Ducati teams up with the iconic streetwear label Supreme, an F1 exhaust engineer builds a rowdy Triumph Thruxton café racer, Purpose Built Moto customizes the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650, and CFMoto teases a retro-inspired sportbike. Which one would you take home?
The limited edition Supreme Ducati Streetfighter V4 S If you’re a Ducatisti with a love for iconic streetwear brands and $50,000 burning a hole in your pocket, rejoice. The Italian marque has teamed up with seasoned livery designer Aldo Drudi, and New York streetwear label Supreme, to release a collector’s edition Ducati Streetfighter V4. And it’s quite possibly their cheekiest limited edition machine yet.
The Drudi x Ducati x Supreme Streetfighter comes hot on the heels of Ducati’s Senna Monster SP. But while Ayrton Senna’s connection to Ducati is well-documented, the motorcycle manufacturer has zero history with Supreme (at least, none that we know of).
Admittedly, the Streetfighter wears the Drudi-designed red and white striped livery well—although anyone who isn’t gaga for Supreme would probably prefer it without the branding. The real kicker though, is what Ducati is charging for this particular Streetfighter, and what that money gets you.
A stock Streetfighter V4 S will set you back $27,595 in the USA; considerably less than the Supreme edition’s $50k asking price. Normally that extra outlay would cover a handful of swish parts to sweeten the deal—a little carbon fiber here, a high-end exhaust system there. Not in this case.
That $22,405 extra gets you a livery, extensive Supreme branding, white wheels, and red paint on the front brake calipers. The bike comes in a branded wooden crate with a certificate of authenticity and an accessories kit (contents undefined), but that’s it.
Naturally, the Drudi x Supreme x Ducati collaboration goes further with exclusive rider gear, and a capsule collection of apparel that will be sold via Supreme’s channels rather than Ducati’s. And that’s where this collaboration makes the most sense.
Owning an overpriced Streetfighter slathered in streetwear branding will likely only appeal to a handful of motorcycle riders. But streetwear with a throwback 90s vibe and big, bold Ducati logos all over it will sell like hotcakes to fashionistas. [Ducati]
Triumph Thruxton R by Hitchcox Motorcycles Tom Hitchcox has a pretty awesome day job; he’s an exhaust engineer for a Formula One team. He’s also into motorcycles, which is why he launched Hitchcox Motorcycles, which specializes in both made-to-order and ready-to-wear exhaust systems for Triumph modern classics.
This Triumph Thruxton R project started out as a simple exhaust job, but things snowballed. The Thruxton did get its custom exhaust; a gorgeous twin header system, fabricated out of titanium with hidden louvered cores to control the noise. But it was also treated to a bunch of other changes.
Out back, Tom cut and looped the frame, then topped it off with a super-slim saddle. The OEM tank is still in play, but it, and the frame, have been stripped bare and clear-coated for protection. Maxton rebuilt the suspension to the rider’s weight and riding style, with a cartridge kit for the front forks and beefy, all-black shocks out back. The forks also sport fresh Ti and anodized finishes, while the engine and swingarm are blacked out.
Dave Wood Racing lent a hand with stripping the bike and prepping it for the finishes before things once again snowballed. While figuring out ways to circumnavigate the Triumph’s CAN Bus system to enable a speedo swap, Dave suggested ditching the CAN Bus altogether—along with most of the wiring. The bike now uses a new wiring harness with a small ECU and a Motogadget controller, plus it runs with carbs and has no traction control or ABS.
Other changes include a reworked top yoke with clip-on bars, Galfer brake discs, Hel Performance lines, and tidy upholstery from Hurly Custom Seats. The result is a lean and mean Thruxton café racer that’s all business. [Source]
Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 by Purpose Built Moto Our friends on The Gold Coast have proven time and time again that they’re capable of building wild custom motorcycles. But sometimes, a client’s brief calls for something more subtle—like this tastefully fettled Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 scrambler.
The build landed in Purpose Built Moto’s lap after their client had made a first round of changes. He’d made changes to the tank, swapped out the side panels, and installed a set of wide Renthal bars. The bike had an aftermarket exhaust on two—a rowdy low-slung setup from Dustland Moto.
The first item on Purpose Built Moto’s list was a wide-wheel conversion. Using Excel rims and Pirelli Scorpion Rally tires, the guys converted the front wheel to 17×3.5” and the rear wheel to 17×5.0”. Next, they modified one of their off-the-shelf rear fenders to act as a front fender.
Moving to the bike’s tail section, PBM trimmed and tidied the rear loop, then added a simple tail tidy with three-in-one PBM LEDs to handle taillight and turn signal duties. The stock seat was stripped, re-shaped, and then recovered to change the profile of the bike.
A 7” LED headlight sits up front, mounted on new brackets with LED turn signals doubling up as mounting bolts; all of the above is from PBM’s online catalog. Finishing touches include leather-wrapped grips and bar-end mirrors, with a killer Nardo Grey paint job from Popbang Classics.
Sure, this Royal Enfield is toned down compared to some of PBM’s previous work. But sometimes, that’s exactly what the brief calls for. [Purpose Built Moto | Images by Tristan Tolley]
CFMoto 500SR Voom The Chinese motorcycle manufacturer CFMoto has been up to some interesting stuff lately. One hot topic is the company’s much-anticipated 500SR—a 500 cc inline-four sportbike that, until now, has only been teased as a camouflaged prototype.
Now CFMoto has given us a clearer look at the 500SR, by revealing a domestic market-only variant of it; the 500SR Voom.
Details on the 500SR Voom (and the ‘regular’ 500SR) are sparse, and the bike has mostly been teased via CFMoto’s social media channels. But there are a few things we can garner from the available images—starting with how good it looks for a production bike. CFMoto has nailed the balance between neo and retro, creating a machine that evokes a little nostalgia without falling into pastiche territory.
The black, white, and gold color scheme is stunning, the gold wheels are a slick touch, and the bike’s proportions are flawless. The more you dig, the more there is to discover—like the fact that the round lights up front aren’t headlights, but rather daytime running lights that encircle air intakes.
Cycle World has done a fantastic deep dive on the 500SR Voom, noting that although CFMoto claims that this is a China-only model, the TFT display that’s visible in the bike’s teaser video has English text on it. Does that mean that the 500SR Voom will make it to other parts of the world? We can only hope. [Images via]