Custom: Shinya Kimura Edge

Beginning with a Ducati 999R, Shinya Kimura stripped off the stock plastic and replaced it with hand-beaten and riveted metal bodywork to create the Edge. The effect is a bike that looks like a beaten up old space ship, something emphasized by how well the organic metal complements the fussy plumbing of the water-cooled 150bhp v-twin. Having said that, this is a beaten up old space ship that's not any faster than a 2005 Earth bike, yet is expected to fetch a galactically exuberant $200,000.
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Since we slated the Falcon Kestrel for pandering to a culture that

increasingly likes looking at bikes rather than riding them, it probably

wouldn't be fair not to apply the same criticism to the Edge, even if

we're much bigger fans of Shinya's originality over Falcon's shameless

retro recreation.

Other than integrating the exhaust into the tailpiece, it doesn't appear

that Shinya has performed any mechanically significant work on the

999R. There, we said it; $200,000 for some metal bodywork that'll cut

your legs off if you drop it. Criticism applied.

We're much more comfortable with Shinya's work when we don't know that

he's sold it to an upstart car company with no tangible products for six

figures and that it's destined for their Beverly Hills showroom to help

sell their fancy watches. We prefer to think of his bikes as a labor of

love from a mad Japanese genius toiling in a greasy garage. There's

something raw, mean and animal-like in his bikes, as if he's unleashed

an inner personality that was hidden when this thing was painted red.

The bodywork appears to reduce the 999's height while extending its

length, proportions that aren't considered traditionally handsome on

sportsbikes, yet work here precisely because they corrupt the

traditional idea of what a super bike should be.

Like the Kestrel, the Edge will be debuting at the Quail Lodge

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Motorcycle Gathering this weekend where we imagine many a monocle will plop out of the eye sockets and into the cocktail glasses of wealthy attendees due to the mere

sight of it.

via Autoblog and Chabott Engineering

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