916 916 Strada

I have a 916 Strada that I bought from new in 1996 from Midlands Motorcycle Centre in Northampton. It has done 10500 miles. It was imported by Hoss Elm of Moto Cinelli who were based in Northampton and were the Ducati importer at the time. As I had 916 on order for all of 1996, and riding a 748 at the time, I was expecting a a biposto to turn up, but was also reading the impending doom in the press that they were about to go bust, no money, no parts, suppliers not payed. The news at the time was there was bikes finished awaiting fuel tanks. I had a phone call asking me if I was interested in a Strada, as apparently Hoss Elm had got fed up with waiting and gone to Bologna to find out what the situation was. As I heard it he told Ducati that he wanted bikes now! and he was taking delivery of ten 916 Stradas that were finished and ready to be shipped to the United States. So I bit the bullet and paid the extra cash for the Strada. When it turned up it had US spec lights which were changed to UK spec by Moto Cinelli, by Geoff Green who was working there at the time, and would later do a major service on it when he ran his own Ducati service/tuning company Gtec. I still have all the paperwork from day 1, if anyone is interested I will post them.

 

This is how it looks at the moment unfortunately I don't have any pictures when it was new as the ex wife had the camera, as we had just parted, and this beauty became my pride and joy. Also it was before the days of pocket sized mobiles. Every last part, nut bolt, and washer to return it to standard is boxed and stored including some extras such as a as new biposto subframe and tail unit.

 

I chose the blue, thats why they are on there. They also match the blue Samco silicone water hoses which were only available in blue originally. All the carbon is pre-preg not carbon cloth backed up with fibreglass, some from Italy and some from a UK based company who made the moulds and parts for Alan Jenkins, who was chief designer at Jaguar F1 as he had a 916. After he left F1 he set up a consultancy company and he did all the wind tunnel and aero work on the Desmosedici. These are the only other pictures I could find. This is leaving Boston to go to Cadwell Park BSB with the misses on her SV650. She got so fed up with riding on the pillion of the 748 that she passed her test so she enjoy the thrill of riding.

 

How do I put a value on my bike, as there seems to be such a wide spread of prices and I have lost track of what 916s are worth. Also is mine less desirable as it is a US spec. I need to check the value on my insurance is correct as it due to be renewed.

 

I have all the standard parts but I choose to have these on and I don't like wotsits. Thanks for the constructive help.

 

Thank you