There’s something honest about a Ducati Monster. No fairings to hide behind, no tricks, no theatre, just engine, frame and attitude, laid bare for the world to see. It’s a bike that’s always worn its engineering on the outside, which makes it the perfect canvas for a builder who believes every detail should earn its place. Down in Buenos Aires, inside a tight workshop in Villa Crespo, Marcelo Obarrio and the crew at STG Tracker have taken that raw Italian street sled and wrapped it in something you’d normally expect to see on a Lamborghini production line. A Ducati Monster 796 that wears its forged carbon fibre like the ultimate lightweight armour for any full-blown street battle.
Headed up by Marcelo and Germán Karp, the team at STG Tracker must have one of the most diverse portfolios in all of custom bike building. From new and old, street-ready specials to full blown show winning customs, there is virtually no style they haven’t covered and conquered. And being innovators, they’re always looking for new materials to work with. Enter forged carbon, a strong, lightweight material made from randomly oriented short carbon fibres mixed with resin and compression-moulded under high pressure, creating unique marbled patterns unlike traditional woven carbon fibre.
Originally developed by Lamborghini, Callaway Golf Company, and the Lamborghini Lab, the end product is now seen in hypercars and the aerospace industry. The material is roughly one-third the density of titanium and has equal or greater strength, and due to its chopped nature, it can be moulded into much more complex geometries than traditional carbon fibre composites. Making it suitable for creating three-dimensional parts and those with complex details, such as thickness transitions, holes, compound curvatures, and more.
The donor for this experiment in the dark art is a Ducati Monster 796, already one of Bologna’s most perfectly proportioned hooligans. Compact, torquey and all muscle, it doesn’t need much to feel aggressive. But Marcelo didn’t want a “bolt-on special.” The stance had to sharpen, the details had to elevate, and every surface had to feel intentional. So the stock front forks stay but get Cerakoted black and stuffed with Öhlins springs, backed up by fresh Brembo monoblock calipers and matching Brembo controls. Subtle upgrades, but serious ones, the kind you feel more than you see.
Then the precision starts stacking up. CNC-machined rearsets and a CNC Racing clear clutch cover put Ducati’s mechanical theatre on full display. There’s a carbon packaged steering damper, Domino grips and wild Rizoma mirrors keeping the cockpit tight and purposeful. Down low, custom stainless headers breathe deeper, while a machined sprocket carrier and RK-XW black chain clean up the drivetrain. Even the wheels get powdered bright black and wrapped in sticky Dunlop GPR300 rubber to keep the whole thing planted when the throttle gets greedy.
But the real story is the bodywork; instead of traditional woven carbon sheets, STG Tracker covered the original components in forged carbon fibre to get a factory-looking shape. Compressing chopped strands into organic, marble-like patterns that look more meteorite than motorcycle. It’s wild stuff up close; chaotic, almost liquid.
No two panels ever match. Where normal carbon screams “race bike,” forged carbon whispers something more exotic, more modern. It feels like the future. Clear-coated to a deep gloss and finished with silver leaf logos laid down by painter Alejandro Minissale, the effect is less aftermarket and more concept bike.
And it makes perfect sense on the Monster. Ducati’s trellis frame already looks industrial and architectural; the forged carbon plays against it beautifully. Steel tubes, blacked-out hardware and that dark composite texture create this moody, technical aesthetic that feels closer to stealth aircraft than café racer cosplay. Even the tail gets cleaned right up, a stunning Alcantara seat sits up top, with the under seat modified and the key relocated so nothing interrupts the silhouette. Minimal. Surgical. No fluff.
And it doesn’t have to be stock bodywork that you mirror; any shape you can CAD draw and 3D print can serve as a mould. The possibilities are not only endless, but also uber lightweight and insanely strong! The result is a Monster that feels less like a restomod and more like a prototype escaped from the future. Italian muscle, Argentine craftsmanship, and a slice of Lamborghini tech fused into one lean, blacked-out street weapon. And if forged carbon really is the next frontier for customs, STG Tracker might’ve just given the rest of the scene a glimpse of what tomorrow looks like.
[ STG Tracker | Photos by Darío Rodriguez ]