There’s nothing quite like a Buell custom. As a starting platform, it’s not your usual “go to” donor like an old Honda CB or a Yamaha SR, but this one certainly rocks the café racer look, and comes with the performance to match. When you think of a retro-styled Isle of Man racer, a Harley Davidson engine usually isn’t at the top of the donor list, but the guys at the Italian-based Greaser Garage saw some serious potential. Armed with an 2006 XB12SS to play with, and a brief that explicitly mentioned the old British racers of the golden age of racing, Greaser Garage have definitely built something unique and interesting. It’s a healthy mix of old and new, with equal doses of form and function.
Genoa’s Greaser Garage is headed up by Giorgio Pellegrino, who has spent years working on Harley Davidsons, developing quite the reputation as a designer and mechanic. Together with the creative mastermind Cristian Rancati and visionary Matteo Scarsi, they’ve become quite the name in the European custom scene. The brief for this build was straight forward: a classic British racer aesthetic, good old fashioned metal bodywork, quality parts, and serious power. This isn’t a showpiece; this is a bike that’s built for riding.
The first thoughts that ran through the trio’s head involved ambitious plans for a naked look, but with the necessary retro front fairings, as well as a chain conversion, good old school spoked wheels and a new rear subframe. With the idea in place, they got started.
First off, the engine was given a full rebuild by Buell specialist Pierluigi Alghisi. While the engine was getting done, the guys worked on the Buell’s rolling chassis. The front suspension was removed and replaced with the front forks from a Kawasaki ZX-10R, and the rear spring was upgraded to a handmade unit from Gubellini. The swing arm needed to be modified to accommodate the new Alpina wheels, which now wear Avon tires.
The guys at Greaser Garage also gave the Buell some top notch parts, including Tomaselli handlebars, Accossato lever, a Skyrich Lithium Ion battery, a new muffler from Sebring, a whole host of handmade aluminum components, and a revised braking system. The XB now sports Brembo brakes on the rear, and Tokico calipers and rotors on the front.
As for the bodywork, Greaser Garage outsourced the bulk of the work to “Metal Bike” in Turin, who brought the aluminum front fairing, belly pan, tail section and faux air-intake to life. The look that they have achieved is superb, and because of the exquisite finish, the team were reluctant to cover the craftsmanship with too much in the way of paint. In the end, they kept the paintwork to a minimum, but decided to recreate a true racing aesthetic with numerous decals to complete the look. Finally, Cristian Rancati added a beautifully hand upholstered seat, and the job was done.
All in all, it’s a stunning build. Not only does it look the part, it has also been broken in nicely over a grueling 1400 km ride – just to prove that it’s more than a show bike. On top of that, the “Steel Race” XB12SS has been given the seal of approval by racing legend Loris Capirossi. And deservedly so.