There is still some new stock sitting on showroom floors, but the legendary Suzuki GSX-R1000 has been discontinued. For more than two decades, no other superbike has delivered such bang for your buck, as well as winning countless racing championships and taking home motorcycle of the year honours on many occasions. But even with the big Gixxer gone from the Suzuki catalogue, there are still thousands of used examples just waiting for a new home, ready for an imaginative owner to take advantage of this true modern legend. Italian builder Francis Von Tuto saw the amazing potential and has weaved his magic to deliver a custom naked known as ‘S-10’, that can hammer on the track, bar hop with the best and look brilliant simply standing still.

Francis is one of those talented guys who can see the potential in almost any bike, from any era, and deliver an exceptional finished result. But after building one amazing bike after another in sunny Queensland, Australia, “I came back to my roots, to the motherland, in Florence, Italy,” he tells us. So, the Suzuki would be the first job he’d have back in Europe to show off his skills and on the hunt for the right bike he decided to once again convert a modern machine into something truly special. “Don’t worry I’ve already got my hands on other vintage-based projects,” he laughs. But even with a new bike, he still went for a 2004 K4 GSXR that has all the power but with no electronic aids.

“I purchased it in a fairly original state with some low-speed slide damage, scratched fairings and engine covers and a broken lever, but it surely still was a pretty well-maintained low km bike, since it only just clicked 20k on the odometer.” The bike was rolled up on the lift and all the fairings stripped off and then Francis was hit by the reality, “Oh my God! This massive tank and old styled chassis combo is definitely going to be challenging.” It is these two factors that put a lot of people off customising modern sportbikes, but there was no turning back. And once the tail unit was placed over the subframe, Francis could see something special ahead.

“In Hamamatsu they originally made the rear subframe with square tubes but I’ve chopped it and used just the cast aluminium mount (which holds the rear part of the fuel tank) to weld the new round tubed single seat subframe.” But this new metalwork made by Francis does more than just support a seat. Underneath he has cleverly incorporated a hand formed aluminium battery tray and electronics box to help hide some of the rather large loom you’ll find on any modern motorcycle. Hidden away here too is the coolant reservoir, no longer with fairings to shield it from view, and the tail tidy style number plate holder is also incorporated into the all-new metal.

“The ducktail has been made from a narrower and shorter fibreglass race tail found at an Imola swap meet a few years back, I had to cut it in half through the whole length and work it with fibreglass to widen it, then add length and reshaped the seating area.” Francis has made a mould, so expect to see more variations of this piece on future builds.

For the perfect seating solution, he turned to his friends at BF Tappezzerie, who have delivered a stunning result. At the front of the bike, a small subframe was made from 6mm solid bar, to hold up what was to come. “The small top fairing is a fibreglass replica of an old British race bike, obviously adapted to the shape of the new bike and finished with a strip of clear screen.”

To allow for a headlight to float at the front of the new fairing, good friend Andrea took up the task of milling a surround that is finished in a black anodised coating. The headlight itself is a 4.65” LED unit and also supported by the new front frame is the entire instrument cluster for one very integrated piece.

To finish off the bodywork, Francis focused on two key areas, the first of which was to ditch the large front fender and reshape a newer unit. The next task was to hide the radiator, hoses, and engine sensors and this has been achieved with two shaped and welded side panels.

The engine of course wasn’t going to need a lot of work, with a screaming 1000cc four-cylinder pumping out a very reliable 170bhp, Suzuki had already done the hard work. But the donor bike had come with some broken engine covers, and with these replaced it was a good chance to give the motor a nice tidy up.

One thing that was definitely staying on board were the full-length titanium headers, feather light and offering excellent flow. But someone had fitted a cheap and nasty end can and Francis knew exactly the best bit of kit to replace it. A classic Arrow Trophy muffler was the pick, but some serious cutting, shortening and rewelding was required to get it to fit and on that aggressive desired angle.

The suspension is brilliant straight from the factory, so Francis pulled the fully adjustable forks apart, gave them a service and had the stanchions refinished. The big brake package is just as impressive, and a rebuild and braided lines ensure first-class stopping power. “The last touches, apart from a full service and bar end mirrors, is a flat finish Mercedes AMG colour and grey on grey livery, the idea of Cosimo Giannotto of Segnika Design who helped me find the best solution.”

Then it was onto the race track for a full test session and to really dial the bike in. S-10 truly is a retro-styled rocket for the road, and to make room for new projects, this brilliant FVT build can be yours for the bargain price of just €12,000 ($13k USD).

[ Francis Von Tuto | Photography by Rafael Montañes Ruiz ]