Union Ducati 900ss
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 
Union Motorcycle Classics work out of a remodeled 100 year old dairy barn in Idaho which they describe as "no longer home to lowing bovines, we now attend to the gentle rumblings of a slightly more untamed beast". Formed by a group of guys who all had different skills but one passion... classic motorcycles. Luke is professionally trained motorcycle mechanic, Bret is the owner of Glass From The Past (GFTP) which manufacture killer looking cafe racer fairings, race seats, fenders and tanks. Mike, Jeff and Andy are all graphic designers who love nothing more than getting their hands greasy on a vintage classic.
The pictured Ducati 900ss is one of their proud creations and we will let them describe this Cinderella story: "Boy meets bike, Boy likes bike, Boy crashes bike. Keep reading. It gets better. From the ashes of its damaged frame, all parts were removed. A one of a kind fiberglass tail section was crafted to work with a sectioned stock frame that was rebuilt from the rear motor mounts back. The proportions of this bike puts one in mind of the Scuderia Spaggiari Ducati and Tony Rutter's TT2. Once again, a GFTP piece was created just for this rising phoenix from the ashes: a modified 900SS front fairing to accept the headlights and turn signals. The tank is a collaboration of a 900SS tank and a late 80's 750 Sport. Custom brackets and period race parts complete the package". In my humble opinion this bike has been transformed from a chunky and dated Italian sports bike into a stylish modern cafe racer. For more images of this bike and others, including a fine Yamaha RD60, visit the well designed Union website.
Reader Comments (12)
Great post. These guys live the life I can only dream about. When I grow up I'd love to make a living restoring old classic motorcycles in a rural country barn. Can life get any better than that?
Nice bike, but I'd have liked to have seen the 'reveal' between the bottom of the tank and the upper frame tube be consistent across the length of the tank, and have it be the same as the reveal between the forward part of the seat and the same tube. The white/black color combo only serves to highlight the discrepancy. I like the shape of the seat bump though, with the oval dropping down below the frame tube-adds some visual interest to what would otherwise be a standard look. Overall a great looking bike, one I'd be proud to own. I grew up in Boise, btw,
I have a 2003 Ducati 620 SS (1 of 180 in the USA) and even though it's rare, I'm digging this custom job and thinking about doing the same to my bike. Bravo to Union for this bold, beautiful, brilliant custom job. It takes just the right eye and skills to pull off something so amazing. I'm sure the boys in Bologna would appreciate their vision. Union sure has my vote! Maybe in another lifetime I'll buy an old barn and start a custom bike shop. Wow. What a life those guys have... Godspeed, brothers of the two-wheel kin.
Green with envy,
Christo
Los Angeles, CA
And of course, on second thought... the better option for my bike (the rare 620SS) would be to keep it's rarity as-is and just get another SS and chop it up into a custom SS cafe racer, ala Union's. Too many bikes, not enough time... and not enough $$$. Damn you Tax Man for taking more than your fair share of cash this year and draining my moto-funds. Ugh!
Moto-obsessed,
Christo
Los Angeles, CA
"Chunky and dated Italian sport bike"....at least you guys didn't go with the 'retro bobber look. Like the bike, but the scale of the seat unit is too small in my opinion to balance out the tank / fairing combo. Chunky...how dare you!
"Chunky and dated Italian sport bike"....at least you guys didn't go with the 'retro bobber look. Like the bike, but the scale of the seat unit is too small in my opinion to balance out the tank / fairing combo. Chunky...how dare you!
dig this bike, fast with minimalistic style, that thing looks born to crush "the TON" between traffic lights, split lanes, scare old ladies, spaghetti is cool after all !!
nice bike of course. is it special? not really. with EVERYONE and their brothers being"builders" these days it's hard to get excited.
where are the before/during pics?was anything actually made for it or is it, like a lot of"builders", all a bunch of bolt on bits?(i'm asking, since the website is as vague as a gray sweater)
all i got from the home page was a bunch of hyperbole.
Keith. You are a cunt. What have you built?
As a 900ssie owner looking for insperation I must say great job. Looks very very nice. Definatly the way I'll be going....but different of course. Good job.
Forget all the haters! Love the bike. I've got a 1994 900ss/sp that now pretty much sits around collecting dust since the arrival of a 2001 996s. This project is inspiring. Great work. Love the Norton also.
Andrew
Yep Keith is definitely a prick. I now feel badly chirping about the scale of the seat. At first glance it appears only mildly altered to resemble a bevel drive Super Sport. For anyone to say there's nothing much going on is a mistake, the entire bike looks reworked. For instance, that swing arm isn't stock, care to get into what's involved there? Any hillbilly can put glitter paint on their chopper, the subtle mods here aren't apparent to most armchair bikers and involve a great deal of effort.