Many of the world’s top racing drivers love two wheels just as much as four. We all know Lewis Hamilton rides an MV Agusta, but Vettel, Raikkonen and Webber are bike nuts too. Michael Schumacher briefly raced Fireblades, and Alonso has lapped Motegi on a Honda MotoGP bike.
The Spanish team Campos Racing has taken this cross-pollination a whole step further. Sporting director Adrián Campos is a keen bike builder, and has just finished this beast of a CB750F.
The Honda is the 18th build from Bolt Motor Company, which shares workshop space with the race team. But it’s a little more significant than its predecessors: it’s designed to celebrate young driver Leonardo Pulcini’s championship-winning seasons in EuroFormula and the Spanish F3 series.
“The goal was to create a mix between a cafe racer and a racing motorcycle, while looking as close as possible to the car Leonardo raced with,” Adrián explains.
The base is a 1984 CB750F Super Sport, which means it’s a DOHC air-cooled four. With 77 hp on tap and four 32mm Keihin carbs, the Honda was lauded for its throttle response and acceleration—and was reportedly quicker around a track than a Ducati 900 Desmo SS.
This particular CB750 also had just 650 kilometers (400 miles) on the clock when it rolled into the Valencia workshop. “It was brand new!” says Adrián. So he’s left the engine internals alone, and just freed up the gas flow with a stunningly curvaceous exhaust system.
This was built by TUN, a little-known but well regarded Valencia specialist that creates systems for racebikes. With a huge bore and a flush-fitting muffler tucked under the seat, it looks the business.
Further down is the aluminum single-sided swing arm from a Ducati 1098, adapted to fit the CB750F’s frame. Adrián admits that it was a tricky part of the build, but then again, we’re sure he’s faced worse challenges in the workshop.
The 17-inch wheels are from a 1098 too (shod with Michelin Moto2 slicks), along with the fully adjustable Showa 43mm USD forks.
The 1098 also gave up its triple trees and clip-ons, and the front fender is a carbon Ducati Performance part. The Brembo Monoblock brake system should make the bike even quicker around a track.
The bodywork—or rather, the imposing tank and vestigial tail unit—sits on a modified frame with dead straight rails.
The tank is a modified unit from a Laverda Mirage 1200: a bike we haven’t come across before, and a more civilized version of the legendary Jota.
As a racing team, Campos have the full range of low-run manufacturing facilities at their disposal. So Adrián designed the tail unit in CAD, and got it 3D printed. The indicators are tucked inside the frame tubes, and only visible when activated.
There’s a neat little custom belly pan too, adding a measure of protection to the exhaust headers without dominating the look of the bike.
As you’d expect from a race team, the controls and instrumentation are top shelf. The grips, indicators, switches and speedo come from Motogadget, and the levers are Brembo.
So what does 19-year-old Leonardo Pulcini think of the Honda? “At the moment he is still my driver, so I don’t allow him to ride bikes!” says Adrián.
Until Leonardo retires, his father will be piloting the machine around the streets of his hometown Rome. And we suspect that Pulcini Sr. will be quite happy with that arrangement.
Wouldn’t you be?
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