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My new 1997 Ducati 916 saga - tragic beginning but at least a happy ending

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    My new 1997 Ducati 916 saga - tragic beginning but at least a happy ending

    So after searching for a decent Ducati 916 in a close proximity for a couple of years, I finally had one come up in Tyler Tx (about 3.5 hours away) a couple months ago. Made the drive up there on a friday to check the bike out. Mostly stock w Marchesini wheels and FBF slip-ons. Service history was not there (not good for a Ducati I know) but I ended up getting the bike for a price that even with doing a full service I would not be upside down in the bike. This was a biposto model but it did come with a solo seat and solo subframe as well. Checked everything out and did a test ride and made the deal. Here is how the bike was the day I got her.



    So I get the bike home about 7pm Friday evening. Wake up early Saturday morning and decide I need to take the Duc out for it's first shake down ride. It's about 6am and I don't want to wake my neighbors (dry clutch - LOUD!) so I literally push the bike 3 blocks away from houses and fire her up. Drive another half mile and jump on the freeway. About a mile into the ride at approximately 65 mph I feel something hit my leg. Look down and see that something is definitely not right and pull onto shoulder of freeway to find this:




    Although I had checked all of the Dzus fasteners I had neglected to check the fasteners underneath the bike. Evidently a common problem with these bikes is the bottoms come undone and if you are at highway speeds the undone fairing catches wind and WHOOSH. There goes the entire right side. For good measure it ripped the nose and left side as well. I was in disbelief. I drove back to the house in shock and told my girl what had happened. She remarked "hell you pushed the bike almost as far as you got to ride it!". At least it got me to laugh. Luckily I had insurance. $3200 estimate!!!!!

    I posted about my incident on a FB Ducati group page and many people chimed in that this had happened to them (this is where I learned of the problem - up until this point I wasn't sure what the hell exactly had happened. I didn't think I had run over any thing but anything was possible). Within a few hours someone had messaged me that they had and entire set of 748 OEM fairings and sold it to me at a VERY reasonable price. What a break! While the bike was being repaired I had the full service done which lucky/unlucky for me revealed two worn rockers. Everything was repaired or replaced and I just got her back yesterday. Decided to go a little custom with paint and while I was at it I had the wheels powdercoated black and put fresh rubber on. Even after all that I only ended up out of pocket after insurance paid about $500 over what I would have had in it if the incident had never happened and I just did the service.

    Here it is now.








    I can't stop staring at it. Mr Tamburini can sure design one hell of a bike. The ride is something else as well. It makes you smile to say the least. Now it's not something you want to ride for any sort of distance; to say you are bent up like a pretzel is putting it mildly and those under-slung pipes sure look sexy but holy s*** they are HOT!! Can't wait to experience that come July/August.......

    All in all though I am extremely pleased. This one will be in the garage for a long time. All's well that ends well!

    #2
    Those naughty Italian girls like to go topless.

    Comment


      #3
      Glad you got it sorted.

      They are an icon of bike porn.
      Current:
      Z1300A5 Locomotive (swapped my Intruder for it), GS450 Cafe Project (might never finish it....), XT500 Commuter (I know - it's a Yamaha )

      Past:
      VL1500 Intruder (swapped for Z1300), ZX9R Streetfighter (lets face it - too fast....), 1984 GSX750EF, 1984 GSX1100EF (AKA GS1150)
      And a bunch of other crap Yamahas....

      Comment


        #4
        I'm envious

        Comment


          #5
          Many people go naked after such happenings. We all stare at our bikes, but yours is widely considered one of the very best looking.

          I share your dislike of under seat exhausts. I wonder if an under engine exhaust, ala the Panigale, is available. They say it does wonders for your cg, as well as your tush.

          Thanks for the great pics.
          1982 GS1100E V&H "SS" exhaust, APE pods, 1150 oil cooler, 140 speedo, 99.3 rear wheel HP, black engine, '83 red

          2016 XL883L sigpic Two-tone blue and white. Almost 42 hp! Status: destroyed, now owned by the insurance company. The hole in my memory starts an hour before the accident and ends 24 hours after.

          Comment


            #6
            You can ditch the passenger pegs now that you have the monoposto tail.

            Comment


              #7
              Very nice. Italian art on wheels
              sigpic1982 gs750e 1186 oil cooled engine USD front mono shock rear
              1994 gsxr1100w
              1981 gs1260dragbike (this one I've owned for29yrs)

              Comment


                #8
                I forwarded this to my Ducati riding friend.
                The bike looks great with the black wheels. Good luck with it and enjoy.
                sigpic
                When consulting the magic 8 ball for advice, one must first ask it "will your answers be accurate?"

                Glen
                -85 1150 es - Plus size supermodel.
                -Rusty old scooter.
                Other things I like to photograph.....instagram.com/gs_junkie
                https://www.instagram.com/glen_brenner/
                https://www.flickr.com/photos/152267...7713345317771/

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by JamesWhut? View Post
                  You can ditch the passenger pegs now that you have the monoposto tail.
                  Right? Yeah shop forgot to take those off. Getting some integrated turn signals put in this week and will remove when I do.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Sexiest bike of all time there Russell! Simply stunning! I can't even imagine riding that thing at it's limit.

                    What's the plan for it? Sunday rider, or are you going to use it for track days?
                    Ed

                    To measure is to know.

                    Mikuni O-ring Kits For Sale...https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...ts#post1703182

                    Top Newbie Mistakes thread...http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...d.php?t=171846

                    Carb rebuild tutorial...https://gsarchive.bwringer.com/mtsac...d_Tutorial.pdf

                    KZ750E Rebuild Thread...http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...0-Resurrection

                    Comment


                      #11
                      You know Ed it actually is quite refined as far as a sport bike is concerned on power delivery. Very smooth and consistent torque curve; well, that is at least in comparison to my '98 R1. Now that on the other hand is a beast. I would say the R1 is a Dodge Viper (with better handling!) and the 916 is a Ferrari. The 916 is also quite a bit smaller. Not a big bike by any stretch.

                      I will ride it on weekends and during the week. As much as I would like to bring it to the track there is no way I would take a chance on busting it up.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        One of the nicest rides I had in the past was many years ago following a friend who had just bought a new red 748. He had it delivered with the baffle mod and chipped. I was on my FZ and as it was his first time out on it he was taking it relatively easy on one of our favourite roads. Because he was off the "pace" he asked why i never bothered passing him. I just said that the thing sounded so sweet I just wanted to sit there listen to it. Anyway, congrats on your new toy and you're right about the track thing. Don't take anything there you would be horribly upset about by wadding it up into ball.
                        '84 GS750EF (Oct 2015 BOM) '79 GS1000N (June 2007 BOM) My Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/soates50/

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Frickin Gorgeous!!! Gold Frame, Red plastics, God I love it!!! I need to get my Ducati Cherry popped...
                          Jedz Moto
                          1980 Suzuki GS1000G
                          1988 Honda GL1500-6
                          2018 Triumph Bonneville T120-
                          2020 Honda Monkey Z125
                          2001 Honda Insight - 65MPG
                          Originally posted by Hayabuser
                          Cool is defined differently by different people... I'm sure the new rider down the block thinks his Ninja 250 is cool and why shouldn't he? Bikes are just cool.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Jedz123 View Post
                            Frickin Gorgeous!!! Gold Frame, Red plastics, God I love it!!! I need to get my Ducati Cherry popped...
                            I highly recommend it. The great thing about the 916 (at least the '95-97) is it will continue to gain value for the next decade. Do make sure you have service history. The service I had done was $1600 because of the worn rockers. Even without it would have been $1000.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Very nice... what's the pay to play on one of those?
                              1980 GS1000G - Sold
                              1978 GS1000E - Finished!
                              1980 GS550E - Fixed & given to a friend
                              1983 GS750ES Special - Sold
                              2009 KLR 650 - Sold - gone to TX!
                              1982 GS1100G - Rebuilt and finished. - Sold
                              2009 TE610 - Dual Sporting around dreaming of Dakar.....

                              www.parasiticsanalytics.com

                              TWINPOT BRAKE UPGRADE LINKY: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...e-on-78-Skunk/

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