The RSD Desmo Tracker is finally finished, tested and thrashed just enough to ensure she’s ready to do battle on the streets of San Diego. The Desmo Tracker was a difficult build in many ways. As you can imagine digging your hands into the Mona Lisa is not done without a measure of respect and reserve. But this is how we approach most of our builds as we attempt to retain what is best of the original design and to explore ways to improve or change the function of the machine in a way the new owner would like to enjoy his machine. The words Moto GP and Dirttrack couldn’t be further from the other in terms of function and aesthetic on two wheels. Our job was too blend the two into something that could be at home on the show room floor ready for public consumption with a push button starter, comfortable egro’s, street and dirt worthy suspension, lights and 180 plus horsepower on tap. We feel we have obtained that goal.

The DesmoTracker started life out as a Ducati Desmocedici Moto GP Replica. With much of the original bike still intact and 100% functional she has been modified for a yet to exist dirt track with mile long perfectly flat banked corners. The Desmo’s 200 plus HP GP Spec motor would test the sanity of any man brave enough to throw a leg over her. Modifications are vast and include an aluminum hand-made body mounted to the original frame. Fabricated cromoly sub frame and swingarm, dirttrack specific suspension settings coupled with new dirt track triple clamps, 19 inch Performance Machine Flat track wheels and Goodyear tires give the Tracker it’s aggressive stance. Titanium pipes with courted cross over’s allow the exhaust to exit at an incredible pitch. Paint is by Chris Woods at Airtrix in Santa Barbra. All modifications were performed at Roland Sands Design facility in Los Alamitos, Ca.

The Desmo continues on her path to another existence. A path scattered with gravel, clay and dirt. Computer driven telemetry and laptops have been traded in for tire groovers and rawhide mallets. She accepts her fate gracefully. At her heart lies a deep desire to scream at the better part of 18,000 RPM. She shall be given the opportunity to satisfy her desires, but on another field of battle. Perhaps the there is a mile or two of flat dirt somewhere in her future with enough grip to put her to the test. Wheeling, sliding and begging for just a little more track, just a little wider exit.. God bless the brave soul who dares to test her limits.

When building a custom swing arm there are many things you need to take into consideration before starting. Basic geometry/ length, shock position, chain line, center line of wheel and tire clearance are the most important. So we don’t build blindly, we first faro arm the stock swing arm to get all the info necessary. We then model it up so we know what we are building is going to work. Once the model is complete we start the fixture for the build. Below are a few examples of the design, fixture and build for the Desmo tracker swingarm.

From nothing comes something. A hand sketch and raw steel bar become bearing races and shock mounts. Tubes becoming hand bent load bearing anti torsion beams. Smaller tubes become chain encompassing trellis’s. Once completed and bolted on the machine the assembly looks as if it’s had always been there. From the paper, the mind and the hands grow the raw elements that complete the package. Piece by piece, tube by tube and idea by idea we crawl closer to a finished product.