XTR Quatum – aka ‘The unfinished project’

Words by superbike.co.uk & XTR Pepo.

Images by @CEPAS_MAD courtesy XTR Pepo

The life of a custom bike builder is not all artistry in iron, or a joyous creative process. Sometimes it can take a turn for the worse and can even happen to some of the best builders in the world. Pepo Rosell, the man who created Radical Ducati in Madrid, sold it and then launched XTR Pepo, creating the same aggressively-styled, lightweight, high performance, radical café racers but based on other manufacturer’s machines as well as the Ducatis, reveals how even the best laid plans can sometimes go awry. 

When you sent us these pictures of Quantum you said it was unfinished. What’s the back story to this?

I named the bike Quantum but actually it should be called ‘Do Not Pay. Do Not Finish.’ Basically, the guy who placed the order for this bike has not paid me so it sits here, an unfinished project. It’s not the first time this has happened to me and, unfortunately, I have to accept this sometimes happens when you are a motorcycle builder.

Before we get into the story of this latest bike, ‘Quantum’, can we talk about your background? You’ve been in this business a long time how did it all start?

I was born in France, and became a biologist by trade and worked in scientific research in fish farming. Then I began to work in my other passion: Motorcycles! I worked for two Spanish Ducati importers and then went my own way in 1996 because

 I wanted to create something special and different with standard bikes, out of the normal rules, to prepare it for race and road use. In 2001 I moved ahead and created Radical Ducati. After 13 years as one of the leaders in the constructor scene (Pepo’s Radical Ducatis always lived up to the name – superlight, high performance café races), I stopped, re-thought my life – and finally, I saw that bikes were my life. I decided to construct complete bikes with my own brand so, at the beginning of 2015, I started again with a new company called EXTReme Pepo (XTR Pepo). With a new vision – less business and more fun! Because you must live life…. Be EXTReme!!!

Have you ever faced this problem before of building a bike, only to have the customer not pay for it? It’s certainly something we’ve been aware of other builders experiencing in the custom bike industry.

When I ran Radical Ducati I can honestly say I never faced this problem. Everyone who commissioned bikes from me paid up, and paid promptly, but times seem to have changed. After I sold the Radical Ducati business, I left the industry for a while but could not settle in ‘normal’ life, so I came back in 2015 to build bikes with my new company. It was only then I began to meet some weird people, people who seemed to lack any respect and did not keep their word, people who just game me a lot of problems and stress!

Not just money issues then?

Not at all. I retired from my depression but when I came back with XTR Pepo it felt like the world had changed a lot – the world is now full of idiots. In this second stage of XTR I had three cases, the first was with a motorcycle called Sake Racer, and it was the story of a man who gets to the 50’s crisis, becomes an idiot and decides to have a motorcycle and since the cafe racer is in fashion, he wants to have a custom-built motorcycle. The reason he had to have the motorcycle was to go to the beach and impress the girls, so they would ride in the motorcycle with him. He had a mental breakdown. The cruel reality was that, apart from the fact that he did not even know how to ride a motorcycle, he found that the motorcycling lifestyle was more complicated than it seemed. In the end I was the one who paid for the broken dishes.

That’s a pretty sad tale?

The second one was a thing with a German customer. By then I had expanded my business into the foreign market. This German gets in touch and you know, Germans are serious people and expect things done correctly so I felt happy working with him. After completing the project, this charming and wonderful guy, who loved the bike, asked me to do a second one. At first, I said to him,’ no, man, I don’t want to do it because I’m short of resources.’ But he persisted and I did it a bit out of friendship. In the end, the friendship became a mess because he owed me money so I couldn’t finish the motorcycle. It was a disaster for me! The motorcycle was practically manufactured, it lacked paint, finishes and such, so I told him to take it away. And I lost money.

Which I guess leads us to Quantum and another non-paying customer?

In this case, it was a Dutch guy. He seemed like a good guy and we were talking about the project for months. When we reached an agreement, he sent me the motorcycle in pieces. I organised a render of what I had in mind from our discussions and sent it to him. He said the bike was fantastic so we agreed on a budget. Time was short so I started working on the project before the funds arrived but I trusted him and, after all, he was the general manager of a company so I figured he had the money.

How far did you get with the build before your realised there was an issue?

I told him to buy certain components, which he sent me. I ordered other parts. At the same time, I was doing ‘Tricolor’ for another customer, working with the two bikes at the same time. I was working with my friend Wolfman, we were manufacturing it and we were both enjoying the process. Quantum was meant to a bike for the track but then the customer came to me and said because he was already racing a Ten Kate Honda CBR600 in supersport races and had a BMW car racing team, but now he wanted Quantum for the street so he could impress his mates, take trips to the Nurburgring and riding it there. He told me: “I want the bike to go to Nürburgring want my friends to have a lot of envy about my special bike”. I said: “No problem”.

So, no hint of a problem at this stage?

No, the sun is shining. The base model is a Ducati Monster 900 that the customer bought with Dutch documentation. We made all the bodywork in carbon fibre, wheels. He supplied some forged aluminum wheels. He wanted to have something a little romantic, and asked for a carburetted engine. I planned to use a set of Keihin FCR 40/41 carbs from I brought from Sudco in California. I intended to use Ohlins forks from a 1098 Ducati and the guys at YSS built me a special shock to suit the bike. We planned to use Discacciati Performance Braking Components. All of this he had agreed to. As I build a bike I’m buying parts, getting people to do work for me and paying them. So, I normally ask that there’s a provision of funds, 60-70%, once the project is underway to offset the many bills are coming in. I asked for the money when I needed the 3000 Euros to pay for the braking equipment but he told me he was not willing to invest in any more money – even though we had agreed all the budget figures. This was 2022. So, I stopped the project and waited to see what to do. I’ve contacted him since but there is no resolution – so the bike sits here unfinished.

For two years?

Yes, since 2022. I decided now, that after two years, I will reveal the bike build as it is, and tell the full story. And the main part of the story is that I will no longer build bikes for customers. This project has killed my enthusiasm. I understand that over time people can change their mind, as it happened to me. Something can happen to them, for example. I have no idea what happened to this guy but the end result is that I was the one ruined. I decided then not to make any more bikes for anyone else. I still build bikes but purely for my own pleasure – to pass the time and not get bored here in my retirement.

Why go public now with this bike?

I decided to present it because I want people to enjoy it. I do not know what I will do with it. There are many problems between myself and the customer and I do not know how to solve the problems. The bike has a lot of features. It weighs 152kg. It will be a lot of fun to ride if it is ever finished. It has an engine that, once carburetted, will be close to 80 horsepower at rear wheel.

The power to weight ratio will be impressive. Very good, very fun engine. It’ll be super agile, very beautiful, very fun.

Can you expand on the bike details please?

It is based on a 1993 Ducati Monster 900 – with carbs. The front end has 1098 Ohlins forks. I have made some yokes especially for this fork and this works with the steering pipe of the Monster 900. The wheel rims, both the front and the rear, are made of aluminium forged, and for the brakes we are using Discacciati 330mm rotors – in this case because also from a 1098. You will notice there are no calipers. You know the story why!

The plan was to use Disccaciati radial brake lever, clutch radial pump, radial brake calipers, all mechanized in CNC, front and rear.

The handlebars are also mechanized in CNC by the same brand. My friends, Style and Performance, CNC-machined the clip-on handlebars. They also made the yokes. The dash is by an Italian firm I always use, Aviacompositi.

The front fairing is my design, a modification of a 1989 Suzuki RGV 250 but made in carbon-fibre. The front bracket has also been purpose-made for this front fairing. The it has the aluminium 1980s-style endurance racing headlights that I always use. It reminds of the Monjuic 24h endurance bikes! The 1098 front mudguard is also carbon-fibre.

What about the engine modifications?

The engine has been completely restored, disassembled, optimized. Compression is increased but only be removing the cylinder base gasket. That gives us a compression ratio of 10:1 but I’ve ported the heads and the engine has a lightweight flywheel so it spins up faster. It also has an anti-hop clutch so all the changes are fundamental for a track day or race bike. I had the engine sandblasted so it’s super-clean and the covers have been painted in a magnesium colour.

A very important part of the motor tuning is the FCR40 carb kit, coupled with a single throttle cable. The carbs are already synchronized with factory settings but they come with gaskets, needles, everything. The carbs are worth nearly 4bhp. The larger capacity oil radiator is a racing component from the ‘Hypermotard Cup’.

The exhaust system looks familiar to the style used on your previous Ducati café racers?

It’s a handmade, 2-into-1 system that I would use normally on the two-valve Ducati engine but works with this four-valve per cylinder engine just as well. In the two-valve engine, which is ‘lazier’ they work better in higher rpm, especially with the lighter flywheel, big carbs, ported head. The megaphone is my design that I did for Spark Exhaust Technology in Mantova, Italy, who make my exhausts. I always build my engines with exposed cambelts – to keep them cool. If you cover them, the heat can alter the tension of the belt.

The rear seat unit looks very 1970s Bol d’Or – or should I say, Montjuic 24h?

Yes! At the back of the bike I have modified the frame to be able to support the carbon-fibre solo seat. The design comes from the Honda CB 125 cup in the 70s. You can see it’s like a scaled-down version of the seat on the Honda RCB900 raced in the Bol d’Or endurance races in the 70s.

The seat hump contains the battery, in the style of the old endurance racers. Back in the 1970s, battery technology wasn’t so good as it is now, and even if they were able to withstand a 24-hour race, the alternators we’re too good either and often failed to charge the battery. So, in a 24-hour race it was vital to be able to replace a battery without losing too much time in the pits. The battery I used now is a lithium ion one that weighs about 70 grammes.

The suspension of the 900 Monster was the best progressive suspension set-up of its time. It’s fully adjustable and the specially-commissioned YSS shock absorber. The rear wheel is an Oz rim. There’s a Brembo brake disc and its original Brembo caliper.

The rear sprocket is duraluminium. You can see that the drive chain is also missing. When the money for the bike failed to arrive, I decided to invest no further. There are many unfinished jobs.

The bellypan is from the 92 Ducati Monster Cup. Continental is our sponsor we have mounted Continental tires ContiSportAttack 4, which are superb!

So, what happens now?

Well, because we must not forget that this motorcycle will go to the street, it is fully road legal with lights, indicators etc. But I also built expecting the customer to take it to the Nurburgring for a very fast track day.  He wanted all his friends to be envious of the bike for its performance as well as its looks and I think that’s what we have achieved – or would have had the bike been finished. It’s a precious bike that I hope someday, will end up on the road with someone.

And the future? Surely you cannot stop building bikes altogether? You have such a passion for it….

Yes, but as a result of this experience, I will not accept any more customer orders. However, I’m not going to stop building bikes and I will continue to build café racers but purely for my own pleasure.

I’m finishing a Sound of Single bike with a Yam SZR 660 as a donor bike, and I’m making a ‘replica’ of a Ducati  that raced in 1986 in the Bol d’Or. You can see a making of this bike in my Youtube Channel: XTR PEPO YOUTUBE CHANNEL. Each Monday there is a new episode. See you guys!

XTR QUANTUM TECHNICAL DETAILS

Donor Bike: 1993 Ducati Monster 900

• XTR modified frame: New sub-frame construction 
• XTR carbon-fibre front fairing 
• XTR windshield 
• XTR endurance light with aluminium brackets 
• XTR front fairing support 
• Aviacompositi dashboard 
• XTR carbon-fibre fuel tank (749 R Type ) 
• XTR endurance quick-filler gas caps
• XTR carbon-fibre solo seat with battery box 
• XTR upholstery 
• Lipo battery 
• Koso LED indicators
• Louis LED rear light 
• 1098 Ohlins forks
• S&P CNC-machined triple clamps 
• S&P CNC-machined clip-ons 
• Domino quick-action throttle 
• Domino grips 
• XTR carbon-fibre 1098 front mudguard 
• XTR carbon-fibre rear mudguard 
• Discacciati 330mm floating brake rotors 
• Oz Piega forged aluminium front  and rear wheels 
• Continental front and rear tyres 
• Dural Aluminio CNC-machined rear sprocket 
• S&P adjustable footpegs  
• YSS adjustable shock
• Brembo rear rotor 
• Brembo rear caliper and master cylinder 
• Frentubo brake and clutch kevlar lines 
• Engine Tune: Sandblasted cases. Fully-stripped with new shims, bearings fitted. Ported heads. High compression. Blueprinted. Rebuilt

• Slipper clutch 
• Silent Hetkit electronic ignition kit 
• Lightened flywheel 
• Keihin FCR 41 carb kit 
• K&N air filters
• Wolfman 2-Into-1 exhaust 
• Spark tailpipe 
• RC Racing large-capacity oil radiator 
• XTR bellypan 
• Artenruta paint work 
• *Bike commissioned in 2021, built in 2022. Unpaid since.…so not finished! 

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