Well it took a while but I finally found a 998R here in the states. Roughly 1900 mi on the odometer in great condition. The guy who I purchased it from, bought it new in 2002 and did extremely extensive modifications to it over the years. All the parts were top of the line and most MS productions and/or Ducati Performance. Modifications included: Magnesium Swingarm Silmotor 60mm Full Exhaust System - Ceramic Coated Black Ohlins FG43 Forks - Anodized Black Ohlins Rear Shock changed to titanium spring and black anodized canister EVR Airbox BST Carbon Wheels BrakeTech Carbon Brake Rotors 520 Conversion Lightweight sprocket and carrier Vented Clutch Cover MS Productions Carbon Headlight bucket and fairing supports MS Productions Carbon Tail Fairing MS Productions Carbon Tank DP Underset Carbon Airbox DP Carbon mirrors DP Rearsets DP Smoke Windscreen Upgraded brake and clutch lines Upgraded racing seat STM Billet Breather Valve STM Billet Clutch Slave STM Billet Timing Cover Speedymoto Billet Waterpump Cover Radial Brembo Front Calipers Black Brembo Rear Master Cylinder Upgraded Brembo Clutch and Front Brake Master Cylinder Brembo GP rear brake caliper Woodcraft Clipons HID headlight kit LED Taillight kit Titanium Valves Titanium Shock Bolts Titanium Swingarm Bolt Titanium Wheel Nuts Anodized Black Ohlins steering stabilizer and mount Anodized Black Subframe Black Billet Triple Clamps Slipper Clutch Corse Garage Cooling Hoses Rizoma Reservoirs Powdercoated Frame Black Powdercoated Kickstand Black Extensive black hardware (hose fittings, engine bolts, banjo bolts, valves, frame hardware, dzus fasteners) Some other stuff as well... The goal of the project was to bring back #443 to OEM condition. The only OEM part included extra was the top triple clamp with the 998R number plaque. The triple had a big gouge out of it, so that would be dealt with later. But going into this, I knew it would be tough to find OEM parts and extremely challenging to find the original forks and exhaust. I promised a build thread when I started this project and did my best to take pictures along the way but I definitely got caught up in the build and didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked to. More posts coming on the work done. Here is the bike as it stood when I bought it. Listing Photos (not my garage):
First was to strip the bike down, take catalog of all the parts, and get the frame and 5 spoke OEM wheels I sourced stripped and refinished. I only found ones that were from a Bayliss bike in blue and they were in rough shape. View attachment 272018
It took me an eternity to find the correct frame and wheel finish. I did not want to use paint as that is not nearly as durable. So after about 5 powder coat companies, I finally found a match to the OEM frame and wheel color. While I took these in and waited for them to be refinished, I started on the engine disassembly. I pulled the upgraded parts off, the vented clutch cover, and the damaged alternator cover. I went through and did a lot of checks and everything looked good. I spent a good amount of time cleaning and getting the engine in a good visual shape. I ordered a new OEM clutch, alternator cover, timing cover, and water pump cover to bring the engine back to stock appearance.
The anodized subframe needed to be stripped so I soaked it in oven cleaner to strip the anodizing off. This left the aluminum dull and ugly. I took the subframe to a local vapor honer and he got it back to even better than OEM condition. I found a swingarm, hub, and components in great condition. I also traded my upgraded rear Ohlins shock for an OEM one in near new condition. This allowed me to assemble the rear of the bike and get the frame all the way on.
While I continued working I took inventory of the carbon parts. I collected the headlight bucket, fairing stays, airbox, intake tubes, bellypan, rear fender, and front fender and packaged them up. I sent them all to the famous Artisimo Custom for refinishing. He sands down the terrible OEM resin and sprays a filler clear to slowly fill the pinholes in the resin. He does this anywhere from 3-7 times per piece, sand-spray-sand-spray etc... Until the pinholes have been filled. When the finish is good, he sands one more time and sprays with a high gloss UV clear to give it an amazing shine. Pictures later on this. I also managed to find an awesome guy in the UK (Tom) who happen to have a new old stock OEM 998R tail section hanging on his wall. He also helped me get a freshly restored and painted 998R tank. I continued to source more OEM parts like a new set of keys, matching ignition, fuel cap, and seat tumbler.
While the seat and tank were being shipped I scored an amazing find on eBay on a NOS 50/54 Termignoni Carbon Half System. Here is a picture of the NOS tail and NOS exhaust installed on the bike during a test fit. I continued sourcing parts such as OEM clip ons, front brake master cylinder, rear brake master cylinder, clutch master cylinder, levers, NOS reservoirs and more. It took nearly 7 months from when I started looking but managed to find a set of OEM FG8500 forks, NOS 15mm OEM brake rotors AND a set of front brake calipers. The caliper finish was in a bit of rough shape so I refinished them back to the bright original gold. Since the original triple clamp had a large gouge out of it. I found a mint condition one on ebay from a 748. Unfortunately this did not have the plaque on it. I made a template of the position, carefully knocked out the old rivets, refinished the rivets, transferred the template, drilled the new holes, and hammered the plaque on with the new rivets. During this time I also installed a new foam piece around the speedometer as the old owner had colored his black with a sharpie... I am not totally happy with the OEM one that was sent to me from the Ducati parts store, so I may replace it again at some point. When the carbon pieces arrived roughly 8 weeks after sending them out, I started to piece together the front end.
Slowly over the months I would continue to find either NOS parts or OEM parts in really good condition. Steering stabilizer, front sprocket cover, timing belt covers, rear sets, windscreen, windscreen bolts (OEM bronze ones are expensive!), kickstand, fasteners, DZUS fasteners, etc. The parts I continued to have trouble finding was the remainder of the 50mm exhaust system. This was nearly impossible to find since it is for a deep sump motor AND it needs the fitting for a 998 series bike, not the 999. I kept coming up short, I decided to build the rest of the system. I used my typical vendor (Stainless bros) and TIG welded up my own headers. Eventually I will replace this when I find OEM parts.
Anyways, like I said, I was terrible at taking a lot of pictures along the way and I am sure I am forgetting to talk about all the headaches and mistakes I made but in the end, the bike turned out amazing IMO. I still have a few things I would like to do to get it even close to how it rolled out of the factory but it is in a great spot now to take out for a spin! All parts that were put on the bike were original Ducati OEM parts, Ducati Performance Parts, or DP MS production. No new knockoff stuff used here! Here are some more detail shots to give you an idea of everything that has been done. #443 back to life
Stunning. The black Vespa headset says GS160 to me, but the sidepanel looks SS180. Anyways, Lambretta's are cooler.
Congrats on achieving your goal. It does look great, What have you done with all the parts you took off? Must be a lot of people who would take them off your hand PDQ. Just goes to show we're all the same but different. The previous owner loved the bike and changed it dramatically. You love the bike and made it original again. If I were in your shoes I would have had the CF bodywork painted original, switched the pipes and kept all the rest.
