Photo: Maria Riding Company
If you ask a diehard Ducatista, they’ll probably tell you that a collectible GT1000 is a dish best served stock. Despite this, we can’t help but marvel at the Bloody Fang – a track-prepped beauty from one of Portugal’s most prominent bike-modding outfits.
The ill-fated SportClassic lineup from Ducati is rather popular among collectors in our day and age, so most people wouldn’t dare to modify a well-kept exemplar with low mileage. However, the owner of imposing GT1000 had other ideas, and he reached out to Maria Riding Company (MRC) of Lisbon, Portugal to see if they would take the commission.
Luis Correia and his crew accepted, completing the transformation process in 2015. The motorcycle they now refer to as Bloody Fang is a track-focused stunner with sharp looks and purposeful upgrades, but it seems like most of MRC’s mods might be reversible. Without further ado, let’s dive in and have a gander at how the Portuguese workshop carried out the overhaul.
Once they’d taken the Duc apart, the Maria squad ordered a couple of aftermarket garments from a U.S.-based supplier – namely, a svelte tail section and a Sport 1000S-style front fairing. Besides these items, they also managed to score a Paul Smart 1000 LE fuel tank out of sheer luck, as a friend was looking to sell it around the same time this project was taking shape.
The PS1000LE donated its fairing bracket, too, and a few clever mods made all these goodies fit perfectly. MRC’s specialists topped off the tail unit with a simple saddle they’ve upholstered in-house, while deciding that the GT1000’s stock side covers should remain in place. The same fate awaited the front fender, but each and every standard lighting component made its way to the parts bin.
At twelve o’clock, we now find a discreet LED fog light whose main purpose is to “minimize problems with the authorities,” according to Luis. An equally subtle taillight can be spotted out back, with a bare-bones license plate bracket placed underneath. Fresh clip-ons and grips from LSL adorn the Bloody Fang’s cockpit, but there’s not a single rear-view mirror in sight.
Moving on to the suspension department, Maria adjusted the forks to suit the owner’s weight and riding style. They went a step further at the back, replacing the Duc’s original shock absorbers with a premium set of Bitubo substitutes. Of course, no custom bike is complete without some new exhaust pipework, so the MRC squad didn’t think twice about deleting the factory plumbing.
They didn’t replace it with a handmade alternative, though, opting to fit a high-grade two-into-one module from Termignoni. An ECU remap was subsequently carried out by Pietro Gianesin of GMP Racing, so as to make sure the motorcycle’s L-twin will play nice with the new exhaust. As for the paintwork, it primarily uses a trio of red, black, and white, along with a contrasting blue stripe on the front fairing.
Luis Correia and his crew accepted, completing the transformation process in 2015. The motorcycle they now refer to as Bloody Fang is a track-focused stunner with sharp looks and purposeful upgrades, but it seems like most of MRC’s mods might be reversible. Without further ado, let’s dive in and have a gander at how the Portuguese workshop carried out the overhaul.
Once they’d taken the Duc apart, the Maria squad ordered a couple of aftermarket garments from a U.S.-based supplier – namely, a svelte tail section and a Sport 1000S-style front fairing. Besides these items, they also managed to score a Paul Smart 1000 LE fuel tank out of sheer luck, as a friend was looking to sell it around the same time this project was taking shape.
The PS1000LE donated its fairing bracket, too, and a few clever mods made all these goodies fit perfectly. MRC’s specialists topped off the tail unit with a simple saddle they’ve upholstered in-house, while deciding that the GT1000’s stock side covers should remain in place. The same fate awaited the front fender, but each and every standard lighting component made its way to the parts bin.
At twelve o’clock, we now find a discreet LED fog light whose main purpose is to “minimize problems with the authorities,” according to Luis. An equally subtle taillight can be spotted out back, with a bare-bones license plate bracket placed underneath. Fresh clip-ons and grips from LSL adorn the Bloody Fang’s cockpit, but there’s not a single rear-view mirror in sight.
Moving on to the suspension department, Maria adjusted the forks to suit the owner’s weight and riding style. They went a step further at the back, replacing the Duc’s original shock absorbers with a premium set of Bitubo substitutes. Of course, no custom bike is complete without some new exhaust pipework, so the MRC squad didn’t think twice about deleting the factory plumbing.
They didn’t replace it with a handmade alternative, though, opting to fit a high-grade two-into-one module from Termignoni. An ECU remap was subsequently carried out by Pietro Gianesin of GMP Racing, so as to make sure the motorcycle’s L-twin will play nice with the new exhaust. As for the paintwork, it primarily uses a trio of red, black, and white, along with a contrasting blue stripe on the front fairing.
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