Most cultures have their own versions of Parkinson?s Law: ?Work expands to fill the time available.? It?s especially applicable when building a bike, because without a brief, things tend to veer off course?or take years to complete.
Simone Conti knows this well. He became well acquainted with the Law while customizing this Ducati SuperSport, but the incredible result was worth the pain.

Simone’s not a professional builder in the strictest sense?though he hopes to be, one day. For now, he works in his family’s ceramic filter business in Sassuolo, near Modena in Italy, and wrenches in his spare time in his brother’s workshop.
He’s completed six builds so far under the banner of Simone Conti Motorcycles (or ‘SCM’), and four more currently on the bench. But he?s built this Ducati for himself.
The donor was a 2003 Ducati SuperSport 1000 DS, bought specifically for this project. The original idea was to create a classic café racer, but somewhere between Simone’s original sketches and his cardboard mockups, it morphed into the futuristic café-fighter you see here.
?Before I build,? says Simone, ?I always make a small drawing with pencil and paper. But nine times out of ten, I change the idea.? You can almost see the Italian shrug.

All the Ducati’s bodywork is now custom?from the fairing and front fender to the tank and tail. Simone has fashioned the aggressive ‘cafe fighter’ curves from aluminum, using classi...