Yes, there are hundreds of customized Ducatis out there for you to choose from. But some of those customized bikes got extra attention during fabrication and a few more hand-built parts that set them apart and puts them in a different league. It is a perfect love letter to the bygone era of air-cooled Ducatis and their 1000cc Desmo engines. Design-wise, you can see Siegl’s (well-deserved) fascination with the legendary 750/900 Supersport from the mid-70s.

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The Ducati Leggero Gets An Air-Cooled Desmo

Leggero by WSM
Walt Siegl Motorcycles

This Austrian-born motorcycle designer and fabricator started building bikes back in 2007 out of New Hampshire. In his long-standing career, all kinds of motorcycles passed through his garage, but the ones he is best known for are Ducatis. And when it came to making the Leggero, the engine had to be something special. An air-cooled 1000cc Desmo L-Twin.

In the words of the man himself, “there is no engine out there with the same characteristics. It’s a brilliant performer that can be hammered on the racetrack or ridden to the café.” It was one of the most famous and important engines in recent Ducati history. With its straightforward philosophy, easy maintenance, and the way it looked, no wonder it had so many fans. When it came out it was making around 90 horsepower at 8000 rpm and had 62 foot-pounds of torque at 5000 rpm.

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How Walt Siegl Makes A Ducatti Leggero

WSM Leggero
Walt Siegl Motorcycles

The first thing is the aforementioned air-cooled 1000cc Desmo engine. It gets completely rebuilt with updated internals, all done by Bruce Meyers Performance. But a great engine deserves a fitting frame. Walt Siegl Motorcycles uses a special material, a 4130 aircraft grade chromium-molybdenum alloy steel, with an aluminum single-sided swing-arm. Bodywork is completely done from carbon fiber and an aluminum fuel tank completes the retro aesthetic.

The suspension is a fully adjustable Öhlins FGR racing fork with a rear mono-shock. The wheels are six-spoke, lightweight magnesium alloys made by OZ Racing and are outfitted with Michelin track tires. To stop this vintage-looking racer there are Brembo radial calipers, floating rotors, and radial master cylinder.

All of this means that the weight of the WSM Ducati Leggero is only 325 lbs, something you don’t see often with custom bikes. The Leggero can also be upgraded with higher spec Pirelli track tires, an Öhlins TTX rear shock, an alcantara seat, and different paint finishes.

Four Special Ducati Leggeros

Leggero limited by WSM
Walt Siegl Motorcycles

If this isn’t exclusive enough for you, Walt has you covered. There are four specially built Ducati Leggeros, all built to his preferred specifications. That makes a lot of sense, considering this is WSM’s most desirable model, and the waiting list for one of these is around two years.

Some slight design changes and engine upgrades set them apart from the regular Leggeros. The standard WSM frame was kept alongside Öhlins suspension and the OZ racing wheels (which got a new swanky gold coating). The brake calipers and master cylinders are still Brembo, but the brake rotors are from Brake Tech. The most interesting upgrade is the engine. Two bikes come equipped with GT 1000 engines, while the other two have 900 Supersport engines bored out to 944 cc. All four engines got upgraded by Meyers Performance and got new ECUs from FuelTech. Of the four, two are already spoken for.