“Can we buy one of your bikes?” If we had a dollar for every time we’ve been asked that, we’d be richer than Donald Trump’s hairdresser. Of course, it highlights the fact that many casual Pipeburn readers assume all the bikes we feature are built by us. As if we aren’t busy enough already. But there’s one blog that has taken the step of downing their laptops and manning the tools – California’s The Bullitt. We featured their amazing Triumph Bonneville build back in mid 2015, and now they’re back with this mildly modded yet majorly sexy Ducati Monster 821.

“I got the bike while working at Ducati North America,” says Bullitt’s senior rifleman, Patrick Flynn. “I had recently finished my Hyper SP build and I had some pretty damn elaborate plans for this one, but once I left the fold I decided to pare down the plans and keep it as a clean and simple build”.

Pat’s initial plans for the bike were to build an ‘821 R’ of sorts. “I was going to get a Panigale R tank, cut it in half horizontally and mate it to the bottom of the Monster’s unit. I really wanted the sharp lines from the Pani and I absolutely love the raw aluminum and gloss paint combo on the R. I could stare at it for hours…” Before he knew it, he’d designed a $50,000 beast in his head – and all without the brand’s all-important helping hand. Maybe next time.

[superquote]“A similar treatment was given to the tail cowl and fender, with all the steel bits painted as black as a particularly dark night”.[/superquote]

“What I ended up doing was taking the Monster tank, stripping it completely bare and then applying the Panigale R paint scheme to it while retaining the classic Monster shape. Opting for black over red, the accents I put back were in a bronze colour to match the engine and swingarm.” A similar treatment was given to the tail cowl and fender, with all the steel bits painted as black as a particularly dark night. Look closely and you’ll see the raw metal strip running down the tank’s top.

Those matching colours are most obvious in the Werkes competition slip-on exhaust, which was was debadged and ceramic coated in a ‘burnt bronze’ colour along with the headers. “I no longer had any red on the bike so I didn’t want to keep the original Comp Werkes badge. I worked with them and got a more suitable custom badge made up and riveted in place”. A rear Öhlins shock was acquired and bolted on out back. Pat ceramic coated the spring black, as he does to all his Swedish swish. A quick Dremel hit or two to the rear hugger and she was in place.

“I’ve been really into Motodemic’s headlight conversions for some time and I thought that the Bullitt 821 was a great candidate for one. Working with Motodemic’s owner, Brad, we made a custom solution utilizing a round Triumph bucket. I really wanted the bigger bucket and I think it looks absolutely killer. The bucket is gloss black and the rim is a semi gloss. The contrast works really well with the other components on the Ducati, too”.

Some Ducabike rear sets were then installed with the rear Ducati’s brake reservoir being shortened and relocated. The passenger pegs were deleted to clean up the rear end and as Pat hates the look of blinkers, he needed something nice and discreet. “New Rage Cycles provided just what I needed; I have their fender eliminator kit out back and I also went with their snap-on blinkers on the forks”.

“I have a spare set of Öhlins forks at home from an old SF 1098S. I was thinking hard about dropping their cartridges in the forks and anodizing the tubes black, but after looking at the bike for ages and ripping it through the Californian canyons, I realized that the set up was pretty damn solid as is. I’m happy with where it is and obviously I ended up falling for the raw forks, which beautifully compliment the raw steel in the tank.

[superquote]“I like to think that it shows you can build a sleek, unique custom bike without breaking the bank, or the bike for that matter”.[/superquote]

“That pretty much sums it up. As my daily driver, I wasn’t really looking for anything too lavish or with too much cut off it. I like to think that it shows you can build a sleek, unique custom bike without breaking the bank, or the bike for that matter”. And as pretty as the bike is, Pat tells us he’s going to be selling the Ducati soon, with his eye already on a new Guzzi custom project. Viva l’Italia!

[ The Bullitt – Facebook – Instagram | Photos by Shaik Ridzwan ]