Such is the case with this Ducati bobber that’s bob-bob-bobbed its way out of a shop known for Harley-Davidson builds especially of the vintage variety. Pat Tozzi of Green Devil Garage in Virginia Beach, Virginia, recently showed his Harley chops on Barnett’s Magazine Online with his 1969 Flatside Shovelhead Chopper in Copper feature article that was a wowza moment in atomic number 29. Yeah, hand-hammered, beautifully finished copper bodywork along with a bunch of serious fabrication combined with a Harley Shovelhead in the best Old School-style sets up what seems to be the parameters of Green Devil Garage. But, there’s always an exception to the rule.

 

   According to Pat, this was an exception, “Not our normal build, but it’s a good customer and a way to test our fabrication skills!” I’ll have to agree on that part as there’s not a lot of Ducati bobber stuff readily available at the click of a browser. Matter of fact, I doubt there’s anything other than what somebody’s fertile mind  and skilled hands brings to fruition via a lot of work. That seems to be the case here as the only rigid Ducati I know of is their first motorcycle, a rip-roaring 50ccs of anger called the Cucciolo, that led the way to the absolutely fearsome Ducati superbikes of today. There have been many Ducati models built over the years, but none as popular (and plentiful) as the Monster series with almost a quarter-of-a-million built since their introduction in 1993. The simple, yet clean, fairing-less air-cooled models lend themselves nicely to custom building in a variety of engine sizes from small to large in their traditional (as a 45-degree- V-is-to-Harley) 90-degree V-twin.

 

    Building around what is essentially called an “L-twin” definitely changes things up a bit trying to stuff it into a one-off rigid frame. It’s a lot like building one for the monster of Harley monsters, the Feuling W3 except on a much smaller scale. Especially when you start with a 2005 620 Monster, the opening volley in Ducati’s catalog in 2005. Pat came up with a frame design that shows off Ducati’s unitized engine by mounting it almost floating in air above the frame tubes running under the engine. There aren’t too many guidelines about how to do this so Pat was on his own here.

 

   Obviously, keeping the head tube with its all important VIN was a priority, but everything frame-related after was new to this VIN. Pat found a nice balance between the rear section’s length to the head tube’s stock rake that allowed the 620’s inverted forks and tri-spoke mag wheel to be repurposed in this ride. Same goes for the rear wheel and the triple Brembo brakes that will pull this lightweight bobber to a halt in a nanosecond or two. Plus all of this rolling stock looks pretty damn good just as it is and it works well just like it was originally designed to. Nice to have reusable, high -tech pieces from a donor bike that look killer with just a cosmetic re-freshening. Plus it simplifies things quite a bit and keeps the cost reasonably down with no bad manners to have to put up with.

 

   The little 620cc mill puts out about what a Sporster does horsepower-wise, but it’s a bit short on torque in comparison. One thing the mystery owner has going for him in a stoplight faceoff with an XL is that he’s down a couple of hundred pounds and that makes up for the torque discrepancy when the light turns green. Plus, the frame doesn’t have to be built with thick-walled tubing cause the little 90-degree L-twin is inherently balanced by design. In other words, it doesn’t vibrate so the frame can be built super light. Then there’s the sound that’s second to Harley, but a damn fine sound on its own. Pat’s wrapped 2-into1 exhaust with a shorty mega on the end makes sure everybody over a wide area knows this ain’t no Harley, but it’s something special just the same.

 

   Pat kept a few Harley bobber cues like the always lovely, never tiring to look at Sporty tank sitting aggressively low and level. The angle of the front of the tank in this position mimics the downtubes for a forward look of motion even at rest. A bit of the caged animal thing even if it’s only 620ccs. Actually, I have no idea what the 767 numerology is on the frame side panels, but I hope it’s additional CCs and not the birth date of the owner or whatever. Additional cubes never hurt anybody. Throw in a tight, tire-hugging rear fender and the basics are done.

 

  Keeping it tight and right came down to keeping the bars low and racy with the dual instrument pods mirrored by the street fighter-style dual headlights. Everything falls naturally in place from the forward controls that unfortunately must eat up a lot of cornering clearance to the stunningly good looking seat. By good looking, I’m not just referring to the hand tooling or the material, but the size and shape of what looks like a very comfortable, yet very cool sprung seat. Both the seat pan and the leather work are courtesy of Buttskinz.  

 

  One thing I’m not sure about is the mystery aluminum cylinder with the green devil mounted right-side aft. Normally I would think it was an oil reservoir, but this engine was a wet-sump so it doesn’t need one. The single line runs up under the tank in the photos so it’s a mystery tank to me. Smarter minds than mine can easily figure that out so I’ll leave it at that. It is a cool piece, though.

 

   One thing a Ducati bobber doesn’t need is a paintjob that’s trying hard to not be like all the other Ducati bobbers. They simply don’t exist in enough numbers to ever get lost in any parking lot. Pat kept to a clean, simple scheme of always lovely gloss black with a tidy bit of red graphics corralled by a white pinstripe. Black and red is about as simple and traditional as you can get with a bobber and it looks great here. Pat gives credit to painter Joe Hill for the work and whoever and wherever you are Joe Hill, you deserve a pat on the back so to speak. It looks clean and tough with a touch of richness that black always brings to a build for me anyway.

 

   So, with this Ducati bobber off to its mystery owner, Pat and the Green Devil Garage crew are busy building Harley customs that will knock your socks off. Hopefully what Pat learned doing this build was useful in the long run and not, “I’ll never do a damn non-Harley build again.” Either way, it had to be a learning experience and that’s what Pat said he was after in the first place.

 

 For more info on Green Devil Garage, click on http://www.greendevilgarage.com/ or check ‘em out on Facebook.