From the archives of relatively recent history comes the curious story of the Ducati Paso. Utterly polarizing, the Paso was unlike anything that could be found on the roads at the time, and seemed to be either absolutely loved, or completely hated by the public; middle ground was not to be found. The fully-faired machine was a bit of a rarity at the time, as only Honda had a similarly enclosed model in the Hurricane of the same year. But the Honda was liquid cooled, while Ducati engineers managed to hide the mechanicals from prying eyes while still retaining the air-cooled Pantah motor. Other highlights included a square tubing steel frame, aluminum swing arm, 16″ wheels front AND back, and the use of a Weber 2-barrel automotive carburetor.
1988 Ducati 750 Paso for sale on eBay
From the seller:
1988 Ducati desmo 750 paso
Excellent condition
7000 miles
Clean title
Including 2 seats
Runs excellent
From a performance perspective, the Paso failed to take the fight to the Japanese. The unique styling did help it garner some acclaim which did help a bit with sales, but the Paso was not really a cut-and-thrust sport bike in the same vein as the Big Four middleweights of the day. Rather, the Paso gained favor with the sporting tour set, placing more emphasis on “sport” than tour, but capable of doing both with style and grace. Not back for a bike named after a racer (Renzo “Paso” Pasolini) and meant to save the flagging fortunes of a proud Italian brand recently taken over by Cagiva.
The financial reality of the Paso is that these tend not to be collector bikes…yet. That time may yet come when people look back fondly on where Italian style and unbridled enthusiasm produced a distinct period piece, but for now these represent a relatively frugal way to own Italian v-twin exotic that continues to turn heads. Today’s example has but 7,000 miles and looks as clean as you might expect. Check out all of the pictures, and consider the future of the striking silhouette that is the Paso. Do you dream of a Paso in your garage? Check out all of the details here, and then jump to the comments and let us know your thoughts. Good Luck!!
MI
Plus it sounded at least twice as good as any other bike from that era.
I had a ltd. Great bike if you add taller profile tires.
Replaced it with a 907ie.
There seems to be more Paso’s for sale lately. Wish the seller included more info. in the description, but thats what questions are for
I guess. Looks to have the Weber carb and taller profile tires installed. Only 7,000 miles is crazy low, I put at least that many miles on mine per year. The Paso handled pretty good for its time. I came into corners too fast several times and had to push in more last second counter-steer but the bike never faltered. We both got through the corner. Could not accelerate with the Japanese vfr”s, gixxers or fizzers but the torquey engine and great handling allowed me to easily run the same pace through the twisty’s. Getting correct size tires was getting scetchy as only Michelin offered them. I really liked my ’87 model but finally sold it (mainly due to the tire purchase situation) with about 70K miles. I really never understood all the hate.
Someday these will be recognised as one of Tamburinis interesting takes on design. Plus the Japs clearly copied it, just lay it beside the first Honda CBR 600s and the influence is crystal clear.
Not being valued, many have been mashed and bashed and broken over the years, so as time goes they will be rarer,and guess what values will climb. And yes the Weber carb was trouble, and tyre sizes were odd, but all these things can be dealt with.
They did the bike in a very fetching shade of blue also.
One last shot, the frame is the ugliest thing to ever emerge from a Ducati factory.
Sold $3,950. I think a smoking deal for the buyer. I guess Paso’s are still under-appreciated . . .
I have to agree that this was well bought. 10 years from now that sum will seem absurdly small, and we will all be able to say “I remember when you could buy one of these for….”
-Mike
Although eBay listed this as sold, it appears to have been relisted.
-Mike