Written by Martin Hodgson
You might meet the nicest people on a Honda, but if it’s passion you’re after then look no further than Italian marque Ducati! The Ducatisti take things to a whole new level, even holding an annual World Ducati Week, so if you’re building a custom from a Duc then there is an extra layer of pressure. But Sven and his team at Belgium’s Barn Built Bikes were more than up for the challenge and showing their confidence decided to debut the finished product at the Motor Bike Expo in Verona, Italy. The end result is this stunning mix of old and new, a Ducati 900SS built to be a Darmah replica.

?In October 2019, we decided to participate at the motorbike expo 2020 in Verona. We didn’t want to show bikes that we already built for customers. We wanted to show our idea of a custom bike. Italy means Ducati and we still had an SS900ie donor ready in the barn,? Sven explains. But this wasn’t BBB’s first Ducati dance, having already built other SS models into Cafe Racers, one with a gorgeous tricolore paint scheme.
Pipeburn editor Scott was on hand at the MBE in Verona and Sven detailed the philosophy behind the bike ?because we like to refer to the past in our builds, we decided to make a replica of the 1978 SS900 Darmah. The fairing and seat are still available and we still had one fuel tank in our shop.? But that tank is no ordinary item, made in house it is a lightweight polyvinyl construction, with a see-through s...