Ducati and Yamaha share equal billing this week. We start with a Yamaha XSR900 fairing kit from Taiwan and a Ducati Multistrada café racer from Argentina. K-Speed wows again with a gnarly custom Yamaha XSR155, while Ducati releases a slew of special edition Panigale race replicas.
Yamaha XSR900 fairing kit by Hóo-Bué Even Yamaha knows it; the XSR900 looks better with a fairing. But if you’ve already got a Yamaha XSR900 in the garage and don’t want to shell out for the new XSR900 GP—or if you’d prefer something other than its retro Grand Prix racer looks, this new kit from Hóo-Bué in Taiwan might just be the ticket.
Available in blue, black, or unpainted, and supplied with decals, Hóo-Bué’s ‘XSR900 C-S’ kit makes a big difference to the Yamaha XSR900, with minimal fuss.
It consists of three main parts—a fairing, a passenger seat cover, and a CNC-machined aluminum plate to blank off the handlebar riser mounts. You can buy it all as one kit, or grab each part individually.
The fairing cuts a slimmer profile than the triangular unit on the Yamaha XSR900, with a look that’s ever so slightly reminiscent of the Ducati SportClassic. Its lower half extends as far as the bike’s radiator, and is equipped with carbon fiber fins that have narrow LED turn signals embedded in them.
Fitting clip-ons is a must with this kit, but you’ll need to source those yourself. Hóo-Bué has added rear-set foot pegs to their two demo bikes as well, with bar-end mirrors and an Akrapovič exhaust added to the black bike.
Out back, the supplied tail bump attaches over the passenger seat, adding a dose of classic sportbike style to the XSR900. There’s no need to cut or weld anything to fit the Hóo-Bué kit, and all the fasteners you need are supplied.
The colors and graphics are made to match the OEM liveries too, so you don’t need to fuss with paint… unless you want to, of course. There’s just one catch—the kit only fits XSR900 models from 2022 onwards. [Hóo-Bué]
Ducati Multistrada 1200 S by STG Tracker When this trellis-framed Ducati café racer hit our inbox, we just assumed it was a neatly fettled Monster. Our jaws hit the floor when the STG Tracker in Buenos Aires informed us that it was, in fact, a 2011-spec Ducati Multistrada 1200 S. Which makes the work that went into it that much more impressive.
The Ducati Multistrada 1200 S is a 150 hp tourer with a tall build and top-shelf components. Its aesthetic is polarizing—but, like most Ducatis, a gorgeous trellis frame lurks under its bodywork. The hard part is uncovering it.
STG liberated this Multistrada of its bodywork, fuel tank, subframe, handlebars, and front end. A new trellis subframe was fabricated and bolted on, with a red finish to match the main frame. Up front, triangular panels were built to fill the gaps in the frame that would have been hidden by the OEM fairings.
Next, the crew added a handmade aluminum fuel tank that sits parallel to the frame at the bottom but cuts a more classic line across the top. Perched behind it is a carbon fiber tail section, capped off with a custom twin-texture saddle.
STG also installed a Ducati Panigale front-end to lower the ride height, complete with its Öhlins forks and Brembo brakes. The front fender and its mounts are custom, as are the myriad carbon fiber covers and guards that adorn the Multistrada.
Moving to the cockpit, STG kept the Multistrada’s dashboard—but its handlebars were ditched in favor of aggressive clip-ons, fitted with lever guards.
An adaptive LED headlight sits out front, mounted on new brackets to tuck it close to the forks. Finishing touches include an STG-branded radiator cover and a rerouted exhaust with an SC-Project muffler.
The bike’s finished in a tasteful blend of aluminum, carbon fiber, red, and black textures, with classic Ducati logos on the tank. We never thought we’d utter the phrase “Multistrada café racer,” but here we are. [STG Tracker]
Ducati Panigale race replicas ‘Tis the season to be releasing special edition motorcycles—and no one does it quite like Ducati. To celebrate their championship victories in this year’s MotoGP, WorldSBK, and WorldSSP campaigns, the Italian marque has released a slew of limited edition Panigales wrapped in this season’s race liveries.
It’s been an unprecedented year for Ducati. With Francesco Bagnaia taking gold in the 2023 MotoGP championship, and Álvaro Bautista winning the WorldSBK title, they become the first motorcycle manufacturer to win both premier class titles two years in a row. The five bikes pay tribute to those two riders, along with second- and third-place MotoGP finishers Jorge Martín and Marco Bezzecchi, and WorldSSP champion Nicolò Bulega.
Four of the bikes are based on the Panigale V4, while the WorldSSP tribute bike uses the Panigale V2. Each is configured as a single-seater and wears a billet aluminum top yoke with its individual number on it. It also gets a unique key and dashboard start-up animation, special seat upholstery with the respective rider’s logo stitched into it, and their signature on the fuel tank.
The Panigale V4 Bagnaia MotoGP replica [above] is wrapped in the special yellow livery that Ducati ran at the Misano round of this year’s MotoGP series. It bears Bagnaia’s number (1) on the front plate and is limited to 263 units.
The Panigale V4 Bautista WorldSBK replica [above] is also dressed in Ducati’s yellow Misano design, but this time with carbon fiber wings and a brushed aluminum fuel tank. Here, the Panigale’s Marchesini forged aluminum wheels are painted silver instead of black. The number 1 celebrates Bautista’s championship, and production is limited to 219 units.
The V4 Martin and Bezecchi MotoGP replicas wear the liveries of Primi Pramac [below] and Mooney VR46 respectively, with each rider’s number emblazoned on the front. 189 units of the Martin bike and 72 units of the Bezecchi bike will be produced.
All four Panigale V4 race replicas will be based on the V4 S model, further upgraded with STM-EVO SBK dry clutches and Akrapovič silencers. Ducati has also included Brembo Stylema calipers, adjustable Rizoma foot pegs, and race-spec windshields. Each bike wears an eye-watering array of carbon fiber bits too.
Optional accessories include a kit to remove the street-legal bits for track use, a race-spec fuel cap, an open clutch cover, and a GPS module that sends lap times to the bike’s dash.
Nicolò Bulega’s Panigale V2 WorldSSP replica [top] is wrapped in the standard red Aruba.it Racing team livery, with production limited to 111 units. It gets Öhlins suspension and an Öhlins steering damper, plus an Akrapovič silencer that bumps up power and torque, and reduces weight. Like the V4, the V2 race replica comes with miles of carbon fiber and Rizoma footpegs, with a number plate and mirror removal kit, and an aluminum fuel cap, available as extras.
Buyers also get a certificate of authenticity and a special bike cover, and each bike ships in a unique wooden shipping crate.
If we were looking to put a Panigale in the Bike EXIF garage, we’d have a hard time choosing between Bagnaia’s yellow replica and Martin’s Primi Pramac bike (which was our favorite MotoGP livery of 2023). [Ducati]
Yamaha XSR155 by K-Speed K-Speed builds custom motorcycles at such a blistering pace, that it’s almost impossible to keep tabs on them. This one uses the diminutive Yamaha XSR155 as a base—but in true K-Speed fashion, it looks ready for the apocalypse.
K-Speed started by tearing the XSR155 down to its plucky Deltabox frame, then stripping off pretty much everything behind it. A new tubular subframe was fabricated and welded in, providing a raised platform to redesign the bodywork on.
Next, the OEM fuel tank was remounted to sit at a more pleasing angle, and a slim seat was built to sit behind it. The front end was treated to an oversized LED headlight and a high-mounted fender. A slim fender finishes off the tail; the rear light sits lower down on the swingarm.
Other changes include new handlebars, switches, grips, and bar-end mirrors. The speedo has been relocated, and the brakes have been upgraded with new lines and a better master cylinder.
K-Speed opted for a simple green and black scheme to give this plucky scrambler a military aesthetic. Super-chunky Motoz Tractionator tires add to the vibe, while a high-riding K-Speed ‘Diabolus’ exhaust extracts as much noise as it can from the small single.
Once again, K-Speed has proven that small bikes can be big fun. Give us this Yamaha XSR155 and miles of muddy roads for a weekend, and we’ll come back dirty and happy. [Via]
