Written by Tim Huber.
Literally Italian for ?motorbike?, La Motocicletta is a small shop in Italy that approaches custom building from a different vantage point than most. Massimo, La Motocicletta founder and head honcho, previously spent his days working on prototypes for major manufacturers, so churning out one-off parts and ultra-clean bikes with a factory level finish is what the man is accustom to.

?I spent several years as a freelance designer for Aprilia and Moto Guzzi, mainly working on carbon fiber pieces for the newest concept bikes you see displayed at shows. My most recent works include the Aprilia RS-660 and Moto Guzzi MGX-21,? Massimo relays.

After establishing himself in the motorcycle industry, Massimo decided to start his own one-off bike building operation, working under the banner of La Motocicletta. The majority of the shop?s time is spent building bikes for customers, but every once in a blue moon the Italian outfit builds its own creation exactly as they see fit, not having to adhere to the confines of a customer?s taste or budget.
The latest one of these build’s started life as a 1983 BMW R80. First, the air-cooled boxer twin was torn down and built back up using an array of R100 internals. Once back together, the engine was hit with a coat of matte black before having the its fins polished. A pair of Bing carbs and pod filters are now in play, and the stock exhaust has been replaced with two single pipes that swoop down 180-degrees under th...