This one is a tribute to the Ducati 900SS, a bike so controversial as a design and as a concept. It was supposed to be a Super Sport, but it had just 73hp and was only a two seater. Unlike the pre '98 SS, Ducati never bothered to make a monoposto version like the 900SL. Just a rear seat cover from the performance parts. Like most of Terblances designs its shape was outdated. It looked contemporary the day the production stopped. Like the 999 that looks contemporary today. Put it alongside the 1199 and you can say that they are same year - different model.
And since i've lived with the bike for three years making some 20,000 km with it, 4,000 of them on track, i must say. It was a delight driving it at speed. Steady as a rock when braking, could stay leaned all day without the slightest effort and with a front end that was connected to the central nerve network of the driver, delivering information as if you were touching the tarmac with your palm.
or like that.
These are some photos that i have collected over the years from the net, just to look at them. What a bike! Enjoy.
Of course it was my bike which, as it is obvious, i was considering the most beautiful SS in the world.
And since i've lived with the bike for three years making some 20,000 km with it, 4,000 of them on track, i must say. It was a delight driving it at speed. Steady as a rock when braking, could stay leaned all day without the slightest effort and with a front end that was connected to the central nerve network of the driver, delivering information as if you were touching the tarmac with your palm.
It had a perfect riding position for my 1.85m height and although i don't have the notes anymore, i can remember that the rear set up was the stock with two more turns at the preload but the front was rather strange. I gave one more line at the preload (that is five visible lines), compression 4clicks from far right and rebound two clicks left from stock. With that set up my 80kgs could lean from side to side effortless for hours. These pictures were taken in Serres racing circuit, the only descent circuit we have in Greece. Well this is a 73hp bike and could lap at 1:34 with a good privateer (in my hands 1:38), when the 1198s can lap in 1:25 in the hands of the best racing driver with racing tires. A racer with an asthmatic engine, but still a racer.
In case you are a Ducatista and you have never owned an SS (900 or 1000), you owe it to yourself. Go and find a good one, red please, have the monoposto seat cover, paint it like that,
or like that.
If you do the monoposto paint scheme you need the 2in1 exhaust, otherwise the bike will be historically incorrect and you will miss one of the best exhaust sounds ever. The two cylinder engine has a totally different sound when it exhales through one pipi, sorry pipe.
It's unbelievable how much respect this bike receives from every street user, including the owner.
No comments:
Post a Comment