Speed Read starts with a thump this week, as the 659 cc / 85 hp Ducati Superquadro Mono single-cylinder engine breaks cover. We’ve also got a Honda CX650 and Yamaha MT-01 from two different Italian custom builders, and news of a unique land-speed bike that’s up for sale.
Ducati Superquadro Mono It’s been three decades since Ducati released the incredible Supermono. Designed by the dream team of Pierre Terblanche, Claudio Domenicali, and Massimoa Bordi, it was a lightweight racing motorcycle powered by a 549 cc single-cylinder engine. It was also extremely rare; only 65 units were ever produced.
Ducati took a 30-year break from singles after the Supermono, but that break is now over. Meet the Ducati Superquadro Mono—a new engine that heralds the Borgo Panigale firm’s return to single-cylinder supremacy. The 659 cc thumper uses Ducati’s Desmodromic valve system which can spin it up to a screaming 10,250rpm—making it the highest revving single-cylinder road engine ever.
If it looks familiar, it’s because the cylinder and head design come straight from the Panigale 1299. Ducati took the 1,285 cc Superquadro twin, divorced the cylinders, and created the Superquadro Mono from there. The Mono inherits the Panigale’s 116 mm cylinder bore, combustion chamber shape, 46.8 mm titanium intake valves, 38.2 mm steel exhaust valves, and the aforementioned Desmodromic system.
The Mono has a stroke of 62.4 mm, giving it a rather extreme bore-to-stroke ratio of 1.86. The big bore size allows for the fitment of the enormous valves, which are imperative to engine performance. The compression ratio of 13.1:1 is also a sign that this is going to be quite a potent machine.
Interestingly, the oil change interval is set at 15,000 km [about 9,320 miles] and the valve check interval at a whopping 30,000 km [about 18,640 miles]—which is long for a high-revving single. In a racing setup (with a Termignoni exhaust system), the Ducati Superquadro Mono punches out 85 hp at 9,500 rpm and 63 Nm of torque at 8,050 rpm.
With the announcement of the new Mono, Ducati has also confirmed its intentions to enter the 2024 Italian Motocross Championship with a bike they’ve secretly been working on for some time. Ducati has signed the multi-title winner and ex-KTM Factory Racing team manager, Antonio Cairoli, as its test rider for the project, so they clearly mean business.
Obviously, the full-fat 659 cc Superquadro Mono won’t be powering an MX bike—but we’re willing to bet that the off-road DNA will trickle down to something else. Spy shots from earlier in the year revealed that Ducati is working on a KTM 690-esque supermotard, so that’s probably where the Ducati Superquadro Mono will make its first appearance.
Will we see a single-cylinder Ducati enduro bike pop up down the line? We sure hope so. [Source]
Honda CX650 by M-CafeGarage When Massimiliano Satta isn’t flinging his sport bike around the stunning Autodromo di Mores on the Italian island of Sardinia, he’s spinning spanners in his workshop, M-CafeGarage, in the capital city of Cagliari. So when a client approached him with a disused Honda CX650 in desperate need of TLC, Massimiliano couldn’t resist infusing it with some racing DNA.
After some back-and-forth design work, Massimiliano eventually convinced his client to go down a more performance-oriented path with the CX than originally intended. That meant that most of the original bike was stripped away, leaving only the engine, frame, and swingarm.
With the bare frame on his workbench, Massimiliano modified the steering angle at the headstock to sharpen the bike’s handling. Then he bolted on a Honda CBR1000RR front end, matched to the spoked wheel from a BMW R nineT. The yokes and brakes also came from the CBR, with new clip-on handlebars and Accosato levers fitted in the cockpit.
The rear wheel was converted to spokes too, laced to a 17” rim to match the front. Wrapped in new Pirelli rubber, the new wheels are a huge visual and performance improvement over the stock hoops.
A new LED headlight sits up front, wrapped in a custom bikini fairing which hides a tiny Motogadget speedo. The fuel tank comes from a Honda CX500 (modified to fit), while the custom stainless steel exhaust system was made specifically for this project by MAD Exhausts.
Moving to the back, Massimiliano chopped off the subframe and fabricated a new one. The airbox was ditched to make room for a new electronics box under the seat, which is accessed by lifting the whole seat on a bespoke rear hinge. Massimiliano calls it a ‘cabrio saddle’ design and uses it on most of his bikes.
The actual tail unit is equal parts classic and modern, with a Ducati Imola-style hump flanked by stylish winglets, and topped off with two-piece leather upholstery. An LED taillight is masterfully integrated into the rear of the unit.
With CX650 café racer nearing completion, Massimiliano had a full HRC-inspired paint scheme laid down. The radiator shroud and frame have been finished in a beautiful satin blue, to match the leatherwork on the seat and grips. This certainly isn’t your old man’s Honda CX650, and we love it. [Via]
Yamaha MT-01 by Francesco Paura With a 1,670 cc V-twin heart, the Yamaha MT-01 is one of the coolest and weirdest power cruisers ever made. The stonking engine dominates the tightly packaged frame, hinting at the 150 Nm of peak torque hiding beneath the rocker covers. Yamaha never sent the MT-01 to the US—which is odd, because it draws a crowd in every other country that it was available in.
Francesco Paura is a big admirer of the MT-01. Based in Naples, Italy, he’s a custom motorcycle designer with a particular penchant for café racers and scramblers. When he was contacted by a customer from Lecce, a town in the south of Italy, about building a custom Yamaha V-Max, Francesco gently persuaded him to consider the MT-01 instead.
After a quick trip to Sicily, a battered MT-01 donor was wheeled into the workshop of Angelo ‘Low’ Caliendo, Franceso’s go-to bike builder. With the design signed off by the client, Francesco and Angelo got to work.
The first thing on the agenda was to get rid of the MT-01’s comically large twin muffler system. Another friend of the shop, Fabio Zoppo, was responsible for the exhaust work. He did a cracking job, replacing the stock mufflers with a pair of Leo Vince units, and mating them to the factory headers via a custom-made Y-pipe.
With the stock mufflers gone, the build demanded a new seat and subframe. There’s still enough room for a pillion, with a pair of slim fold-out pegs mounted lower down. The number plate was relocated to a custom-made bracket, mounted off the swingarm.
For the headlight, Francesco turned to his friend Salvatore Mattielo for help. The unique design uses a laser-cut housing with LED internals, and takes its inspiration from Japanese manga, of which Francesco is a big fan.
The OEM fuel tank remains, but it’s flanked by new fiberglass intake covers. The front fender is another custom item. [Francesco Paura]
The final challenge was nailing the MT-01’s livery. “I looked for a color palette that could match the unique blue frame of the MT-01,” says Francesco. “I tried to make it both elegant and aggressive.”
In the end, he settled for a metallic root beer brown, which pops nicely against the dusky MT-01 frame. The MT-01 not only looks bonkers now, but it weighs 15 kilos [33 lbs] less than before. It’s by no means lightweight now—but Francesco assures us it can still pull wheelies in fifth gear.
For Sale: Flying Kiwi sidecar streamliner As a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast, Craig Anderson’s love of bikes was so strong, that not even an accident that saw him lose both of his legs below the knee could stop him. After recovering from the accident he took a trip from the USA to New Zealand to visit some friends, which is when he came across a land speed streamliner that inspired him to tackle a new challenge.
Originally built by a New Zealand-based company, it was a record-setting sidecar racing rig called the ‘Flying Kiwi’ with a silver paint job and an open-cockpit design. Once Craig saw it in action he made an offer to buy it—but the team said that they’d have to think about it.
When he got back to the USA though, it was for sale on eBay. So he reached out to the team again, with more success this time around.
With the bike converted to work with hand controls (a mod that Craig had previously done on a BMW sidecar rig), Craig could actually pilot the Flying Kiwi. With the Bonneville salt flats in his sights, he fitted a parachute, a fire suppression system, fire bulkheads, and, most importantly, bright orange paintwork with hand-painted lettering.
Craig’s first time at Bonneville was a blast, but he knew he could go faster. The next time he ran down the salt flats, he had converted the bodywork into a covered cockpit design with a tinted removable canopy. This allowed him to get the absolute maximum from the 999 cc Suzuki GSX-R engine that’s bolted to the back of the fuselage.
Plagued with electrical issues (due to the extremely salty environment), it wasn’t looking good for Craig—but the team pushed through and eventually completed two runs. The result? An AMA National Record of 182.411 mph in the 1000-SCS-AG Class.
The bike’s incredible story is a testament to Craig’s commitment and ingenuity and shows off his astounding level of grit and determination. The rig is now for sale on Bring-A-Trailer (for just one more day) with no reserve. If it were up to us, we’d stick this in a museum for everyone to enjoy Craig’s story—but we’d also take it to shops now and then.