A lot goes down at EICMA every year. For father and son Dino and Marios Nikolaidis, it’s a chance to represent their booming family business, DNA Filters. Then last year, they noticed the growing modern custom scene, and decided to build a bike themselves.
They don?t do things by halves. Dino’s a mechanical engineer, Marios is a motorsport engineer, and both are well versed in CAD/CAM design. And the DNA factory is loaded with everything you need to build a killer custom?including state-of-the-art CNC machines.

It took Dino and Marios two weeks to nail down the design of this KTM RC8. ?We wanted to mimic the style of the 70s and 80s,? explains Dino. ?DCR-017 was to be just a frame, engine and wheels, with an analogue clock?no plastic covers and no carbon fiber.? ?We wanted a 2017-spec superbike beast. But undercover?a sleeper.?

Since DNA is in the business of making filters, it made sense to make a filter the focal point of the build?just like on an old American muscle car. Back in 2012, DNA won a coveted Red Dot Design Award for an airbox replacement kit for the KTM 990 Super Duke, so that’s the setup they picked.
The air filter was designed for the KTM LC8 990 V-twin, but the guys wanted more torque and power. So they chose the LC8 1190, as used in the KTM RC8 Superbike. And the standard version of the RC8 was not enough, so they went for the R version.

?We needed a tubular trellis frame and when we saw the RC8 naked we were blown away by the min...