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999 Was It Really That Bad ?

Discussion in '749 / 999' started by noobie, Nov 7, 2016.

  1. In 04 I bought a 749Mono. I didn’t like the 05 “facelift” at all. That’s what happens when you let focus groups loose on your design. A bit like when Maserati dropped the pencil thin tail lights from coupe to use a boring standard layout instead. So for me the bikes to have are all the 04 models.

    the 749S got a peppier engine in 04 and from 05 on wards the 749R lost the Carbon fibre bodywork.

    IMHO the swing arm change is just aesthetics. I liked the cast swing arm but then I like castings as a method of manufacturing.

    today, I have an 04 749R and while it is a much better bike than my previous 749 the benefits come from the wheels and suspension more than the swing arm. Having said that, my yellow 749 mono was great on track and I thoroughly enjoyed owning it.

    the 916? Ducati took a formula from Honda and made it look better. It wasn’t that radical, whereas the 749/999 was

    Honda already had

    Single sided swing arm
    Side by side headlamps
    Twin air intakes under the headlamps
    Underseat exhausts

    on the NR750 in 1992
     
    #361 749er, Jun 1, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2020
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  2. 2004 engine is exactly the same as 2003, 2005 was updated
     
  3. was the final drive being changed as a result?, front sprocket I think.
     
  4. @Sev Don't all the 749 models have a 14t front sprocket?
     

  5. In 2003, the 749 and 749S had the same engine. Some people complained, so the 749S got a different cam profile to take it to 108rwBHP.

    All that happened in 2005 was Ducati changed from publishing rwbhp to crank BHP to bring into line with how the Japanese factories were quoting engine power. There was no incentive for Ducati to be tuning that motor as it had next to nothing in common with the 749R motor, which was a true 749cc, whereas the 749/749S were 748cc
     
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  6. good question. or am I thinking 749 vs 999? that might be it.
     
  7. you've got a tamburini bike... we get it.
     
  8. [​IMG]

    I've always loved mine, had it from new, didn't mean to buy it, went to get a new solenoid for my monster and came out with this.
    On yer bike had it in their window, I love them in a race rep, the plain ones never did it for me, still terrific bikes.
    I can remember riding it home thinking had I done the right thing, that didn't last long.
    I keep thinking I'll sell it, until I ride it and fall in love all over again, marmite? I love it
     
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  9. I thought the 999 was a complete redesign, before that they were versions of the previous model.
    I can remember reading how many changes they made from previous models, was it 140?
     
  10. It would also be interesting to see what changes may have been made, for example, from a pre-production model to what went into full production - if such a unicorn-type thing existed, of course!
     
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  11. Someone will know, it was also used in a documentary on design, it was quite a thing in it's day.
     
  12. There was a huge amount that was discarded from the 999 due to legislation And resistance from engineering at the time.

    Terblanche’s original swingarm concept was very 1098/ mvf4 looking but the reparto corse wanted a bifurcated arm.

    he also wanted a One piece rear sub-frame come silencer unit But there was resistance there also from manufacturing.

    the electrical distribution cover as well - or batterybox to the layman, he wanted that way smaller but the battery he wanted to use wasn’t available.

    there is a lot of things on that bike that were years ahead of their time, Rider ergonomic adjustability, canbus, the desire for each component to do more than one job.

    legislation forced manufacturers to move away from assymetric optics and therefore one light on and one off like its predecessor couldn’t be done anymore- they had to be symmetrical about the centreline of the vehicle, hence stacking them.

    there was also the desire to have the indicators integrated into the bodywork, they would have gone in the space of the upper air gaps on the pre facelift model, but again legislation demanded a minimum distance from bike centreline as it does now.

    He had some pretty radical ideas regarding the back end as well, and one of his non negotiable stances was that he wasn’t going to do a wedge fairing tail like everyone else.
    One thing that makes the 999 stand out was that it was designed From the naked bike out rather than styled and then packaged Inwards by engineering as tamburini was fond of doing.

    what he wasn’t going to do was give 916 owners another 916.
    When the 916 came out dont forget there were plenty of 888 owners who felt the same way as 916 owners did about the 999.

    It’s an Avantgarde design that was nearly a decade ahead of its time, and thats before we go down the road of how many race successes it had.

    it would have achieved full yorkie bar chuck norris status if it had gone endurance racing and survived with a race victory, but showing a ducati an endurance race is like showing the wicked witch of the west a bucket of water!

    I’m bias though so don't listen to me!
     
    #372 Sev, Jun 1, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2020
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  13. Well said, that all makes sense to me, perhaps I'm biased too.
     
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  14. I like the 999 design
     
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  15. That's not correct.
     
  16. Someone else said it earlier, in race trim & colours it looks good but in the way it was sold & the way most people bought it, it’s odd. The fairing is not clean, which you expect a Ducati to be. It always reminded me of a boy racer adding spoilers & vents to a Corsa. The large single dial looks odd, the beauty of the single sided swing arm (which came straight back on the 1098) is lost & the thin slab sided appearance of the engine makes it look underpowered imo. The tail is also too high. Having said all that & having probably offended quite a few of the good guys in here, for me but it’s a bit like when Chris Bangle got his hands on the 5 series-Almost everyone hated it at first but it’s ageing well, particularly the better looking models.
     
  17. ^ The 916 and 1x98 have more silly vents than 999. Just saying...

    The asymmetric "beauty" of a single-sided swingarm is lost on me. They are less stiff, heavier, require ludacris axle nut torques and have a chain tension adjustment system which affects the chassis geometry. The one and only advantage over a conventional swingarm is the imaginary "easier to change the wheel" yabba dabba which is already negated by the silly torque on the axle nut. Not to mention someone has to sit on the rear brake to even torque the nut...

    And yes, I'm offended :D
     
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  18. Where’s the “silly vents” on my baby then? ;):cool:

    4873D6DD-9098-4F4A-92E4-B1A219F0F924.jpeg
     
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  19. Over here:

    upload_2020-6-2_11-48-22.png
     
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