Written by Marlon Slack
George Baker has an enormous, professional workshop at his disposal. Described by many in the scene as the ?deathstar of custom motorcycles?, his premises also takes in a 200 seat cafe, a small theatre, a bar and a huge apparel store. Alright, that?s a lie. George Baker is just one guy, chock full of American ingenuity and determination based out of Southern California. A sucker for Ducatis, he?s created his own sweet caf? based around a 900SS two valve Ducati.

And it?s George?s first attempt at building a one-off custom motorcycle. ?I decided the best way to go was to dive in head first and start from scratch rather than using a donor bike,? he recalls. ?The thought process behind that decision was that every component and system would have to be thought out and made to work together with a vision in my mind of what a modern Ducati cafe racer would look like?.
I know what you?re thinking – and George is all over it. ?Sort of like my version of the Ducati Sport Classic line of a few years ago?. But it wouldn?t be as easy as tracking down a GT1000 and selling a kidney to get his hands on one. George Baker decided to build his own take on a modern Duke cafe. But there?d be way more challenges. ?SoCal?s San Diego County, where I hail from has a wealth of talent in the custom bike scene, so connecting with knowledgeable and expert craftsmen is an easy proposition?.

So with all that in place George started mulling over which Ducati powerplant he...