Mike Vienne is a man obsessed by weight. His specialty is turning blunt knives into razor-sharp scalpels: or rather, improving sportbikes by stripping off everything that slows them down.
He runs L.A.-based Championship Cycles, which ?began from the idea that less is more. Because more is heavy, and heavy is slow.?

Normally he focuses on removing parts compromised by regulations and cost restrictions. But occasionally he?ll dig deeper into a bike and come up with something completely different?like this Ducati 1100 ?SuperStrada?.
?Last year, the owner of a 1995 Ducati 900 SuperSport contacted me,? says Mike. ?It?s also one of my personal favorites, and he had a desire to create something unique.?

The bike had been sitting for many years though, after the air-cooled L-twin motor had given out. ?A good portion of the original bodywork was damaged too,? says Mike. ?The tank and carburetors were caked solid with the evaporated remains of five-year old fuel, the suspension was leaking, and anything not covered in oil was rusted.? Despite this inauspicious starting point, the owner?s goals were very ambitious. ?He was asking a lot from a 25-year-old motorcycle. But this wasn?t meant to be a restoration, so I had some creative latitude.?

Mike proposed a modern reworking of Ducati?s own 900 Superlight?a sportier, more aggressive version of the 900 SS?and chose to focus on handling and lightness as the foundation of the build.
?As Lotus design engineer Colin Chapman once...