We’re doing Cyber Week a little differently this year by looking for uber rare parts and memorabilia. We hope you enjoy! -dc
Building your ultimate Ducati 996? Maybe this trick bit from the race team will round out your rear suspension. Reportedly used by Troy Corser I have to agree with the seller that these parts are rarely available for sale and would introduce a nice bit of history to a no expense spared build — especially priced at $7500!
Ducati Corsa 996RS Ohlins Rear Shock for sale on eBay
from the seller:
This part is the most rare Ducati part I have ever come across. This shock was a prototype shock made for Ducati by Ohlins and was the first shock to use high and low speed dampening. Normally Ohlins have a steel body or plain gray aluminum body and cast upper and lower parts. As you can see this shock is entirely machined from billet and has titanium hardware. It is stamped TC3 which indicates it was used by Troy during his tenure with Ducati and I believe it was for the 1998 or 1999 season when he rode with King Carl!!!! Ducati parts like this just do not exist any more and I have never has a prototype part in my possession before. I have owned and own many rare Ducati motorcycles and parts but this is one of the cooler pieces. I was going to incorporate this into a really cool project but that ended up getting sidelined for some other stuff. This shco can be used on any of the single sided swingarm bikes 748, 916, 996, 998 ect and can also be used on the 999 / 749 series bikes. The RS products are compatible with the 749 / 999 because they were built for the longer racing swingarm. I have a few friends in Aus and the UK who race 999R with the older 916 Ohlins shock.
Dont let this piece slip thru your hands if you are a collector or a building that special bike. I can guarantee you that no one else int he world has a part like this on their bike unless it was a factory bike. The part number I used is for a shock from a 1998 996RS and was for reference only as this shock never had a Ducati part number.
I have sent photos of this shock to the people at Ohlins and they were quite curious where I had gotten it and in the USA they had never come across one like it. They estimated the cost of this shock new to Ducati at over $20,000 as it was the first with multiple dampening adjustments.
dc
That thing is cool but it’s not something that’s going to have buyers chomping at the bit. It’s too rare to even want to use on a bike and too expensive. If you’re going to drop $7500 on a single part for a project bike you want it to be something that will either look very flashy for visual appeal or something for performance like an engine build. A part like that on a bike may in essence be cool but it’s a shock that’s hard to see and even harder to identify. Think about it, unless your at an event and maybe an Ohlins technician or one of Troy Corsers mechanics walks by who would even recognize what it was? The only thing you can do with that is stand next to your bike at a show to point out and spend 10 minutes explaining it to everyone.
That’s the kind of thing you try to sell straight to Ducati or Ohlins or some race museum, but unless you’re dropping the price about 70 percent I don’t see any private collectors biting on that.
Thing to note with these RS shocks – they are designed to accommodate the longer mag swingarm used on the RS. So that will add to the build cost if you do pick it up for your project…
@JEC: and don’t forget the special Corse rocker arm! To completer the package you’ll also need the Corse height adjuster rod. The Strada bit is a PITA to use. The Corse unit with the center nut is really nice and makes ride height adjustment a snap when you change sprockets.
@ Zach: It’s a boatload of money–too much, in my opinion, but there are plenty of Ducati owners who would spot it. They wouldn’t know it was from Troy Corser’s bike, but it’s clearly special. As far as being too valuable to use, I’m certain Ohlins corporate would still be able to service it and shocks are nearly impossible to destroy in a wreck. You would really have to mangle the bike, and in that case the rider has far more to worry about.
@ JEC: Yes, this is designed to use with the longer Corse swingarms. Most of which are magnesium, although early 916 racebikes had aluminum ones. I have one of about two dozen Dymag carbon fiber swingarms ever produced (and a Corse DU7290 shock). Build cost is significant, but this would likely be destined for an SPS, R, or RS anyway and chances are it has plenty of other trick bits already added. What’s another few grand when you already have a two-wheeled down payment on a house?
@ Andre B: Corse rockers can be found for about $300, so that’s not a problem. Aftermarket ride height adjusters are widely available as well and even a nice NCR titanium one won’t kill anyone who has the money to drop on the shock in question. Also, the standard RHA isn’t tough to use unless it has been un-lubed and neglected for years–which is entirely possIble. 🙂