deus and the new cafe custom scene, but nothing they saw in the showroom looked like it would give them the performance they needed. What they wanted was was a machine with style and cafe looks, that could handle blasting thru town, head out into the back roads, or mix it up in the twisties with the race-rep Rossi wannabes, so it had to be super light with a strong, free-spinning mill and high quality chassis components...
An S2R kindly donated it's single-side swingarm, and the build could begin in earnest...
The ST2 frame needed some serious modification, a custom 2into1 exhaust, and a new custom wiring harness. Radical Ducati supplied the tank and seat, and Motogadget supplied instruments, switchgear and clever electronics.
The engine boasts high compression pistons and a lightened flywheel, fulled with a custom-mapped Ducati 996 ECU, with power finding it's way to the back wheel thru a Ducati Performance slipper clutch..
The end result is a tasteful fusion of cafe and street riding stance, in a chassis and engine with timeless heritage behind it, that also delivers performance that will leave you with a smile as wide as the Cheshire Cat's - and the whole thing weighs-in at a waif-like 160 kg.
Give us a go, mista?
Now that is a face lift and a half!!!
Check out more pics and stuff on the Shed-X facebook page.