A few years back I stepped away from performance bikes, back then I was heavily into track riding and I was very happy with my 2005 R1 and its 170bhp... that is until my mate bought the then just released Panigale; I was still very content with my bike, especially as I was quicker than him whilst he gingerly rode it around the track for the first few outings, although once he let me have a go on it whilst in Cartagena; I became more than a little envious. They are 100% track focused and inspired from years of racing technology... so what better bike to turn into a café racer! This is the work of Ducati dealership Moto Puro from the South-East of the Netherlands, as well as selling Ducati's, they race, service, talk about, modify and breath them! They have a passion for the Italian marque, as many of us do... but with added flamboyance, just as the Italians would want. Most Café racers are about minimalizing technology, but Moto Puro have embraced it, after all, the Panigale needs the complicated electronics to start it, regulate it, control it and adjust it. With 195bhp as standard, it's a handful without the traction on... I assure you! So the Elite II still has all those gizmos, any un-required cables have been eliminated and wiring hidden, a lot within the single sided swing arm, leaving it looking very clean, if you want to compare it to the original, just Google 'naked Panigale' and see how much the fairings hide. The seat is an in house custom piece that crowns the trellis subframe beautifully, the candy red paintwork was done by MW-Design and all the standard aluminium parts, including the tank have been highly polished and looks stunning, especially with the gold accents. The exhaust is obviously another custom made part, this time by QD, we just love the spaced out shotgun setup. One of my favourite bits on this bike are those forged wire wheels, they really make the bikes look; they detract you, even if just for a moment from the immense amount of cooling this bike requires and they are as classy as Audrey Hepburn stretched out on a chaise longue. Up front she wears a classic Café style headlight and yoke mounted risers for the U-horn drop bars. The tank cap is a 'Monza' quick filler cap to add yet another touch of retro to a very modern machine. The front mudguard looks to be from the Corse catalogue as it looks very similar to one I just put on my Ducati, The Elite II's dash is standard, this is the brains of this bike and where the traction control and sport modes are selected. Moto Puro built this bike in secret to surprise the café Racer lovers and was kept out of sight during the process, it's been completed for several months now and I'm sure it's been shown off plenty, so if you now fancy showing off with this utterly unique Panigale; you can, it's up for sale on their website at a snip under 30,000 Euros! For more information on the bike and the guys from Moto Puro, here are their details: Moto Puro Gulberg 45A 5674 TE Nuenen info@motopuro.nl www.motopuro.nl © Mark Kamphuis | www.mkfotografie.nl