Del Amo Ducati

Del Amo Ducati

ROUNDUP

SALES FOR JAPAN’S BIG FOUR ARE down more than half from this time last year. Harley-Davidson’s earnings are way down, and Buell is out of business. At least one European manufacturer is rumored to be sitting on thousands of bikes. What can savvy dealers do to move existing inventory in a tough economy?

Del Amo Motorsports in Redondo Beach, California, created a custombike program born from a challenge laid on by Ducati for dealers around the country to customize the new-for-2009 Monster 1100S with just a paint scheme. Fifty-three dealers accepted the challenge. Del Amo won with its blackon-white Los Angeles cityscape vinyl graphic by artist Alan Villanueva.

But sales manager Brian Brugh had bigger ideas.

Brugh approached Tony Sesto of nearby Sesto Custom Cycles, who had little previous experience with Ducatis but was attracted to the Monster’s minimalist trellis frame. Brugh turned Sesto loose with just one caveat: The bike had to be saleable as a brand-new motorcycle, with no mechanical modifications. The result is the stunning translucentrootbeer-candy machine seen here.

Like the look of a Troy Bayliss Edition 1098R but can’t come up with the $40K required for ownership? For half that amount, according to Brugh, Sesto replicated the TBE paint scheme on Ducati’s best-selling model, the 848.

Designs aren’t limited to Ducatis. “We have a customized Yamaha YZF-R1 on the floor right now,” says Brugh. “We’ve made it so customers can come to our shop, tell us what they want, and Tony will create it. Warranty included.”

Savvy, indeed. Matthew Miles