Jake's Primitive 1970 Ducati Desmo

Jake Cavaliere's 1970 Single 450cc Bevel Drive Ducati Desmo



Jake owns a great music store right down the street from our shop called Primitive Sound. As his bike had been sitting around forever, he decided to trade us some gear for our labor in get his wiring sorted out and other essentials to make it perfect...


smallest regulator ever seen... smaller than a matchbook...

Edon having his way with the Duck... or was it the other way around???

Fair trade: an early Fender Showman Amp & cab, a fuzzface, 60's Thomas Organ Vox wah & a curly chord... Jake is NOT in a 2-man band... Check out the Lords of Altamont

Tank for Brian in Austin, TX

This tank started out as a King Sporty. They are a great place to start and with a few simple modifications they can really turn into something special....


Original tank purchased on eBay for $50...


the bottom cut out...

With all the paint ground off and no signs of any bondo, this was looking like best old tank we've seen in a really long time...

After grinding and pulling out the filler neck, we found the center line and taped off our cuts... We wanted to really pinch in the rear, yet keep the top wide - hence the spread in our lines...


cutting the lines...



After cutting, we set it down next to another of our tanks that had been designed with less concern to distance & capacity. Brian requested a little more volume as opposed to the teeny peanut tank look...

Our bottom was made out of one piece of 18-gauge steel...

The tank set on a frame to ensure the correct placement for one of our filler necks and gas outlets... We rolled out the flat spot that is super prevalent in early King Sporty tanks... It doesn't have to be done, but that's our thing and what we like to do to achieve our desired look...