Purpose Built Moto is based on the sunny Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia, and is owned and run by Tom Gilroy. Tom is handy with a wrench – and most things mechanical and electrical – but we also discovered he’s quite handy with a pen (or keyboard). We thought we’d let him take you through his latest build. Over to you, Tom:
The GT1000 was released before its time, had it been a few years later the market would have lapped up these beefy 1000cc modern classics. But they didn’t, and Ducati stopped making them which means some models getting to be in high demand. I’ve worked on a few of these bikes before, doing minor upgrades and re-styling work. However, this Ducati that was rolled into the shop on its 50,000 km (31,000 miles) birthday needed a little more than just a touch-up. So as we always end up doing at Purpose Built Moto, I went deep. Chopping, changing and streamlining this ducat GT1000 café racer into a sleek, well-proportioned street bike that is still quintessentially a Ducati sport classic.
It all started with a seat. We offer an “off the shelf” hand made seat for the Ducati Sport classic. The owner found PBM through that and as they often do, the job turned from a simple seat upgrade into a top to tail facelift on this Italian Beauty. I set the seat out and drafted a design, then our in house upholsterer Jamason – Timeless Autotrim waved his magic needle at it and turned out a black leather masterpiece, accented with perforated leather. To completely tidy the tail, an LED strip brake light was recessed into the GT1000 frame, the rear also received a hand made tail tidy, and a set of Hollowtip LED indicators.
Having 50,000 kms on a bike will always show a bit of wear and tear. The tank had been scratched and needed attention and the owner James was under the impression that the colour needed to change. But there’s something undeniably natural about a red Italian machine, so with my powers of persuasion and a refusal to do anything else, the bike was to stay red. The panels of the Ducati Sport Classic received a full re-spray in line with the factory design. The overall colour scheme would be sharpened with some select parts blacked out, and the use of high polish over a dull brush finish.
The engine had been recently gone over, however, as it came to me the suspension was a little sad. The rear shocks have been swapped out for some incredible k-tech Razor shocks. The front forks were stripped, anodised black and rebuilt with fully adjustable cartridges. The suspension work done on the Ducati has really livened up the handling, Ride Dynamics advice is always well received on any suspension work.
On the front end, the lighting was completely replaced with the Purpose Built Moto product range. Receiving a 7” Flashpoint classic finished to a high polish, and a set of the LED turn signals all mounted on the factory brackets that were cleaned up and blacked out.
The use of the Slim Purpose Built Moto LED headlight allowed for the stock gauges to be lowered 20mm, this is always a point of friction for most GT1000 owners, where due to the electronics system the bulky factory gauges are difficult to swap out. This solution however draws you eye away from the large gauges by tucking them down a little further and having them sit more in line with the bikes natural curve over the tank.
The bars and levers have also been replaced, lowering the riders hands and revealing a sportier riding position that begs to be tested through twisty corners. The new seat shaped and upholstered in house also lowers the rider position further into the bike. Once these modifications had been completed, my list was all but ticked off and I was about to hand the bike over to its owner who was foaming at the mouth to ride it… but there was a complication.
The tweaks and touches we’d done to the bike had made it so damn good looking, that it made a small section of the bike, that wasn’t up to scratch glaringly obvious. The wheels. Ducati’s factory chrome wheels were pitted and the spokes had been dulled out. The only thing that would suit the caliber of the rest of this project was a set of Italian made Jonich Wheels. If you’re unfamiliar, Jonich wheels blend art and engineering seamlessly into some of the most beautifully made wheels on the market. After a conversation on colour and finish, we settled on the 48 spoke, black hub, black spoke, with high polished tubeless alloy rims from Jonich Italy. The lead time is worth the wait for these beauties. I can’t even describe how great these wheels look. They really take this bike to another level.
After a bit of installation time, and fitting a made to order Moto Products 525 sprocket, the bike was dropped off the bench and now complete. From the ground up the aesthetics of the Ducati GT1000 had been refined, polished and tightened up. Revealing an extremely well-balanced custom motorcycle that strays just far enough from the factory styling to let you know this bike was handcrafted to be 1 of 1.
Make sure you check out the Purpose Built Moto YouTube video below for a full build run-down video and some bonus footage of this beauty eating up some beautiful mountain corners.
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