Written by Martin Hodgson
For all the new kids on the block that come charging into the custom bike scene with guns blazing there are still the old hands who have seen the trends come and go. One such man is Italy?s Filippo Barbacane who since 1993 has been applying his skills to motorcycles and in the process built perhaps the world’s greatest catalogue of customised Moto Guzzi masterpieces. The head honcho of Officine Rossopuro was looking for a way to commemorate ten years since he built ?80?, one of his most popular bikes, and decided to pay it tribute by setting a challenge. Take a brand new Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber and create a crazy cool street machine called ?VIX? (or ?V9? in Roman numerals) that maintains the bikes strict Euro 4 compliance.
That wasn’t the only test for Filippo who prefers a starting platform from more simple times, ?I do not use a lot of new bikes because they have too many electronics and I don’t really like modern electronics, but I wanted to try to make a special based on the new Guzzi, because Moto Guzzi also chose a style that was a bit custom for these latest motorcycles, but I think also the potential to make a very different bike is there.? In the search to create his own take on the new V9 one thing he refused to sacrifice was the absolute road legality of the bike and its compliance to Euro 4 standards.

Whereas most of his builds involve taking a grinder to the stock frame, fitting up a raucous exhaust and showing scant ...