Just a few days ago, at the ‘Spazio Acquadimare‘ in Milan, Italy, we attended the official presentation of the new Borile B450 Scrambler, the new model of the little but fierce Italian manufacturer which is blatantly inspired by the mighty Ducati Scrambler of the 70s.
The bike is the latest creation of the brilliant Umberto Borile – founder, main man and mastermind of the house – whose genius this time went as far as to design the actual engine of the bike.
Moreover, this unit actually uses cylinder head and block provided by Ducati itself, which the genius of Mr.
Borile aptly modified in order to match his own vision.
The B450 Scrambler is therefore the motorcycles that inaugurates the partnership between Borile and the Borgo Panigale-based manufactuerer, which will go on to supply barrels, heads and valve gears of its 2-valve air-cooled 696 cc and 1100 cc units for future projects.
Back in 70s, Umberto Borile himself was the proud owner of a Ducati Scrambler 70s, and it is exactly the never forgotten passion for that machine that prompted the birth of this project.
In the same fashion, good old Umberto badly wanted to put something markedly Ducati in the DNA of his new masterpiece, and so he got in touch with some of the top boys at Ducati, eventually signing an agreement for the supply but on one condition: they had to be the first to taste the fruit of his labor.
Umberto’s creative effort led to the birth of the B450 Scrambler, a motorcycle which can be considered for all intents and purposes as a modern-day reincarnation of the legendary single cylinder model that inspires it.
The engine uses the rear vertical cylinder of the Monster 1100, with 98 mm of bore and 60 mm of stroke, 40.
5 mm throttle body, Weber-Marelli fuel injection, six-speed cassette type gearbox, digital electric ignition and countershaft.
The wheels are 19″ front and 18″ rear, both combined with single hydraulic disc brakes.
The tank is located under the seat, while the air filter is right behind the headstock.
The model introduced in Milan is still the first prototype, and on its arrival at the ‘Spazio Acquadimare‘ (with Umberto Borile himself riding it) the terrifying roar of its single cylinder makes it clear rightaway that the Scrambler is yet to pass the scrutiny of the authorities for road use licensing, but at the same time the first resounding impact is simply bombastic.
Final specifications have not yet been formalized but Borile confirms that the power should eventually be in the 45 hp area.
However, before landing in Milan, Mr.
Borile kept his commitment and brought the B450 Scrambler to the Ducati headquarters, and this is what he said about the experinece:“When the Ducati people saw and heard it, most of these young graduates looked at it with suspicion, pulling faces as to indicate its flaws, with the maintenance guys going as far as to say ‘this bike would never go past the checks’.
But then we had the ‘old’ guys coming out of the factory in their mechanic’s overalls, hand on heart, saying things like: “We just have to leave now, otherwise we are gonna have a heart attack.
” They hadn’t heard the sound of a single cylinder engine in there for something like 30 years, and you could just see how ‘touched’ they were… “For more information on this and other Borile products, check out their official website.