The fat tire look is not everyone’s cup of tea. But if that’s what butters your toast, Down & Out Café Racers are the guys to call.
The British shop has perfected the art of beefing up a bike’s footprint, mostly applying the technique to Triumph Bonnevilles. But builders Shaun and Carl wanted a breath of fresh air, so they decided to give a 2015 Ducati Scrambler the fat tire treatment.

“We looked at what other builders at the time were doing,” says Shaun, “and most were building cafe racers around the Ducati.
“After looking at the bike, we decided to keep the bike the original style of a scrambler?with a twist.”

That twist meant adding a beefy front wheel to match the Scrambler’s already burly rear. D&O laced up a custom set of 17-inch wheels, shod with 180/55-17 TKC80s. Next up was the task of fitting the chunkier front wheel to the bike. Fastec Custom Racing machined a wider set of yokes to stretch the stock forks. They also hooked D&O up with a custom spindle and wheel spacers, and a new speedo mount.

D&O then set about giving the Scrambler a nip and tuck. ?We were going to cut the rear end of the bike,? says Shaun, ?but in the end we wanted to avoid chopping it up?so we can make parts for others to achieve the same look.?
The seat is custom, and doesn’t extend down the sides of the bike like the original does. Instead, D&O have made a set of side covers to fill the space. They?ve al...