Thunderous American V-twins and sportbike handling don?t usually go hand-in-hand, but that hasn?t stopped people from trying over the years. Andrew Marsden from Bristol, England is one of those people. He dreamed of riding a V-twin café racer that handled like a race bike and looked incredible?so he built one around a stonking S&S Cycle power train.
?I started thinking about building this bike in 2008 after I finished 17 years of racing on short circuits and the Isle of Man,? says Andy. ?I wanted to build a big capacity V-twin in a chassis with nimble handling, but with the look of an older Manx Norton race bike.?

Andy kicked off his S&S Cycle café racer project in a big way?by making the frame himself. Using a borrowed manual tube bender, and a frame jig set to a Ducati 916 wheelbase and head angle, Andy taught himself as he went along. It was a gutsy move, but it paid off. Those familiar with the Manx Norton will notice how Andy has taken inspiration from the Featherbed frame and applied it here. The curved, tubular frame expertly cradles the engine and gearbox, but has a slightly different geometry from the original.

At this point, Andy?s mate Pete Sutton came on board. Pete has a background in engineering and fabrication, so he dived into aluminum and stainless steel fabrication. Andy specializes in paintwork (he runs Ultimate Bike Pain in Bristol), so he focused on the bike’s aesthetics.
The first incarnation of the bike was finished 12 years ago,...