Ducati Monster 695 Café Racer Project Begins

A new custom motorcycle café racer project begins with a 2007 Ducati Monster 695. After considering a range of motorcycles for the next Tink Customs build, we ended up back with an Italian motorcycle — and the Ducati Monster looks like an excellent starting point for a custom café racer.

At first glance the Monster appears to be in pretty good condition, but the first strip-down reveals a few problems. Rotten fuel lines, brakes that leave plenty to be desired and various unnecessary components all start to come to light as the bike is inspected and dismantled.

The early stages of this Ducati Monster 695 café racer build are about working out exactly what we have and deciding where the project should go. The handlebars are flipped as an initial experiment, while ideas for clip-on or drop handlebars, rearsets, a chopped rear frame and a completely custom single-seat café racer seat are considered.

There are also some interesting discoveries within the fuel system, including an emissions device that may not survive the build.

The aim is to strip the Ducati Monster back and create a clean, minimalist custom motorcycle while retaining the character that makes the Monster such a great starting point. As the build progresses, the bike will receive a new electrical setup, custom LED lighting, exhaust modifications, frame and seat work, wheels, paint and plenty of other café racer details.

This first episode follows the Ducati Monster from the initial inspection through the first steps of the teardown and gives us a good idea of what lies ahead for this custom motorcycle build.