Category: Concept Motorcycles

Ducati Monster – Overdrive Customs

We’ve seen it clear as day over recent years, that simply some of the best old-school V-Twin muscle comes from Japan, and there are plenty of American builders who have more than mastered the multi-cylinder. So small is the global village of custom bike building that you can never predict what you’ll find and where. But there is also a natural pull to return to our roots and for Italian Matteo Massaro this meant not only building a Ducati, but a bike that had been with him for the best part of two decades. So, with the V engines moved to the side in the Overdrive Customs workshop, he set about working his magic to turn this 2000 Ducati Monster 600 into something so exquisite, it elicited the name ‘Envy’ from its stablemates.

Matteo hails from the stunning city of Venice and followed the Guy Martin path into the world of motorcycles. “At the age of 14, tired of school, I started my career as a mechanic on heavy vehicles, first Volvo and then Scania. Over the years, my passion for motorcycles increased until I decided to leave the big trucks and open my own motorcycle workshop.” For the past seven years, Matteo has been operating Overdrive and it’s a workshop that could quite easily be located anywhere in the US of A, with plenty of cool Americana and lots of amazing Harley-Davidson builds.

MAMA TRIED MOTORCYCLE SHOW MILWAUKEE 2021

What do you call a motorcycle show that is more a party with some incredible custom bikes in attendance as patrons? Mama Tried. Held in the spectacular venue that is The Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, the invitational event brings the cold winter of the Northern Midwest to life, in a way only a proper shindig can. Builders, bikers, fans, and riders pack the ballroom floor to talk motorcycles, share a drink and take in the amazing machinery on display. It’s a truly eclectic group, which is what makes the whole thing so amazing, a far-out bobber next to flat tracking’s finest.

Luckily for those who couldn’t attend, Paulo Rosas from the moto gear brand Pagnol and the motorsports design and marketing studio Speed Machines Design was on the ground in Milwaukee and photographed the event for us, and all to enjoy. And like so many events over the past two years, Mama Tried has faced more than one cancellation, with this year’s banners hanging from the ceiling still wearing last year’s date. But the down-to-earth guys who put the gig together wanted it to be as good as ever, and despite the delays, the 2021 edition was a knockout.