Final one from me, the 916 was the only bike I've had where I came back to it to find people round it just looking..
Same as my 996, that shape just attracted attention, can't wait to get it back when its all fettled and looking awesome again, panels in paint shop at present ....
I love my 916 and I dont find it difficult to jump off my 1299 and onto that for a blast. In fact I think I get more out of it as its not as much of a lunatic.
Which did you have first ? I think thats the key (for me anyhow) here in this scenario, if I'd never had my 996 and was coming backwards from an 1199/1299 I wouldn't look at a 748 or 916.
Thats a good point Dibs. I had my 916 first. Plus I adore that bike with something like reverence. So maybe I overlook its shortcomings. Bit like my daughter.
I know there are nicer better 996's than mine, and I can afford one, and with what I'm spending restoring a 50k 996 bike, its madness to do so, but its MY 996 and we have history, so I fully get where you are coming from
My next job, it's in a sorry state having been a track bike for 13 years on and off, mainly the missus riding it on track as she loves the torque
Ha ha ha, feel that pain, mine went from mint bip, to mint mono road bike, to hammered roadbike, hybrid road / track bike then dedicated track bike .... now coming almost full circle to step 2 on that journey ...
Had a quote quite a few years back, £10k to restore it ( Ducati Wolverhampton ( as was) had a restoration service), trouble is now finding the parts, the shocks are, well, shocking..
I had 5 years off riding, just lost the itch, but always had a 998S on my bucket list. My previous bikes were the latest and greatest sport bikes at the time but always fancied a Tamburini ,then last year I finally bought one. It’s my first Ducati and I love it. It was MOT’d on Saturday and similar to what Ivor said, there was a crowd drooling over it instead of the brand new bikes for sale. Definitely go for it.
Would love to get my hands on something that needs some restoring, took me 6 months to build my 1199 from the ground up, enjoyed every minute of it!
Mines just a boggo Bip. But its had a full monty by snells. That thing on the crank that comes loose has been sorted at same time. It a nice engine. Its got 24k on the clock and 20 of its from me. Has quite a few mods, mag wheels being the best, full ohlins and now I'm just chasing a m/c for the radial monoblocks. @RickyX keeps buying them all before I get half a chance. I'd like to get the frame repainted, but keep putting it off. Its a bike that gets used.
Can you post some photos of your bike, @bootsam? Can’t remember seeing it and sounds like it’s well sorted?
I went from a minted 848 with a shed load of trick parts back to a 998S as I had that scratch to itch. Minted the 998S, then traded it in against the 959 when times got a little rough during lockdown. The Tamburini bikes can’t be bettered for looks and simplicity, simple as but as said above, wouldn’t be my choice again for an only bike. @Gav1199s, you’ll have to get one sooner or later as you’ll just regret not having owned one. Your 1199 and a 916/998 would be a perfect pair!
Its not a stunner. But here she is before I did the radial upgrade. She also now sports an oem monoposto seat unit. Plus some 998R discs for the offset as I could only find the 108mm 6bolt brackets. If anyone has the 100mm 6 bolt brackets, please let me know. Im using the gsxr gold colour radial brembos to match the period kind of thing. Still better than her old 40mm's. Im not much of a picture taker. Wifey took this as I couldnt photo fuck all without fucking it up somehow. No idea what the mudguard is off, but it was cheap. I disc-locked my original grrr
