The front forks were upgraded to an inverted Paioli 41mm USD unit with integrated clip-ons from an Aprilia RS4 125. Retaining the original frame cradle, I built a new sub-frame ditching the rear twin shock setup and designing a mono shock direct linkage with a modified swing-arm from an Aprilia 650 Pegaso and a Kayaba shock with air assist and rebound adjustments from a Kawasaki GPZ.
Front and rear disc brakes were borrowed from the same Aprilia RS4 and feature a J. Juan 4 piston radial caliper in the front with a 300mm rotor and a single with a 218mm rotor in the rear, both with braided Teflon lines.
Also borrowed from the RS4 the alloy the 17 inch wheels were powder coated black and fit a pair of Heidenau K66 with 110 in the front and 130 in the rear.
Engine was kept stock but it was fully rebuilt. Lightened and balanced crank with new bearings all around, new pistons and coated with wrinkle black paint. Carb was jetted and the custom made stainless headers are fitted with one-off Db killers that do a great job bringing down the noise levels
The entire wiring loom was made from scratch and features a small Li-Po battery, Motogadget RFID ignition, Motogadget M.Relay+ controlled by Motone push buttons and dummy light integrated in the top yoke. All lighting and turn signals are LED and speedometer and tachometer unit is a digital Daytona. The taillight is custom acrylic LED fin.
I used the tank from Yamaha RD and a fiberglass seat replica from my pal Nuno Capelo’s Ducati Pantah. Alloy mudguards, licence plate bracket and everything else was made by me, except for the lovely splitted leather seat
After doubling his budget and a fair share of setbacks Francisco ended up with a true unique motorcycle he thought he would never own. It is modestly powered for sure but it has got the perkiness to carry those 120kg in the traffic lights races with huge fun and flare, especially under the night sky. Keeping the wings on the rear section was one of Franscisco’s won arguments about my design but now looking at them discreetly holding his brother’s João signature they make a lot of sense, like in no other Nighthawk.