“Tricolore” is the latest creation of XTR PEPO, which is short for extreme and Pepo Rosell…
Pepo is the owner and creator of XTR PEPO and ‘extreme’ sums up the philosophy behind his workshop – “Less business and more fun!! Because you must live the life…. Be Extreme!!!”
After creating radically customized Ducatis for more than a decade under the aptly named “Radical Ducati” brand, Pepo took some time off to rethink his life. The conclusion was however that bikes are his life, so he started again in 2015 with XTR PEPO – with the explicit goal to have more fun!
XTR PEPO has created quite a few beautifully customized bikes since then (have a look at https://www.pepoxtr.com/copia-de-pepo-s-legacy), mostly Ducatis still with the odd Bultaco or BMW thrown in for (more) fun…
Pepo’s latest creation is the Tricolore, yes a Ducati-based bike and yes clad in the three colors of the Italian flag – green, white, red, as a tribute to the first Ducati 851 Tricolore.
This is a ‘from the ground up’ build, starting with the frame from an early Ducati Monster 600, reinforced to withstand the increased forces it would have to deal with. The rear subframe was replaced by an aluminum Ducati 851 piece, and YSS delivered an adjustable rear shock made specifically for the bike!
The engine is a heavily modified Ducati Monster S4RS motor (999 Coppa Bassa engine), with for instance an aluminum TSS light flywheel, and XTR’s own high volume airbox adding horsepowers to the already impressive power of the original engine. The exhaust features spaghetti pipes topped off with Sil Motor Roche replica carbon fiber silencers.
The bodywork is inspired by and partly sourced from the Ducati 851, with an 851 fairing, modified to house a Cagiva Mito 125 Lawson replica front light, and a homemade Ducati 851 glass fiber gas tank, with a transparent stripe on the side so you can always check the fuel level…
The list of high performance components Pepo sourced for the Tricolore bike is quite long, with quite a few parts made in-house, such as all the aluminum fairing brackets, the CNC-machined clip ons, carbon fiber mudguard, or the hand-made seat and upholstery…
All in all, Tricolore, XTR PEPO’s latest extreme custom bike, is a really lightweight – 165 kg – and powerful bike, which should be a real joy to steer around the racetrack – while it’s also fully street-legal…
pictures – Sergio Cardeña
