These days, we associate Ducati with tire-shredding 200 horsepower superbikes and the all-conquering, impossibly hip Scrambler. But in the years after WW2, Ducati was best known for producing a tiny 98-pound motorcycle called the Cucciolo.
Cucciolo is Italian for ?puppy,? and the bike was named after the high-pitched bark of its tiny exhaust. By 1952, an incredible 200,000 Cucciolos had left the factory, but few survive today. And outside Europe, they?re as rare as hen?s teeth.

So it?s great to see some love for the humble 49 cc single, with this immaculate restomod from Tony Prust of Analog Motorcycles. The owner is Michigan man Del Thomas, who?s been Tony?s customer since 2013.
Analog have already built two Ducatis for Del?an Indiana and a GT860?which sit in his garage next to a 1968 Scrambler 350 wide case, a 1990 851 with some go-fast goodies, and a 2009 Hyper 1100S. ?Del pretty much has a model from every decade, except the 1950s,? says Tony. Obviously, that needed to change.
?Over the course of our friendship, he?s commandeered a few Cucciolo engines to complete six decades of Ducatis. He also found a prewar 1930s Iver Johnson bicycle frame, a modern front fork set up, and a cool vintage Ideale leather seat.?
Del got as far as mocking up a Cucciolo board track-style bike, but then life got in the way?so he dropped off the project at the Analog shop in Illinois, a couple of years ago. ?There was no rush,” says Tony. “So it sat in the shop, and eve...