The Bologna Dogfight: A Ducati Monster 821 Café Racer By Rough Crafts

Another build is in the books for Winston Yeh, this time it’s a steed from Italy that he got his hands on. Yeh worked on a Ducati Monster 821, completing the build and naming it “Bologna Dogfight.” The direction of the build is Café Racer, achieved by simple body lines, copious attention to detail, and black—lots of black.

We’ve covered a number of Yeh’s work from his build house, Rough Crafts. Other projects include other Bologna-born models like the XDiavel “Flatout Titan,” the Honda CB1100 “Oriental Uppercut,” the BMW R 18 “Berlin Barnstormer,” and a few others. 

The Monster 821 was launched in Mid 2014, and it was the Italian brand’s sport-naked offering with an 821cc Testastretta L-Twin engine that had a listed power output of 109 hp and 63.4 foot-pounds of torque. The 821 followed Ducati's “Il Mostro” formula with the trellis frame and upright but rather sporty ergonomics first pioneered in the 90s.

With that menacing nameplate and character on the base bike, I have to say it looks stunning in black and with custom 3D-printed parts. Rough Crafts went for a more retro aesthetic with the Monster, opting for the 3D printing to make up the construction of the tank, fairings, and tail. Rough Crafts made a new frame for the 821, a duplicate from a prior project and crafted around the venerable L-Twin powerplant. 

The bike is devoid of any bright colors, even on the shock spring. Even the Öhlins rear mono-shock wasn’t exempt from the Rough Crafts’ aesthetic, with the signature yellow on the spring being traded for black. Yeh also fitted two LED headlights nestled in the front fairing from Koso. Other custom parts also include CNC-machined parts from Aritek Ltd. That CNC part is the top of the triple tree, and the lower is a CNC Racing part. Damping duties are handled by an Andreani cartridge kit inside the upside-down fork, while the switch gear was carried over from the stock Monster’s equipment. Even if the switches are stock, they’re installed on Motogadget handles, installed with Beringer fittings, and protected by CNC Racing lever protectors. 

Rough Crafts also went to Simon Fiber Craft to make the carbon fiber dress-up parts, Rover Works Custom Paint for the recolor, and more element six can be found in the wheels, a set of BST carbon rims to be precise. Wrapped in Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa tires for grip and Berringer plus Moto Master braking components replacing the Brembo stuff. 

Rounding out the build is a set of twin tubes from SC Project—slimmer than stock, but still in the two-into-two configuration and with exceptional finishing to boot.