There’s no doubt that the Ducati 999 is set to become a future classic. Pierre Terblanche’s aggressive design polarized opinion when it first broke cover, but it didn’t matter; the 999 was proper fast, and took three titles in its tenure on the World Superbike circuit. And its looks have grown on most people over time?like a movie that gets panned by critics at first, only to become a cult classic later.
So if it’s that great, why customize it" For Pierre Dhers at Freeride Motos, the answer is simple: it was the best possible donor for this project.

The 999’s owner is an avid Ducati fan and a regular at track days, and initially asked Pierre to build him a Ducati 900 SS-based cafe racer. But the French builder had something better in mind: a cafe racer with actual track-level performance, based on the much faster 999. ?The project was quickly defined,? says Pierre. ?No umpteenth 900 SS cafe racer, but rather a real transformed superbike. Performance, with a nasty look and high-end equipment.?

The client agreed, sourced a 2005-model Ducati 999, and delivered it to the Freeride Motos workshop. He picked a fine year too?the 999 was upgraded in 2005, to the tune of 140 hp and 108.9 Nm. But Pierre’s made this one even quicker and lighter, thanks to a laundry list of carefully considered mods.
Aesthetically, Pierre’s first thought was to remove all of the 999’s stock bodywork. But after some back and forth with his clie...