Custom Ducati 750 by Jim Alonze
There is no doubt that Jim Alonze is a man of impeccable talent. According to Pipeburn, Jim is a ‘master craftsman in a blue-collar business, but at his core, he’s an artist as good as any’. All are proven with his amazing latest creation, a custom Ducati 750 masterpiece, which was inspired by a family affair that his sister calls “The Underwater Sea Bullet”. t
“I wasn’t too keen on building another bike, building a scratch-built bike in your spare time over a six month period really takes it out of you! It’s stressful at times and during the build, I often question why the hell did I start this, or why didn’t I do a simpler design. When you finish the bike it’s a great feeling and a massive relief that its finally done. And there is nothing further out of your mind than building another bike from scratch,” Jim explains according to Pipeburn.
Jim noted that not many people do full-on custom brakes. After finding CBX’s old manual, Jim managed to pen the new design for the setup. His idea was for the twins to be up front, with custom four-pot callipers and a single on the rear with a two-pot calliper. He then produced the hubs and callipers by hand.
Instead of making the frame and swingarm from Stainless Steel as he usually does, he decided to go with Nickel coated Mild Steel for the challenge.“I set about machining and fabricating sockets that the frame tubes would slip into and be brazed into position,” Jim tells us. Then good mate Dee of Allenchrome took care of the stunning nickel plating.
The fuel filler is under the eye-catching red seat. Once lifted up on a hinge and a mini gas strut, the fuel cap is revealed. The extra touches such as the small brass badges all over the bike are engraved by Jim’s Uncle Mark. “The screen on the nose fairing was also blow moulded in house, with a subtle black mask around the bottom with the gold Alonze ‘A’ upfront.” While sitting on the custom bars are some of the only parts not made by Jim, Oxblood Biltwell grips and Motone switchgear to operate the full suite of Motogadget electrics.
“I made billets end caps for the megaphone silencers and machined out some one-off finned exhaust clamps which look really cool.”