My two favorite street Ducati's

MarkT

OK I am totally biased - but these are my two favorite street Ducati's and wanted to see if anyone on the forum agrees with my belief the D16RR is the most honest evolution of the original 851/88 series of 4 cam bikes that Ducati has offered the public.

To me the designer's of Ducati's GP bikes get the whole organic curve thing I love- the street bike designers are into the sharp edges that make me think of insects.

Today I was re-fitting the bodywork to my '90 black bike (basically a '91 Corse for the street) after installing its new motor when I looked over at the D16s and wanted to put this out there to hear what you guys think about this premise.

The curves of the bodywork- the way the accent line on the tank which echos the 888 tank -- I could go on and on.

Like to hear your opinions-- I realize that many have not seen one in person - just know it is like seeing a fresh original 851 or 888 which to me is always a revelation how stunning they were/are.

Ahhh---How I was able to end up with a D16RR for the track and one for the street is another story but it will be familiar to any of you have given up one or two machines you still lust after to get the current machine(s) you are losing sleep over.

Just so you do not think I am slacking- I am also including a picture of the frame to my SP2 that I am restoring back to stock- hope it turns out half as nice as a "Previously unloved SP3" that Mr Jafa is winding up very nicely---

griff851

Hey Mark, both are nice looking machines hey. Both say Ok, time to go fast now. Both have presence. But personally, you can't beat serious steel for that really raw look. My favourite.....the endurance racer. So its not fair for me to comment as I'm tainted from a different time. 😁 But I have anyway.

italian888

I love aspects of all of them. Although the D16 is just a flowing beautiful shape. Italian bike makers always seemed a bit erratic, they will design a tank to fit a model that just is a piece of artwork and the next one is so different all it looks like is something that holds fuel, that's all. Nothing, and odd shaped bodywork to say i mean business.
Rob

MarkT

griff851 wroteHey Mark, both are nice looking machines hey. Both say Ok, time to go fast now. Both have presence. But personally, you can't beat serious steel for that really raw look. My favourite.....the endurance racer. So its not fair for me to comment as I'm tainted from a different time. 😁 But I have anyway.

Grif-

So I can put you down as a no----

I fully understand-- we may have rode in on the same generational wave. My first Ducati was an '83 MHR which I bought in '84 after my frustration with how much my new Honda VFR 750 had the personality of an appliance. It was my fifth bike- first was in '64

The MHR -which we can all agree is weak tea compared to the real deal you show in that great picture in your post. But the MHR did indeed have it's share of rawness which helped one immerse deeply and quickly into the total sacrifices you shouldered if you used a bevel as your everyday ride. On the two hundred mile ride home it shut down one hour into the ride-- 95 degree 90% humidity and I am in full leathers. Loved healing it over in a fun turn and have the belly pan jack up the rear wheel off the road. I have many love memories riding and wrenching on that bike. It was a love affair with a high maintenance machine for many many many many years.

Then in '94 I took a short ride on an 851 ex race bike- and the clouds parted and life was all promise of perfect back roads and sunny days.

So I bought it and on the first long ride it started puking oil out of the front head cam seals and also fouling out the front cylinder. Undoing the work performed by the highly trained Ducati mechanic from the dealer I bought the bike from (head gasket spun 180 degrees- terrible homemade chip replaced with an FIM chip) and the clouds parted and every back road was blessed with sun and gravel free corners.

Still love to look at Bevels.

851 tricolore

hi Mark
your title is 2 favourite STREET Ducatis.
I find generally the bikes made to race: D16, NCR, TT etc all look like they should and quite brilliant, (one exception IMO being Luchinellis' first 851 Daytona bike).
Only a few of the road bikes styling gets me excited.
Bikes such as 916, 999, 1098 were surely designed with street in mind, I don't love these designs and I don't hate them, but I need a longer time to appreciate them because there is less functional logic- it's the design departments' opinion on how they should look.
I do know, there are a few street Ducatis that I really don't like the look of. No names mentioned.
I'm not sure whether the 851s' styling was conceived as a road bike or track? Probably for street because the original aluminium prototype had a headlight, mirrors and indicators, but if it was the Daytona bike restyled- then I suppose it was originally designed as a track bike; I know I needed about 20 years to decide that I needed one . . .
Sorry, am I rambling?
Yes your bikes are definitely among the best looking : )
Mine too : ))
all the best
Ian

MarkT

851 tricolore wrotehi Mark your title is 2 favourite STREET Ducatis. Ian

Hi Ian-- as I slowly back my foot out of my mouth as I see that you are proud owner of a MHR----

Yup- street bikes in the spirt that Ducati sold them as legal for the street.

When I drafted up my first reply to Mr Griff I pointed out this minor legality- and then removed it. The fact that anyone replied with an opinion caused me to squelch my normal tendency.

My humble opinion is that most "street legal" Ducati's feel much better on the track then they do on the street.

griff851

Hi mark I only put up the endurance racer because if I put on indicators and a horn and chain guard it's street legal. If I use a 74 frame I don't even need indicators. I do get your point about the lines of bikes. Fear not your post has not gone pair shaped.
Currently I'm being dragged back on time even further with the singles. We are putting a team together and going to race '67 350 and 250 singles. 3 riders and 2 mechanics. Not the look of the super zoomers, but still the spirit.( and cheaper)

wgsvintage

Hi Griff,
I love that endurance racer picture too, spent many happy hours looking at it. I'll bet we're both too old to enjoy bump starting it after stopping for coffee or gas though.
Bill

MarkT

griff851 wroteCurrently I'm being dragged back on time even further with the singles. We are putting a team together and going to race '67 350 and 250 singles. 3 riders and 2 mechanics. Not the look of the super zoomers, but still the spirit.( and cheaper)

I think they look great in race trim. You know the sad thing-- one day both the narrow and wide cases will be so expensive it will no longer be a cheaper way to race a Ducati. Singles with megaphones have be the loudest motorcycles on the planet!

Mr.R

wgsvintage wroteHi Griff, I love that endurance racer picture too, spent many happy hours looking at it. I'll bet we're both too old to enjoy bump starting it after stopping for coffee or gas though. Bill

Hi Bill,
I'm 56 and I reckon I could pull it back onto compression and bump it into life.
Well set up the old Bevels are very reliable starters.
I've owned my 900SS based Bevel from new, it's never been a problem to get it going...
Unless you try to bump it on greasy wet roads. 😯
A mate with a 750SS Roundcase/Green Frame tried to bump it into life after the kickstart broke in the IOM at the TT back in the day...
The back wheel locked up, he fell of the other side of the bike, it went down, the clip-on punched a hole in the original GRP tank and the fairing got smashed.
It was me that repaired the damage after he got it back to London.

Steve R

wgsvintage

Well Steve, you're just a friggen baby at 56. I think that what I was trying to say is that a true race bike belongs on the race track. When you convert a real race bike for the street, it's kind of a downer to the spirit of the bike. MarkT's choices sound like he would really enjoy them anywhere, and in the end that's all that counts to the owner. They are all about having fun with. I have to admit though, I gag at the sight of a street legal TT.
Bill

MarkT

wgsvintage wrote. Markt's choices sound like he would really enjoy them anywhere bill

yes!

griff851

wgsvintage wroteHi Griff, I love that endurance racer picture too, spent many happy hours looking at it. I'll bet we're both too old to enjoy bump starting it after stopping for coffee or gas though. Bill

With age comes wisdom. Never use it anywhere you can't get access to a rollers starter. So coffee, gas and visits to friends........ no chance. 😁 You'd have to fit a kick start or you'd never use the thing. Always looks way cool in front of the Jap owners cafe set when ignite a bevel, and you can't waste them moments. Will come a day though when if it kicks back your leg will just snap. 😄

There were 2 old fellas at the The Big Thaw. This guy was riding and NSU and looked in his late 70's. His mate.... was using this petrol driven roller starter wheel set up on wheels with handles, and most of the time it seemed more use as a Zimmer frame.😁 He was of age when mummification had set in but he just didn't notice it. Go hard or go home I say. The NSU scored a place in the racing. Old Guys rock!

Mr.R

When I was a young lad and British bikes were still used seriously by the Cafe racer crowd, I was 17 when I got my 1st (new) T150V Trident.
The British bike riders would cheer when a British bike turned up at the local cafe's/biker haunts and boooo when a Jap bike rolled in.
Ducati's were pretty rare/expensive and were looked upon with awe or lust by the Brit' bike riders.
Anyway cutting to the chase there were 3 old boys who would thunder down the roads up to the cafe's etc, blip the throttles and pull in, they were all riding "Pukka" 500 Manx Norton's.
When it was time to leave they'd pull them back onto comp' run alongside for 3 or 4 steps then hop side saddle onto them, whilst dropping the clutch and roar off, slinging their leg over just before selecting 2nd gear.
All of them were well into their 60's, grey beards and pudding basin lids...
I thought they were the coolest guys around back then.

The only reason I never removed the kickstart shaft etc from my Bevel SS, was because of the story I recounted earlier about my mate and his roundcase/green frame SS at the TT.
Once when the motor decided to kick back I showed it who was boss and braced my leg against the lever, there was a loud BANG and the lever snapped off at the pivot point down by the shaft...Oooops!
So I had to bump start it for a couple of days before I could repair the lever, it was a real pain on greasy wet roads, until I got the job done.

Steve R

BARONROJO

My '86 F1 750 currently under complete restoration after crankshaft bearing failure (I arrived at them just before the complete disaster)... and I'd add my 851 awaiting her turn to be repaired after an slide that put her 4m on top of the road side... How the hell did she get up there??????

MarkT

So--- this thread seems to going well. Anyone wish to agree or disagree on my premise that the D166RR has the strongest family resemblance to the 851/888 than any other street legal Ducati?

OK- back to bevels, belt drive 2 valves and every other Ducati.

griff851

😁 Ok I do. Sorry about that. Yes when you look at the lines they are very similar. The old 888 just a bit squared, where as the DR16 has the fine sharp/ sleekness of the time.

MarkT

griff851 wrote😁 Ok I do. Sorry about that. Yes when you look at the lines they are very similar. The old 888 just a bit squared, where as the DR16 has the fine sharp/ sleekness of the time.

Yes- the 851 not so much --but the last 888 like the US SPO with its more rounded accent lines influenced the D16.

griff851

Having had one or 2 floating a round the shop for a while there, I am in a strange place with the D16. Too stinky death fast for the road. The owners didn't help much either, both had want-to-be issues and bought the bikes for the wrong reasons. Consequently both crashed them with in six months. Mainly cosmetic damage, but wow costly.
Your quite right about how it is proportioned. I have a "Ducati ' model one in a box on the book shelf (fits right in with the Buda's and Chinese Dragon ball 😄 ). If you were to round off the nose cone...
You can almost imagine the design teams brief. Right, we entered super bike with this one, lets create the same feel for GP.
Like the logic they used scrapping the 999. What will stir the people like the 916. Hey how about a 916 looking thing.

But try as I might, neither the 851 or the D16, can create a feel in an image like this pic I took. And its a giant killer too.

wgsvintage

MarkT wroteSo--- this thread seems to going well. Anyone wish to agree or disagree on my premise that the D166RR has the strongest family resemblance to the 851/888 than any other street legal Ducati?

I'm having trouble making that mental leap Mark. One was done on the computer and the other was the last of the ones done in the shop by hand. There has to be similarities because of their intended purpose, but I like to think of the 851/888 series as being totally unique in style, with character to spare. Although, the very first generation 851 style, like the one I'm working on now, I can only describe as clunky - but loveable.
Bill