Here goes with my SPS

Good luck, i applaud you.

Its a shame that anyone allowed such a cool bike to get into that state and i hope you restore it to its former glory.

 

Surely the written evidence from Ducati based on the frame and engine number should suffice? Also the V5 should have listed the model etc. You may have recourse under the sale of goods act, but it may be rather tenuous. Gloucestershire Trading Standards - Consumer Advice - Used motor vehicles - consumer rights

 

That sucks. Are you going to keep the SP?

 

You may struggle if its a private sale.

 

I have a genuine UK 748SPS 1999 model. There were only 20 imported in this year and only 100 models were ever imported in the 3 years they were sold.

Was it sold as a UK model to you or something else? A number were imported from the continent but you can usually tell by the paperwork that they are not original UK models or by the fact they have features not supplied with a UK bike. They are a bit of a parts bin special even as standard as they straddle certain years.

An SP is better than a biposto but clearly you have been mislead, which happens a lot. You are not the only person living under the illusion of having a rare bike only to find it has been mocked up to look like a different model. It was illustrated on this forum only recently, but this time it was an eBay seller that was caught out trying to innocently sell a bike that was nowhere near a true SPS, he had lived under the illusion all the time he had the bike.

With regard to your question about side panel stickers, it depends on the year of the bike. My bike does have 748 on the side along with the Ducati and desmoquattro wording. The sticker colour varied dependant on the year. Mine are a graphite metallic black, quite hard to dupilicate.

If you need some specific information please feel free to PM me.

Good luck

 

To follow up on your question of differences. Early SP's used red plastic painted yellow as the base for the top fairing, sidepanels and seat unit. This is a very fragile plastic and often cracks and splits with age, Ducati changed this plastic on all models certainly by 1999 and probably on certain 1998 models although I have a 1998 mono unit that is finished in red plastic and from an original and genuine SP. Most models were actually built the year before they were registered. My 1999 model which was registered in October 1999 was actually mostly built from parts made in 1998. What year is yours meant to be?

Without bursting your bubble even more no SPS has fetched £5,000 to my knowledge and I doubt they will for a while, if ever. I only paid £3650 for mine with a full history and with original bill of sale and full provenance with 10,000 miles on the clock, I would say £4,000 would be pushing it at the moment. It follows an SP is going to be worth a lot less so I think even £3500 is stretching it for an SP.

 

Looks an interesting project, wouldn't mind doing a Ducati in the future.

Was there any proof, documents etc that put the vendor as the owner.

 

There's one on eBay now. V5 pic shows Sps but it's all wrong: no ohlins anywhere, no plaque etc. I mailed the gut and told him. No response

And if you're selling am sp for £1500 when can I collect

 

I know the 9*6 ones do, thats what I was referring to, blame tapatalk as it didn't show above your post today!!

 

All SP's and SPS's were Yellow and none have a plaque on the top yoke. It is very hard to tell the difference externally between an SP and an SPS and fundamentally the seat is the only way of telling. Decals did vary a bit between even the same year models, some also have Ducati decals on the petrol tank and some do not.

Every SPS that I have come across has the later 65mm brake calipers but uses the early style master cylinders, this holds true for 1998/99 models certainly.

Although 40 UK models were imported very few 1997 models seem to surface for sale, they are normally 1998/9 that crop up. One reason is that the 1997 models were manufactured in 1997 but most ended up being sold in 1998. The import figures are 40=1997, 40=1998 and 20=1999, so in other words it's likely more than 40 UK models were sold in 1998 because they were all 1997/98 modes were manufactured in 1997.

There has been some debate, from at least one source, about the conrods on SPS's, they were definitely made by Pankl but it has been suggested that they were in fact stronger steel rods and not titanium. Personally my understanding is that they were titanium but that will obviously only show on stripdown of the engine.

The cams and pistons are unique to the SPS and they on their own go for silly money should they ever appear on places like eBay. I have been lucky enough to buy two sets over the years plus a couple of sets of heads and barrels. The valves are different to stock as they have a different coating on them but they are the same size as a stock 748.

I suspect that the giveaway on your bike would have been the 40mm calipers and that would have made me wonder If I was viewing it.

The Termignoni exhausts do not have stickers as standard on SPS models and they are very shiny compared to the later aftermarket Termignoni's. A bill of sale from Moto Cinelli would have been the best way to confirm your your bike, they were the original importers and the bikes were sold at £12,250 to £12,500 when new. Mine was £12,250 when purchased new with just 6 re-delivery inspection miles on the clock.

The handbook is also unique to the SPS and is another giveaway, at least in theory. It's very possibly to doctor an SP to look exactly like an SPS if you really know their background.

 

The decal is just a sticker on the tail of the seat and it is lacquered in so it is an easy enough job to fit one. The gold pinstriping is tape and is not painted which makes stripping and respraying quite difficult. The best answer of course is to get hold of an SPS seat, they do come up on eBay every now and again.

The seat decal is easily obtainable.

65mm calipers were certainly correct for the 1998/99 models and they do have two pins, ultimately it's a lot better than just a stock 748 even as an SP.

Fairing decals might need a little research if you wanted to correctly match the decals to the year, there were at least two apparently, the best thing is to check with a Ducati dealer as they will quote by year. The tank decal is less important some had them and some didn't but it should natch in terms of colour.

Possibly the dealer that did any servicing just took the word of the customer, the handbook is unique to that model, the warranty book is generic.

As mentioned it's very easy to disguise an SP and make it look like an SPS and even an expert would find it hard to spot any differences. Does it have dark stock levers as the SPS had matt grey brake and clutch levers. I can see you have early master cylinders, which the SPS did have.

 

I see matt grey levers in the pics...