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CUSTOM & STYLE: Roland Sands Design “RSDuc” Dialing up the hype on a 2008 Ducati Hypermotard.

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Roland Sands Design RSDuc static rear 3/4 view Originally from the June 2008 issue of Cycle World If you’re Ducati, how to upstage your own world champion’s MotoGP bike in a static staredown? Impossible, you say? Well, Casey Stoner, how do you like your Desmo RR Duck cooked? Because Ducati turned up the heat and did just that by getting Roland Sands Design, a.k.a. RSD, to dial up the Hype on a 2008 Hypermotard, turning it into a hooligan showpiece that goes by the name “RSDuc.” “About a year ago, we started tossing around a short list of builders whose bikes mirrored ours in terms of style and performance, and we quickly realized RSD’s design ideas parallel Ducati’s performance philosophy,” explained Ducati’s North America’s John Paolo Canton during an early-release party the night before the opening of the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, where the just-crowned Desmosedici RR and the RSDuc were on display. At the party, I shanghaied national-champion-roadracer-turned-custom-bike-phenom Roland Sands and asked about the bike. “The Hypermotard was an insane bike to start a custom project with,” he began. “It’s already one of the funnest bikes on the planet; so our main goal was not to wreck it and still give it enough RSD style to be a show-stopper.” Roland Sands Design RSDuc on-road action Sands and Pierre Terblanche, designer of the Hypermotard, sat down with a clean sheet of paper and spent some time incubating ideas. It was one of Terblanche’s last official duties before leaving Ducati after 18 years–he wants to “design more and manage less,” he said. Sands’ sketches were also flown by a few of Ducati’s design engineers back in Italy before the RSDuc concept was given the go-ahead. Green light aglow, Roland’s crew–namely Rodney Aguiar and Jun Odashima–began work on the project by plucking the provided Hypermotard of its parts. “I did the majority of the sheetmetal work while Rodney did much of the fabrication,” said Sands. “I had a lot of help on this project; there was a lot more work than we anticipated. The boys at the shop really put in some extra hours to get this thing buttoned up and running before the show.” The Ducati’s distinctive trellis frame was complemented by Aguiar’s single-sided swingarm fabricated from 4130 chrome-moly. Like the main frame, it returned from Embee Performance wearing a skin of bronze powdercoat that does a good job of resembling magnesium. Reassembly began by fitting a Gregg’s Customs rear wheel spindle. Once the V-Twin engine was carefully bolted back in the frame, the union was completed by fitting the original Öhlins shock. The Hypermotard’s stock, bill-like front fender was lopped off when the switch was made from the factory’s 50mm Marzocchi fork to a black 43mm Showa and custom black-anodized triple-clamps. The project really began to roll with the addition of a Dunlop 240 Sportmax tire beaded to the rear 8.5 x 18-inch RSD Diesel wheel. Up front, there’s a corresponding 120/70 Dunlop and 19 x 3.5-inch rim. Roland Sands Design RSDuc studio side view Sands didn’t like the way the stock fuel tank hung down beneath the frame spars, interrupting the otherwise clean lines. Instead of just reducing its size (and fuel capacity), he split the tank in two. Of the 3.5-gallon capacity, 1.5 remains under the hand-hammered metal tank shroud, while the other 2 gallons are stowed underneath the seat and its new, tidier aluminum tailsection. The subframe was also shortened and symmetrically balanced for an overall loss of some 8 inches. Further tail-tuning was accomplished by ditching the stock exhaust and welding up two gloriously unbaffled stainless MotoGP-like pipes–apologize profusely to neighbors before replicating. “After CW’s Long Beach show, I took it out for a ride and just thrashed on it–wheelies, stoppies, big slides. It made me smile,” said Sands. “I’m so stoked on the final outcome because the bike still retains its hooligan roots and takes on an aggressive street-racer stance. It’s definitely a one of a kind, and it’ll be my regular rider–if Ducati ever gives it back.” As for my ride on the RSDuc, skeptically I sat down on the Aztec Customs suede seat, took hold of the Renthal grips and Fat Bar and thought, “Why would anyone take a perfectly good-handling motorcycle like the Hypermotard, spend so much time and money hand-building a swingarm, then throw on an extra-wide rear wheel and muck with the front suspension?” The answer soon became clear. I’ve never had so many gobsmacked gawkers stalk me for miles, just to have a closer look and flip a thumbs-up in approval. By the way, don’t ride by too many storefront windows; you might rear-end someone while reflecting on your new custom Italian image. Almost happened to me. And it’s not too fancy to flog. I slowly worked my way up to riding this hyped Hyper pretty hard. It still handled surprisingly well for a bike with such a big ol’ back tire. Leaned over on the cold shoulder of the 240 made corner exits exciting, though, if you catch my drift.

Roland Sands Design RSDuc motorcycle seatChris Wood of AirTrix covered the modified body pieces in Ducati red with flat-bronze panels. Look closely and you see a subtle depiction of the Ducati valvetrain repeated as a pattern.

Ducati’s 1078cc Twin makes perfectly predictable power and suffered no ill effects from the straight pipes, either, thanks to a tunable race ECU. Pity my ears can’t make the same claim… Terblanche originally called for just a single front disc brake on the stock bike, but consumer focus groups wanted two. The RSDuc goes back to the solo setup, more than enough to lift the rear wheel under braking and with great feel. Sands shared that it was a great honor working with the MotoGP-winning manufacturer. Ducati has a reputation for great style and taste, and to trust him to tweak one of its designs really meant a lot. Ducati wanted this commissioned custom not only to stand out in a loud crowd, but to represent the company’s performance standards. Roland Sands Design filled that order with the RSDuc. A lone Performance Machine caliper is used up front, putting the pinch on a 320mm PM rotor. In the rear, that’s a 220mm rotor from Gregg’s Customs, grasped by another PM unit. AFAM sprockets and DID 520 Gold chain were sourced from Drive Systems in Huntington Beach, California. Action #1 Action #2 Static #1 Static #2 Studio. Seat.

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