Jerem Motorcycles leads the charge with a stylish Ducati Monster café racer this week, while XTR Pepo delivers a classic Ducati endurance racer to conquer all. On the news front, we look at the Moto Guzzi V7 Stone Ten, and the 2024 Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 and Vitpilen 401.
Ducati Monster S2R 1000 by Jerem Motorcycles Even though Jérémie Duchampt doesn’t exclusively customize Ducatis, he has the magic touch when it comes to Italian machinery. This time around, he’s taken a Ducati Monster S2R 1000 and turned it into an aggressive café racer with a superb green and silver livery.
Jérémie’s Monster retains its signature OEM wheels but swaps out its suspension for beefier components. The front forks are off a Ducati Diavel AMG edition, as is the front fender. The rear shock is a repurposed WP Suspension unit.
The S2R’s Brembo brakes didn’t need replacing, but Jérémie had to fabricate spacers to match the front discs to the wider Diavel forks. New brake lines from Exact Engineering add a smidgen more stopping power.
Jérémie rebuilt the Monster’s motor, putting it back together with a high-temperature black finish and a transparent clutch cover from CNC Racing. The exhaust headers are blacked-out too, and the original twin mufflers have given way to a single carbon fiber Termignoni can.
Perched on top of the modified subframe is a carbon fiber tail unit with a leather and Alcantara seat. The way it’s sculpted to match the stock fuel tank makes the whole arrangement look factory—and the way the raised seat height juxtaposes the lowered front end gives it an unapologetically aggressive stance. A Paolo Tex headlight fairing and a fiberglass belly pan finish off the bodywork.
The running gear includes a Koso LED headlight, LED front turn signals, and three-in-one LEDs acting as taillights and rear turn signals. The cockpit features clip-ons with bar-end mirrors, and an eye-catching AviaCompositi dash that sports a yellow face and a carbon fiber housing.
Jérémie’s judicious use of green and silver deserves another mention—as does the way that he’s finished certain parts in black to complement the colorful bits. If we had our way, we’d convince him to build a small production run of Monsters in this style. [Jerem Motorcycles Instagram]
Ducati endurance racer by XTR Pepo This fabulous retro endurance racer comes from the wild imagination of Pepo Rosell—better known as XTR Pepo. The brief came from a customer who wanted to partake in classic endurance races, and sought a bike in the vein of the legendary Ducati 851 to do so on. But rather than source and hack up an original 851, Pepo went ahead and built the gnarliest parts bin special we’ve ever seen.
The frame and engine are both Ducati Monster units, but they didn’t come from the same bike. Pepo started with a Monster 600 frame, then reinforced the daylights out of it. The subframe is a genuine race-spec aluminum Ducati 851 unit, and the swingarm is another Monster part.
Moving the front end, Pepo installed a set of Monster 900 yokes with the forks and wheel from a Ducati ST3. A custom linkage and a YSS shock handle rear suspension duties, with another ST3 wheel mounted out back. Pepo pieced the brakes together using repurposed Ducati Brembo components, with upgraded rotors, pads, and hoses.
For the engine, Pepo took the 998 cc L-twin mill from a Ducati S4RS Testastretta, and rebuilt it with a blueprinted bottom end, a lightened flywheel, and Ducati 999 throttle bodies with a Walbro fuel pump. The engine also benefits from a custom-made airbox and a slipper clutch. Most of the wiring loom comes from a Ducati 998, with two ECUs that split engine mapping and general electrical duties.
For the bodywork, Pepo installed an 851 fairing on custom fairing stays, then retrofitted it with a single headlight, borrowed from a Cagiva Mito 125 II Eddie Lawson replica. The fuel tank is a custom fiberglass part, and the tail is a modified Ducati 888 unit. Everything is wrapped in the only livery we could imagine on a bike of this pedigree; a classic Tricolore scheme, laid down by Artenruta.
Survey the bike, and you’ll also spot XTR Pepo clip-ons, an AviaCompositi dash, Ducabike rear-sets, a Ducati 1098 fender, an XTR Pepo rear hugger, and a whole lot more. The exhaust system is particularly tasty—it matches a set of custom headers to a pair of Silmotor Raymond Roche replica mufflers.
We can only assume that Pepo’s client is happy—because we’d be pleased as punch if this was our track day weapon. Bravo, Pepo! [Source]
Moto Guzzi V7 Stone Ten Moto Guzzi is the latest major manufacturer to cash in on an anniversary with a commemorative motorcycle. The occasion is the tenth birthday of the Moto Guzzi Proud Owners Club—a worldwide owners club that boasts 50,000 members. And the motorcycle is the Moto Guzzi V7 Stone Ten.
Like most special edition bikes, the Moto Guzzi V7 Stone Ten is effectively just a regular Moto Guzzi V7 Stone with a fresh paint job (and a few special parts). That’s not a terrible thing though—the 853 cc modern classic might not be the zippiest bike on the street, but its transversal V-twin engine has oodles of character, and it’s an attractive motorcycle.
The Moto Guzzi V7 Stone Ten trades the flat colors that the V7 Stone comes out in for a sporty black and white livery with red accents. An offset checkered stripe runs over the top of the fuel tank, while red pinstripes connect to red stitching on the saddle. The shock springs, tank badges, and wheel logos are all finished in red.
Also included on the V7 Stone Ten are an anodized aluminum gas cap and bar-end mirrors. The engine’s valve covers sport a special graphite-colored finish, while the throttle body covers are anodized black.
The sportbike-esque Arrow mufflers are a nice touch too. They not only look good, but also free up an extra 1.3 hp and an extra 2 Nm of torque.
All this will cost you the tidy sum of $9,990 in the US. That’s $800 more than the regular V7 Stone—which isn’t too bad when you consider that the Arrow mufflers alone likely cost way more than that. [Moto Guzzi]
2024 Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 and Vitpilen 401 The Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 and Vitpilen 401 have gone largely unchanged since they hit the scene nearly six years ago. But now that KTM has updated the bike that they’re based on—the KTM Duke 390—the Pilen twins have followed suit.
That means that both bikes get the Duke 390’s all-new steel trellis frame, with an aluminum swingarm and WP suspension at both ends. The changes result in a longer wheelbase and a slightly lower seat height, which should make for a more stable ride. More importantly, the Vitpilen has shed its uncomfortably low clip-ons for a far more sensible set of street bars.
The new 399 cc engine is good for 45 hp, with amenities like ByBre brakes, Bosch ABS, switchable rider modes, clutchless shifting, LED lighting, and a 5” bonded glass TFT display.
Both bikes sport revised styling, while still retaining hints of the classic Pilen aesthetic. Notable changes include the relocation of the license plate from behind the rear wheel to a more traditional tail-mounted placement, a less blocky design for the primary plastics, and a tight, underslung exhaust design.
The two bikes are still set apart by distinctive styling differences. The scrambler-like Svartpilen 401 [above] is finished in a mix of black and olive hues, with a slim front fender, a headlight nacelle, a luggage rack on top of the fuel tank, a rear grab handle, and a slim bash plate. The Vitpilen wears a stark black-and-white paint job with yellow striping, and a chunkier front fender that looks to be borrowed from the Vitpilen Aero concept that debuted some time ago.
Additionally, the Svartpilen 401 gets laced wheels with Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires, while the Vitpilen 401 [below] has alloy hoops with Michelin Power 6 rubber.
While the Pilen design was overdue for a refresh, we’re not sure all the changes work. The longer tail throws out the compact, BMX-like styling of the original bikes, and the new trellis frame doesn’t look quite as impactful as the old one. The coolant reservoir poking out on the right-hand side of the bike is a bit of an eyesore too.
That said, we’re still eager to take it around the block. We’re fans of the nimble nature of the outgoing Svartpilen 401 and Vitpilen 401, and it’s clear that Husqvarna set out to improve the formula rather than mess with it. There’s only one way to find out if it worked… [Husqvarna]
