Milan-based brothers Filippo and Giacomo Tagliabue of FTG Moto have taken one of Erik Buell’s most polarizing designs—the Buell 1125CR—and stripped it down to its mechanical soul.
Dubbed “NYX,” this one-off prototype was built to celebrate the bike’s unique engineering by removing the bulky “plastic pods” and side-mounted radiators that originally defined its look. In their place is a single, front-mounted RC Racing radiator, which cleans up the profile and exposes the massive Helicon V-Twin engine.
It’s Hard to Find a More Unique Bike Than This Custom Buell CR1125
The build is a masterclass in “mechanical honesty.” Since the Buell already carries its fuel in the frame and oil in the swingarm, the brothers ditched the traditional faux gas tank entirely. Instead, they created a tubular skeletal structure over the airbox with a plexiglass cover, letting you look straight down into the intake runners and the K&N filter.
The subframe and front fairing follow the same minimalist “round bar” theme, using negative space to make the bike look incredibly light and raw.
To finish it off, they added premium touches like Accossato radial master cylinders, CNC-machined switchgear, and a custom exhaust that keeps the mass centralized under the bike. The color palette is strictly business: a black leather seat matched to the frame, with pops of red highlighting the new custom components.
It’s a radical rethink that turns a 2000s streetfighter into a futuristic, skeletal masterpiece.
