Somewhere round the back of every custom shop is an unloved bike that?s been sitting there for months, waiting for its moment in the limelight.
In the Atlanta, Georgia shop of Fuller Moto, the unloved bike was this classic Ducati. Of course, it didn?t look anything like the sleek cafe racer we see here.

The Ducati?s savior was Bryan Heidt, a metal fabricator with a background in industrial design who has been working at Fuller for eight years now.
?It?s ’75 Ducati 860,? Heidt tells us. ?It?s named Cavallo Nero, Italian for ?dark horse.??

The bike started as a motor and frame that Bryan Fuller picked up from Ducati wizard Rich Lambrechts, who runs Desmo Pro in Fort Lauderdale. It sat in the shop for a couple of years, taunting Heidt all the while. Fuller had no plans for it. Then one day, on a whim, Heidt stuck an old Benelli Mojave tank on the frame. ?It suited the bike to a T and I was hooked; I had to see this thing built.?

He proposed a joint project to Fuller, with Heidt handling the design and build in his own time. ?I got to see my ideas for the bike come to life; he got a spec project moving, without taking up shop time. Win and win.?
The plan was to keep a classic look, but make the Ducati handle and stop like a modern sport bike. On went a 2007 Suzuki GSX-R750 front end, a Yamaha R6 rear shock, and Ducati SportClassic wheels.

By December 2014, the bike was a roller. And Fuller gave Heidt a fantastic surprise?gifting him the bike as a year-end ...