There are plenty of Ducatis that make obvious café racer donors, but the first-generation Multistrada has never really been one of them. Pierre Terblanche’s tall, heavily faired sports-tourer was deliberately unconventional when it arrived, yet beneath all that plastic sat some of Bologna’s best hardware of the period. For their latest build, called Desmo Corridore Caffè, UK outfit Pit Lane Moto stripped a 2005 Multistrada 1000S DS back to its essentials and found exactly what they needed: an air-cooled Desmo twin, steel trellis chassis, dry clutch, single-sided swingarm, Brembo brakes and a serious helping of Öhlins.
Pit Lane Moto was founded in 2023 by friends Emmanuel and Satyam, with motorcycles forming the centre of a broader lifestyle brand that now includes custom builds, local rides and events, and tailored riding trips through Spain and Portugal. The pair had bought the Multistrada around three and a half years ago, when it was the only 1000S DS they could find for sale in the UK. And the S was important. Rather than the standard model, it brought fully adjustable 43mm Öhlins inverted forks, an Öhlins rear shock and a collection of factory carbon parts, giving them a much better chassis to start with.
First to go were the original plastics, fuel tank and electronics, followed by a substantial section of the rear frame. With the Multistrada bodywork gone, the trellis chassis and 992cc L-twin suddenly became the dominant features, but getting the proportions right required a very different tank. Pit Lane sourced one from a Ducati 749, modified it to work within the new layout and spent considerable time establishing its final position before moving rearwards. Three different seat-cowl concepts were sketched before the final sharp-edged design was chosen, while Chris at MotoStitch UK trimmed the long, narrow seat in black Alcantara with contrasting gold stitching.
The resulting profile is almost unrecognisable as a Multistrada. The 749 tank sits low across the upper frame rails, while the radically reduced rear structure leaves little more than the seat and cowl suspended above the back wheel. Removing the original airbox and fitting high-flow K&N filtration opens up the centre of the trellis too, exposing far more of the rear cylinder and induction hardware. Even the original single-sided swingarm looks completely different without the stock bodywork surrounding it, with a compact carbon hugger now following the tyre instead.
At the heart of it all remains Ducati’s 992cc Dual Spark Desmodue, an air-cooled, two-valve-per-cylinder L-twin producing loads of torque. The engine was reassembled with new timing components, while its cases were refinished in dark-brown Cerakote and the dry clutch left proudly exposed behind an open cover, complete with gold pressure plate hardware. Breathing out is handled by a completely custom stainless system, with the two headers sweeping beneath the engine and merging before terminating in a huge slash-cut megaphone on the right. There’s no bulky high-mounted muffler to interfere with the stripped rear end, leaving the mechanical side of the bike almost completely exposed.
Pit Lane wisely retained the expensive chassis hardware that made the S such a desirable donor, but rebuilt both ends before everything went back together. The 43mm Öhlins forks received fresh seals and oil, as did the remote-reservoir rear shock, while the twin front discs remain clamped by radial-mount Brembo four-piston calipers. The original Ducati wheels were refinished in the same cream as the bodywork and wrapped in Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SC1 rubber. Combined with the blacked-out single-sided swingarm and gold Öhlins hardware, the familiar Multistrada components now read much more like parts from a naked Ducati performance bike.
The electrical system received equally comprehensive treatment, with the old loom discarded and the motorcycle rewired from the ground up. A Motogadget mo.unit blue now handles the electrical control duties, accompanied by a compact motoscope pro display and mo.lock NFC ignition system. Up front, clip-ons replace the original upright arrangement and sit behind a Koso Thunderbolt LED headlight, while slim controls and Barracuda grips further clean up the cockpit. The frame, swingarm, triple trees and footrest brackets were all finished in satin black, allowing the cream bodywork, gold suspension and bronze-brown engine finishes to carry the colour.
Pit Lane Moto calls the finished machine Desmo Corridore Caffè, and perhaps the smartest part of the build is what they chose not to replace. Strip away the Multistrada’s original touring bodywork and the 1000S DS already supplied an excellent collection of Ducati ingredients. But that’s really just the pastry, acting as the foundation. The rest of the recipe combines brilliant fabrication and a host of tasty treats, all cooked up by clever chefs who can create a truly one-off delicacy, like the delicious Ducati before you.
[ Photos by Jay Bishop ]