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motorcycle touring holiday Germany Europe classic Ducati Bimota Superbike experience
As the DB2 was having its mid season check over and service, including desmo valve shim adjustment and new belts; of course the body work was taken off and I got to thinking about how nice it would be to ride the bike naked.
Also, the Glemseck 101 sprint was coming up, so why not build a cafe racer for the Glemseck sprints ? . . .
Only 3 weeks to go to the application deadline, so not much time to make big changes.
I would have loved to put a round headlight on, but that's quite a bit of work with wiring and mountings.
I'll limit myself to a front cowl and seat unit in glass fibre, the best I can in the time.
Also everything has to be easy to change back to the original bike, because I frankly prefer the bike as it left the factory, 
So, to keep everything clean during modelling- cover the whole bike in protective film.
And get some clay on . . 
I gave myself one week to get this far and it's looking good, even though I can't evaluate the whole design anymore because of the film.
The seat unit getting the first layer of glass fibre tissue, directly on the clay.
I modelled the parts 'minus' 3mm to apply the glass fibre straight over the modelling clay.
This way I don't need to make a time consuming mould.
The seat base with stiffening ribs modelled in.
Each layer of glass fibre was smoothed and filled to keep the surface as smooth as possible to reduce sanding and finishing work afterwards.
Lots of glass fibre cut to the neccessary sizes. I used woven mat because it's easy to wrap around the clay and I can control the thickness better than with chopped strand mat.
The tail unit getting its 2nd or 3rd layer of woven mat.
The front fairing removed and after digging the clay out from behind- trim it off and I've got a part!
Already trying the parts back on the bike.
Another important project going on simultaneous- the Bimota YB4 being prepared for its new paint work.
I had decided that all the parts were to be covered in textured seat leather, which means I don't need to paint it and the leather look reminded me of the Cafe racers of the 50s and 60s.
I did the tank and airbox too to complete the idea.
Fitting of indicators from a Honda GB500 Clubman.
Some foam padding on the seat and it's time to look at the bike outside.
Rear light from a BSA Rocket 3.
I made a 'plug' for the fuel cap fitting and the tank breather pipe recess in the back of the tank before applying the leather material.
It doesn't look like a classic Cafe racer, but I wanted to blend the technical beauty of the Bimota chassis with minimum styling parts.
No time to finish the suede seat cover- so a few minutes with Photoshop and I could send the pictures in with my application for Glemseck.
The matt black seat foam contrasts nicely with the chrome indicators and carbon fibre silencers.
Even the number plate fixing was covered with leather material.
A sort of 'Roy Rogers' rear end.