Our Philosophy

Those of us at MotoBergamo believe that every motorcyclist would enjoy the visceral pleasure that a well-built cafe racer/street tracker/brat bike can offer, if they only had the chance to take a ride on one. We believe that the Universal Japanese Motorcycle based garage builds that are widely available today are a great, inexpensive way to dip a foot into the custom pond, but that they may leave you wishing for more power, braking, and handling after awhile. We also believe that the $30,000 big name cafe racers aren't for everybody. Sure, most of them are pretty as hell, but how much billet aluminum does a guy really need to be happy? We believe that Ducati has always known how to build a pretty competent motorcycle and that welding up your own idea of what a good frame is, or spending $1,800. to machine a triple clamp with a couple of extra holes, both jeopardizes performance and wastes your money. We believe that a uniquely styled, high-performance, reliable cafe racer should cost no more than a new liter class sport-bike, so we're building them today in Charlotte, North Carolina to prove our point. Let's talk about building one for you.

What we build

MotoBergamo starts with a 1992-2006 Ducati 800/900ss Supersport motorcycle. We search the country for the cleanest, low-mileage examples that we can find then we test-ride them for a few days to learn what needs repair/replacement/upgrading. Then we strip them down to the frame, disassembling every component for further inspection, repair, rebuilding, or refurbishment. Our build plans dictate that every single part looks and functions like brand-new before it goes back on the bike.

Series builds

At MotoBergamo we build cafe racers in series - that is, we create a design, debug it thoroughly, then build five to ten of that design with very few changes other than cosmetic variations. This assures that we are delivering a solid, reliable motorcycle to our customers. We have all seen enough unreliable custom motorcycles to know that this is not what you want. The basic Ducati 900ss or 800ss that we start with is a solid, strong-running motorcycle, but as with all production motorcycles that have to pass California emission laws and other regulations, they are loaded down with components that you really don't need. For example, the wire loom and extraneous electronics fills a bucket, and weighs 6 pounds, so that is the first thing to go. What is left is a complete package of lighter, smaller, prettier, more reliable components that do their job and nothing more.

Customization

At MotoBergamo we feel that the worst possible scenario is to roll up on your new $19,000 Uberbike to find another guy riding the same thing in a different color. You just became NOT-special. Unless you run with an extremely cool crowd, you will not see yourself coming and going on one of our bikes. People will gather around your bike before you get your helmet off, pointing at the "jewelry" and taking selfies in front of it. You will feel special, although you need to do your best to not show it.
When you commission a bike with us, we will work together to define a coordinated color scheme that matches your dream and creates the "presence" that you are looking for. Your cafe racer will be breath-taking and flawless.

The finished product

When we start putting the MotoBergamo cafe racer back together, we start with a shelf full of components that are, essentially, better-than-new. Every part that needed to be refurbished/rebuilt/replaced, has been. These parts are assembled with care seldom seen in a factory, and with all new high-grade fasteners torqued to factory specs. The end result is a beautiful, reliable unique motorcycle that runs with the big dogs out on the street and in the canyons. A torquey 80hp V-twin pushing only 325 pounds of lean muscle makes sure of that.

Before and After