You’ve probably never heard of the Ducati Indiana, and trust me, that’s a good thing! It was the mid-’80s, and Cagiva had recently purchased the Bologna brand, and the Indiana was their attempt at making a cruiser, which would be accompanied by a huge accessory line, with owners encouraged to modify their ride. Yes, it was a blatant attempt to get in on the Harley-Davidson act, it was awful and it failed. But thanks to that failure, we got the Ducati Monster as the company’s second attempt at such a venture, and for all those modified Monsters, this has to be one of the best we’ve seen yet. The ingredients were simple: take one uber-passionate owner, stir in some Ital-Tex design flavour, and let the chefs at Australia’s Purpose Built Moto cook up one super sumptuous Ducati S2R 1000.
It’s been a huge year for Tom Gilroy and the team at Purpose Built Moto, with one incredible build after another rolling out of their Gold Coast facility and an ever-increasing fan base. The guys loved the enthusiasm of John, this bike’s owner, and he came to them having seen something he loved online. “A certain kit had caught his eye from Paolo Tex, an Italian designer known for his avant-garde Ducati body kits. Now usually, we don’t use bolt-on kits, but this one was a little different; I really liked the way it was designed, and if I were to make it to John’s request, it would be a carbon copy of the Paolo Tex kit anyway,” Tom explains.
There was just one issue: John didn’t actually own a Ducati yet, so the team went on the hunt and found the factory special from the mid-2000s, the DS1000-powered S2R. The bonus was the bike was in good condition and came with a few very tasty aftermarket parts. Time to get to work, and “with all bolt-on kits, there were a few surprises that required some problem-solving before the kit went on for good. Upfront, we’ve custom-fabricated a polished aluminum windscreen, fitted to the headlight shroud. Also modified to fit our 7” flashpoint classic headlight, rather than the smaller standard option.”
Below, the front fender is constructed from the PBM DIY kit, and the slick lines are perfectly matched up with the strut-style mounts. These are also used at the rear end for the swingarm-mounted number plate bracket, which is another example of excellent function also delivering beautiful form.
The guys then turned their attention to customising the body kit some more, this time at the rear end. “Using the lighting base out of the PBM orbit tail light, we’ve custom-fitted a body into the tail and hand-shaped a lens that blends seamlessly into the tail. The lenses have been blasted to diffuse the light and provide a blended effect when you stomp on the brakes.”
The changes really take the Paolo Tex kit to a new level, and with those beautiful side panels and their GP-like wings bolted to the bike, it was time to throw down some paint. Drawing heavily on the styling of the ’70s Ducati 750SS and its endless sex appeal, the green and silver colour scheme has been beautifully laid down by Justin from Popbang Classics.
Applying the green to the frame is really what elevates the look, and when paired up with that gorgeous swingarm, which has been meticulously hand-polished, the look flows effortlessly from one end of the bike to the other. The slate grey pinstriping and graphics are a superb touch, and even the wheels get hit with paint.
The seat fits in perfectly with the styling and was brilliantly stitched together as always by Jamason from Timeless Autotrim. Then lean forward to the Magura bars from that Alcantara pew and the bike is blessed with Brembo levers, PBM’s own 3-button switches, and a stunning Daytona gauge. All of the wiring then runs through a PBM black box module, which results in a super neat loom.
One of the big bonuses of this donor bike was that it came with trick suspension, and those beautiful Marchesini wheels now in Popbang paint. The full Ohlins setup was then sent over to Joe from Ride Dynamics, who has rebuilt both ends and anodized the front forks black.
As all of this work was taking place, the engine had been yanked from the frame and given a full inspection. The DS1000 is a brilliant motor, with the simplicity of being oil/air-cooled and yet delivering thumping mid-range power. The bottom end was given a clean bill of health, so a full head service was performed for more flow and reliability, and a fresh set of high-comp pistons dropped in for good measure.
The whole thing is painted in a stunning gloss black, and then the breathing is given a boost with a high-flow MWR intake. But before Cube Performance could tune the bike and flash the ECU, John had told Tom of his dream exhaust using Termignoni GP cans.
The basic layout would be a stainless 2-1-2 system with a shotgun finish, but there was plenty of work to make it happen. “The headers and mid-pipes are all hand-fabricated in-house, and to an extent, the Termi mufflers were too. Now, they don’t make GP cans in black, and they don’t make them for a twin exit set up under the tail so we had to get creative. Each muffler has been stripped and had the badge holes welded up and ceramic coated before being re-assembled we’ve re-fitted the Termi badges to make sure when fitted to our custom S2R, there was a near factory finish to the exhaust.”
The final dish is a sensation, stunning looks, super sharp handling, and an engine that will get your heart racing with a single snap of the throttle.