Rough & Loud: Ducati 650 “Von Tracker”

Ducati Indiana 650 Tracker from Francis Von Tuto…  

Introduced in 1986, the Ducati Indiana was something of a strange machine: a Cagiva-made, Ducati-powered cruiser whose 650cc Pantah V-twin boasted a racing pedigree:

“The Pantah engine owes its origins to two earlier racing engines: a 1970 Fabio Taglioni-designed (bevel-drive) SOHC 500cc GP race motor and a 4-valve (belt-drive) DOHC 500cc V-twin designed for Ducati by Renato Amaroli under Taglioni’s supervision.” –Motorcycle Classics

In the early 1980s, Ducati had been in a bad way financially. Their sportbikes were expensive to make and their government-backed owners were planning get out of the motorcycle business altogether until fellow Italian brand Cagiva swooped in to save them, purchasing the company.

The Indiana was the first Cagiva-Ducati joint project, and it was meant to take a bite out of the lucrative cruiser market and get the company back on its feet. The Indiana itself was a commercial failure — it would take the introduction of the Monster in 1993 for Ducati to strike a mighty sales success — but the Indiana remains an interesting bike nonetheless, an 80s non-Harley cruiser with an exotic powerplant.

Enter our friend Francesco of Francis Von Tuto Moto Works — one of the world’s top-flight builders, who relocated from Australia to his native city of Florence, Italy, in 2021. Francesco knew Italy would be a much tougher place to make a living as a custom bike builder, but family comes first for the Florentine builder:

“Sometimes I suddenly wake up at night, and when I see my wife and my baby next to me I know that there’s nothing more important than what I’ve already got… So in the end, even if I had to start from the bottom again, I’m still in the custom bike world, still receiving invitations to bike shows, and still building cool stuff. This is what counts. Period!”

Amen to that. And we have to say we’re damn happy to have Francesco back with a new build. It’s a bit of a departure from his normal builds — a rough and tough tracker built from an ’87 Ducati Indiana that spent the last decade in a university professor’s garden shed:

“For once I wanted a custom motorcycle which I wouldn’t care if I scratched it or it falls off the stand or I crash it… a bike I can quickly repair but it’s still got balls and looks rad. A fun bike…”

Highlights include spoked aluminum wheels, XJR rear sets, one-piece tracker tail and seat pan with BF Tappezzerie saddle, front number plate, Öhlins rear shocks, a set of Dell’Orto 36mm carbs, and some slash-cut straight pipes:

“Just to make sure no one says, ‘Sorry mate I didn’t hear you coming…'”

Unfortunately, during the bike’s first outing at the El Rollo flat track race during the annual Wheels & Waves Festival, Francesco ended up with two broken ribs. So the “Von Tracker” is being transitioned into a street tracker, and a host of street-legal mods are coming down the pike.

“Definitely looking forward to having fun on the streets of Tuscany or wherever we decide to go…”

Francesco, we’re just happy to have you back in the pages of BikeBound, and we look forward to seeing what wheels out of your workshop next.

Ducati 650 Tracker: Builder Interview

• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.

It has been over a year since my last feature on BikeBound, feels like a lifetime!

These are strange times around the world and I’ve felt the the need to ponder about my current situation and life in general…

As you know in May ‘21, I moved back to Firenze, my hometown, and started a small custom bike lab. The Italian custom bike scene has definitely got different numbers compared to Down Under, but I surely didn’t leave Australia for work reasons. Instead I did it for my family, so when it was time to put everything on a scale and choose what was best for me, I accepted the fact that relocating FVT in Italy would have been a step (maybe two…) backwards.

I’ve had many people talking me through the “do it and the don’t do it,” but In the end I made my own choices. Recently I’ve decided (not without a heavy heart) to reduce the custom bike activities, downsizing my workshop and addressing my hands and expertise to a steady income.

Sometimes it happens that I suddenly wake up at night, and when I see my wife and my baby next to me I know that there’s nothing more important than what I’ve already got, for everything else if I think at the future I only see blank pages to fill day by day.

So in the end even if I had to start from the bottom again I’m still in the custom bike world, still receiving invitations to bike shows, and still building cool stuff. This is what counts. Period!

• What’s the make, model, and year of the bike?

It’s a 1987 Ducati Indiana 650. If you haven’t heard about it before don’t worry, even in Italy isn’t very well known.

• Why was this bike built?

The question is: why did you buy it Frankie?!?

Well, I shouldn’t since I already have too many…but I always look out for bikes to modify and this came to me pretty easily since a professor from the University of Florence used to own it and it was only half an hour away from me.

It was stored in a pretty rough garden shed for over 10 years, but it was surprisingly well kept thanks to being meticulously covered in cling wrap. The first idea was to make a chopper since I already have a rigid frame suitable for the project…

• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?

As I’ve said, it was supposed to be transformed into a rigid but since it was in fairly good shape despite the age and mileage, I’ve decided to not modify the frame — and the back end really suited the tracker tail so…

Also for once I wanted a custom motorcycle which I wouldn’t care if I scratched it or it falls off the stand or I crash it… a bike I can quickly repair but it’s still got balls and looks rad. A fun bike…

So a tracker was perfect and the idea of making a freaking cool one without using a Sportster as a donor really resonated in my head, the Pantah engine is pretty good-looking too. I used to see an Ironhead dressed up like an XR750 sitting in a restaurant back when I was living in Australia and that made me think that even if you use an Harley, if it’s not a real XR — it’s just a copy more or less faithful, but still a copy or a lookalike. So why not choose something completely different to start from?

• What custom work was done to the bike?

Once stripped from the original tins and exhaust the first problem were the rims and the too cruiser-ish footpegs.

So I’ve ditched those terrible looking 15” rear and 18” front mags and replaced them with spoked aluminum wheels in a more versatile 17” rear and the same size 18” for the front, taken from other Italian bikes. And I used rear sets from an XJR to change the riding position to a more aggressive one.

I also wanted it to look like a race bike, so everything other than what was strictly necessary was removed: headlights, gauges, front brake, etc. had to go.

The chassis is one piece and I haven’t touched or removed a single tab on it; I’ve kept the tank and made a tail using one of those universal fiberglass tracker seats and a pair of fiberglass side covers. A few hours of intense modification (had to chop the seat pan in half and make it suit the frame) and made my one-piece tracker tail and seat pan, then upholstered by my only-choice BF Tappezzerie in Firenze.

The front number plate is a fibreglass copy I’ve made out of an old MX front plate I had laying around the garage and it suits perfectly.

Of course having sat for over a decade, it needed lots of TLC: oil, belts, valve clearances, suspension rebuilt, etc.

A solution for the rear shocks was found in a pair of Öhlins, and at the front the forks were rebuilt using a more suitable oil.

The old 32mm Bing carbs were first rebuilt and then packed in box and there they sit, replaced with better performing Dell’Orto 36mm kit specific for 750cc models and matched with a push and pull throttle control to substitute the dual cable pull only unit.

The plastic airbox under the seat has been removed but the chassis itself works as an airbox too, and by installing a foam air filter at the end of it the job got easily done, the battery got subsequently moved from under the seat to under the tail, and the exhausts are slash-cut straight through pipes, just to make sure no one says, “Sorry mate I didn’t hear you coming…”

• Does the bike have a nickname?

Francis Von Tuto built a street tracker…
Right, I can’t think of anything better than “Von Tracker”!

• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride?

So far my only riding experience with this bike has been at “El Rollo,” the flat track event from Wheels and Waves Festival, and I ended up with two broken ribs… Definitely looking forward to having fun on the streets of Tuscany or wherever we decide to go, but its track days are over. A real flat tracker has completely different geometries and it can’t be ridden with road tires especially on sand tracks.

In the end this is a STREET-TRACKER, so its shape is inspired by a flat tracker but it is definitely a bike for road use.

Feels good when I ride it around the block, so as soon as I’m done deciding which headlight and where to mount it, I think I’ll register it and start riding it around town.

Oh well…I may fit a front disc, and whatever else is needed to make it stop without using my shoe soles, ahah!

• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?

I’m happy that for once I have a bike that didn’t cost me a fortune and I’m not afraid to use; also glad that I’ve found a design that works with that rather big tank and square-tubed frame.

Follow the Builder

Website: www.francisvontuto.com
Instagram: @francis_von_tuto
Facebook: Francis Von Tuto
Photo credit: Rafael Montañes Ruiz

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