The S4R has got to be one of Ducati?s greatest hits. The water-cooled Monster used a retuned DOHC 996 engine with eight valves and a stout 113 hp, weighed just 425 pounds (193 kilos) dry, and sported a single-sided swingarm. And it was good for over 145 mph (235 kph).
The S4R can still hold its own against many modern roadsters, but it was launched 16 years ago?and tired examples are now popping up on the secondhand scene. Which makes it an ideal base for a custom build, as the Dutch shop Moto Adonis has just discovered.

Shop founder Daan Borsje has delivered a most unusual custom, with radical styling that doesn?t slot into any obvious genre. It?s in-your-face and unapologetic, much like the S4R itself.
?My loyal customer and friend Stijn Van Horick came to me with the desire to own a one-off, futuristic cafe racer,? says Daan. ?I also had a desire: to build a custom based on one of the most brutal and best steering motorcycles I have ever ridden, the Ducati S4R.?
?We started with a wish list as big as a Harry Potter book, and narrowed it down?still a way too long list of stuff we wanted on the bike.?
Stijn recalls the brief: ?It needed to be brutal, slick, and with a nice ?flow.? A unique bike. I?ve always liked Ducati, and it was cool that Daan had the same idea. It was the first Ducati that Moto Adonis would build.?

In the Roosendaal workshop, Daan and Stijn started drawing. They took inspiration from not only bikes, but also cars and even whales (yes, that g...