To understand this build you must first get to know the builder, Tyler Lunceford of North Motorcycles in Edinburgh. Tyler is the Ethan Hunt of Ducati mechanics, nothing is impossible, every problem has a solution and although he often states in his inimitable way that it ain’t his first rodeo, I think that certain aspects of building the Wolf are in fact his first rodeo but this doesn’t deter him, on the contrary, he relishes the challenge. Tyler started his professional life working at Moto Corsa in Portland, Oregon and then with Ducati New York before moving to Edinburgh 8 years ago and setting up his own independent shop. He is a Ducati wizard, an absolute genius with everything that has come out of Borgo Panigale, he knows the bikes inside out, and is especially well versed on his, which happens to be my, era of Ducatis, heavy metal machines, with minimal electronic whizz bangery.
Now to the bike itself, the Wolf started life as a bone stock ‘89 851 Strada, which I took delivery of at some point in the early 2010’s. It was never a daily, but I enjoyed blasting about on it in fair-weather conditions, so it’s surprising, looking back on things, that I choose to ride this particular machine down to Cannes on a damp day in February 2016 to collect a gift for my Valentine. On a short stretch of dual carriageway I gently start to overtake an old monsieur in his tatty Clio, when, for no apparent reason, he abruptly changes lanes, taking me and the 851 with him. It’s such a slow incident that I don’t think I actually fell down, I don’t remember hitting the ground but the bike certainly did. Of course, the old codger jumps out of his car and gallingly starts yelling at me for dangerously attempting to overtake him! Of course he doesn’t offer any assistance, or accept blame so I swallow my rage, pick up my bike and ride off. The bike sustains cosmetic damage and maybe a broken lever, but nothing major,
The following day I load it onto a trailer and took it to what was then Ducati Monaco and ask them to fix it up and have it repainted. The body panels are sent off to Belgium and in due course came back looking good as new. However, upon servicing the bike, the mechanic mentions that he had found shards of metal in the oil when changing the filter. Retrospectively, I should have got a second opinion on this but they said the motor was toast and not worth salvaging.
A few weeks before this misdemeanour, I was scrolling through a website and discover a 1098 engine in its frame for sale, a near complete bike, just missing the wheels, fairings, tank and running gear. Do you see where this is going!? At some point, after the dust had settled, the 1098 engine is hanging from a beam in my garage next to the defunct 851 and I quizzically stare at them side by side and in a hazy fog of madness my eyes cross and they morph into one machine, the concept of the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is born.
At around the same time, a couple of chaps, whose names I shan’t mention, had been pestering me on social media, asking if they could build a bike for me. I offer them the job of fitting the 1098 engine to the 851, which they gladly accept only to give up a short while later and hand the bike over to the next candidate, not before purloining a bunch of parts from it. The next candidate also gives up, handing it over to the next candidate, not before butchering the frame, the third shop I went to simply said it couldn’t be done and give up before turning a wrench. Finally I meet Tyler and give him the project in 2020, by which time it had been broken down into boxes of bits and a chopped up frame. This is when the build finally gets underway for real:
The first step for Prof. Lunceford is to figure out how the fuel injection, wiring harness, charging system, battery box and the air box with shower injectors for the 1098 would fit in the confines of the 851 frame, literally “10 gallons of shit in a 5 gallon bucket.” So, there’s cutting and making space, whilst strengthening and reinforcing other parts of the frame. Using mechanical 1098 parts on the 851 frame is crucial, simply reclothing a 1098 frame with 851 bodywork isn’t an option, as we want to retain as much of the original DNA of the ‘80’s bike as possible. Of course the frame is modified, but one of the bigger challenges is the swing-arm; on an 851 the bearings are in the motor, on the 1098 the bearings are in the swing-arm, so Tyler completely lost his bearings!
The swingarm has to be bored to fit needle bearings from an S2R 1000 Monster, spacers and bushings are made for chain alignment. Tyler considers himself the conductor of an orchestra, he oversees the machining process, which isn’t done in-house, likewise for the exhaust headers which marry the 1098 engine with the 851 pipes, which are of different diameters. Another significant challenge is making the 851 fuel tank work over the 1098 airbox; Tyler has to use the fuel pump for the motor, so he machines an aluminium flange for the pump to bolt to and after cutting the bottom out of the already painted 851 fuel tank buttons it all together, ‘easier said than done.
The speedo is calibrated using a Speedhealer on a measured mile somewhere around Leith on the outskirts of Scotland’s capital. The bike wears a Marchesini front wheel on 1098S Ohlins and clips-ons, with the original Brembo rear and stock 851 aluminium swing arm. Is this all very technical? Yes, because that’s what the majority of this build is, this is heart surgery, putting Mike Tyson’s heart in Cindarella’s body. An estimated 300 hours are spent on the build, over the course of eighteen months.
For me, the greatest aspect of the bike is that from a short distance away, nothing seems amiss, you wouldn’t know that lurking beneath that elegant ‘80’s body is the powerplant from a relatively modern super bike, that’s the whole essence of the build, a lot of Tyler’s work can’t be seen but it can be felt as soon as the throttle is opened. So, what’s it actually like to ride? Well, the word “unique” is often misused, I often hear people saying “it’s very unique,” it’s either unique or it isn’t and I believe this to be unique, I don’t know of another bike like it, I’ve seen 851/888’s with 996 or 998 engines but this particular configuration *might* be a world first. At idle, it emits the usual cantankerous clatter of a 1098, the rumble through the 851 cans sounds racy but not insane, however once out on the road it’s obviously a different beast to both the original bike and the more modern super bike, both of which I have logged quite a few hours with.
From factory, the original bike provides 93bhp, a tired example like this pre-transplant wouldn’t have been there, the 1098S engine with nice cams and a decent map like this one puts out an estimated 165-170bhp, so likely a hundred stallions more than original. It goes without saying that when that throttle is opened it takes off like a stabbed rat, the wall of noise emanating from the back end is beyond belief, I don’t know what trauma that engine suffered during childhood but it’s absolutely raging, it’s out for blood. Initially, it’s a tricky thing to handle on the tight roads around my house but after a few hours at the controls it starts to make sense, turn in is accurate, mid corner it feels planted and stable, the acceleration out of the corner is furiously quick, the whole thing is just alive with nervous aggression. It doesn’t do slow, it doesn’t do twinkle toes, it does flat out, no middle ground. Rev matching downshifts have to be mastered, with the level of torque on offer, but last week the man himself popped over for a long weekend and fitted a Ducati Performance slipper clutch which I can’t wait to try as soon as it stops shitting it down with rain.
The 851 was never really a sheep, it was fast in period but once the Wolf reveals itself it’s an intimidating prospect. Now, nearly 9 years on from the accident, having gone through all the trials and tribulations of this project, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. The Wolf is here for good, I just need to housetrain it.
[ North Motorcycles | Photography by Luxicars ]