Hi everyone, I'm new to the Ducati world. I mainly own 2 stroke yamahas (TZR 125/250's). But I fell in love with the Ducati 888 in the early 1990's when a friend of mine bought a new 888 SP. The 888 has such beautiful lines and marvelous sound. As I cannot afford an 888 SP, I'm looking to buy a 851 or 888 strada, but I have a preference for the 888. I'll be grateful to receive any advice on buying such a bike. Most of the bike I see for sale have a high mileage. What is the expecting life of the engine (kilometers)? What are the weaknesses of the 888. If the bike has no or little service history, should I forget about it? What is the price of a big service (belts, valve tuning, water pump, etc ...). What is the price range of an 888 strada ? I'm based in Belgium. Thank you in advance for your help.
Buy on condition, get the best / most original you can with the most provenance, don't worry about whether it's an SP or a Strada or a biposto or a monoposto or an 851 or an 888. Lovely bikes, ride beautifully and unless you're going to be hanging 'em out on the ragged edge they will all deliver the noise and sensations as required. They're the perfect moment between classic and modern, you get the evocation of a classic era with most of the convenience of a modern bike (ie it stops and starts well, goes around corners and will keep pace etc)
These are on UK Ebay... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334104107313?hash=item4dca281931:g:GoMAAOSwxaNeJwd5 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184765624145?hash=item2b04e3af51:g:ww4AAOSw1VBhVe8- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203667041927?hash=item2f6b806e87:g:zkoAAOSwUKJhds1W https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265029261497?hash=item3db4f998b9:g:-zYAAOSwzqBhVkb4 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265019655184?hash=item3db4670410:g:wF4AAOSwG7lhVkb6 It should give you some idea..
The 888 has been my dream bike too, so I know where you are coming from. Steer clear of tracked and highly revved bikes (regularly over 10k RPM), as the early cases couldn't take the stress and cracked. Main thing is to find an honest bike. Mine was owned by the same guy for over 18 years, with 4 owners before him, and had done just over 23,000 miles (most in the first 2 to 3 years). The paint on the engines lifts and, depending on how dry it is stored, the flaking of paint can be minimised. The service history was patchy in the last few years before he sold the bike, but every time he did get it back on the road he took it to a garage to get serviced and got oil and belt changes done. The belt changes here at a dealer will be around £230 done. I was after a project bike and the one I found was very tired cosmetically. I did a full nut and bolt restoration on the bike over 2.5 years and the engine was completely rebuilt (engine alone cost around £2,200 to strip down, re-coat and replace all bearings and bushes). It had period correct upgrades worth a few £s now (Carbon front hugger, Termignoni high level exhausts, open airbox modification, correct ECU chip and a number plate with "888" in it, which costs a bit here to buy) You can look at what I did on my website www.ducati888.co.uk For a concours 888 Strada, they are making around £10,000 to £11,000 here in the UK, but typically more like £6,000 to £7,000 if a little untidy and in need of a service, or £7,500 to £8,000 ready to go with period upgrades and showing limited signs of age. Before Restoration After Restoration
The other lads have pretty much said it all apart from... The 851/888's are close to bullet proof motors as long as they've been kept well serviced. It's not unknown for one of them to go around the clock and return to zero, before the need for a rebuild. The build quality was far superior to the later 748/916's. Steve R
You may be limited by what’s actually for sale I think there were only 15 888s left on the road a few years back. I checked just now and it’s 4 taxed 888 stradas. 11 sorn … That cant be right can it?
Does this hold true do you think for the later bikes, as I’m picking up a 998 too based on this, it’s not an s but they are looking too much outlay for the small differences.
That’s good news for me I’ve got a strada which has been sorn for about 13 years in a dry garage. Just about to give it a major service - it’s got 10k miles on the clock - genuine I’m the third owner had it for 19 years. Might be looking to selling once I’ve got it running again. It’s got full carbon exhaust and I have the original duke ones as well. what do you think it could be worth.
It is all down to condition and service history. If it has been laid up for a long time you will no doubt need to consider the effect on all of the oily bits, wet bits and rubber parts. If you are planning on recommissioning it, these might be significant costs.
