There?s nothing more depressing than checking the damage to your bike after dropping it?or worse, after a crash. But for mildly damaged bikes, it?s a cloud that often has a silver lining.
When this 2002 Buell XB9S arrived in North East Custom?s Padua, Italy workshop, it was a mess. The rear frame was warped, the tank was smashed, and the lights were snapped to pieces.

For two years, the Buell had been sitting in its owner?s garage, before he made the decision to salvage it with a custom job. And then he made an even better decision: he called brothers Diego and Riccardo Coppiello.

?The concept was to amplify what we like about the Buell,? says Diego. ?The idea of having the fuel inside the chassis is fascinating, as well the oil in the swingarm. But what seems strange, to our eyes, is that Erik Buell decided to add a fake tank.?
That tank is now gone, and with it, a fair bit of weight. At just 385 pounds dry (175 kilos), the XB9S was already a light bike?especially given its engine size.
To make the Buell lighter still, Diego and Riki also created a simple ?suspended? seat. There?s no tail unit to speak of, just a minimal new subframe to support the weight of the rider, which attaches via the original frame mounting points.

Fitting the new seat meant stripping the electrical system down to the essentials, and hiding it under a thin fiberglass cover on top of the frame where the old ?tank? used to be.
To get the fit exactly right, the crew made a clay mold firs...