The brainchild of greek father-and-son duo was a sight to behold at EICMA 2017
Athens, home of the great Greek philosophers Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, is also the home of father-and-son combo Dino and Marios Nikolaidis and their family business – DNA Filters. It is also where they built the ‘DCR-017’KTM RC8 cafe racer, or what they lovingly call ‘The Brain Eraser’.
Both are proficient in CAD/CAM design with Dino being a mechanical engineer and Marios a motosport engineer. A testament to their talent of is their win in 2012 where they received the Red Dot Design Award of an airbox replacement kit for the KTM 990 Super Duke.Inspired by 70s and 80s style, they set out to create a “2017-spec superbike beast” that is really an “undercover sleeper”. Dino explained that the DCR-017 was supposed to be “just a frame, engine and wheels, with an analogue clock” without plastic covers and carbon fiber.
This father-and-son duo is clearly well on their way to become trendsetters as they used their wide collection of CNC machines on various items. What stood out from their practice were CNC-machining larger parts like the tank and the tail that is unconventional in the industry.
After two months spent deliberating what their design was going to look like, they finally got inspired after seeing the RC8 naked. “Blown away” by the “minimal, beautiful steel frame” that KTM was popularly known for, they decided to mimic the same design that began in CAD.
Therefore, nothing was painted, polished or ground down but merely clear coated to prevent from oxidation. They used solid blocks of 5083 H112 grade aluminium while the tank was machined from a 320lbs block and the tail from a 130lb cube of high-grade metal. And accordingly, they left the aluminium bare to boast the marks the milling machines left on the exposed metal as in line with their minimalist aesthetic.
They divided their attention on one half of the bike each to maximize time and effort with Dino responsible for the front and Marios the back.They TIG-wielded the fuel pump and bottom plate onto an 11-liter fuel cell that resulted in the 2mm-thick aluminium tank weighing in at less than 8lbs. The ‘D’ from their logo was engraved into the top of a small aluminium fuel cap they designed, after which they milled a D-shaped ‘key’ from Delrin to open it as well as to switch on the bike using NFC technology.
One glaring feature is the headlight completed with LED internals that has a tilt sensor to adjust the beam when the bike is leaned over. Talk about holistic design! The Nikolaidis men have thought of everything, it seems like.
For the tail, a two-piece subframe was constructed to fit seamlessly into the under-tail section that connects it to the rest of the tail without any visible bolts. Hidden inside the rear pump were the bikes’ battery, fuse box, relays and a part of the wiring harness.
Despite the power that the KTM RC8 already has, Dino and Marios upgraded some parts of the engine such as the DNA MK3 Stage 3 filter that provides a significant amount of boost.
With an SBK-spec tune and a KTM Power Parts race kit, The Brain Eraser now puts 186hp to its rear wheel. Their exhaust is a custom titanium setup from Akrapovic, a combination of their Evolution 4 headers and a MotoGP end can.
With some finishing touches of orange anodizing and 25 pages of schematics and meters of cables and sensors for it to work, the father-and-son team finally traversed to Italy to display their build at EICMA.
And what a sight to beheld, it was.
Images from (DNA High Performance Filters)