1988 Ducati Paso Tri Color-Notice The Asterisk?
I just spent the last 30 minutes searching the intenets for the smallest tidbit of info on a Ducati Paso Tri Color. No stories, no photos, nothing. Then I came across production numbers with paint codes on the Paso Forum. Long story short, the Ducati factory never produced a tri color Paso. Note to self, read the sellers info before mindlessly searching the internet. The seller clearly states the paint was done by a Ducati dealership back in 1988 before the bike was sold.
I’m prepared to take the heat from the Ducati purists out there but I’m still going to post this one. Paso’s are pretty rare (less than 600 we sold in the US back in 1988 and less than 5000 750 Paso’s were produced over the entire world wide production run), it has relatively low miles and the paint is tastefully done in classic Ducati colors. The paint brings up another good cause for discussion. What do you guys think, in general, about a special edition bike done by a dealer? Do they have any extra value at all? It could be something like this bike with just paint or something more involved like the Muzzy 750 Raptor.
Here are the details:
Attention Ducati Collector’s!! Here we have a very rareTri-Colore 1988 Ducati 750 PASO. Currently, this is the only tri-colore PASO I could find on Ebay or other web-sites nationally or internationally. My son and I collect bikes, cars, etc. and we need to thin our heard out of the garage. Too many big boy toys in the garages of my home and my son’s home! The bike is nearly mint condition! It has some slight wear on the rubber treads, seat is in fantastic shape, grips slightly worn, etc. There are two tiny nicks on the body fairing that are barely noticeable, no dents or dings anywhere on the bike that we can see. It has a flawless red, white and green Italian tri-colore paint scheme that was Dealer painted in 1988 when it was new. All gauges , electrical system, lights and even the clock works! Since then, there have been 14,508 miles put on the bike! That’s only 660 miles average per year! The tires are in great condition and have plenty of tread left on them.
The pictures below don’t do justice to the looks, quality and feel of this rare bike! It has aftermarket STAINTUNE Australian dual chrome pipes that sound really nice! Last year a full professional service was performed in August of 2009 at over $1,500.00 in parts and labor alone. Included in that service was the following (we will include the work ticket showing the work completed with the sale of the bike):
- Replaced battery
- R & R carburetors disassebled and cleaned, balanced and adjusted the idle
- Serviced the air filter
- Replaced manifold rubber boots
- Replaced timing belts
- Complete oil change service
- Replaced spark plugs
- Replaced brake and clutch fluids
- Replaced rubber mounts for dash unit
- Bulbs replaced
The bike currently, does not have a license plate (only insured) and it will come with a clean Indiana title. We just keep her in the garage under cover as a collector bike. This is a beautiful and very rare tri-colore Ducati that would make a great collector bike or a daily driver for anyone. We preferred to keep her in the garage since we have two other Ducati’s and a Suzuki we drive as weekend/daily drivers.
We have a full Service Book binded for quick reference, original Owner’s Manual and original Tool Kit that will come with the sale of the bike! We have two keys that will come with the sale of the bike as well. One key is for the ignition and the other key is for the seat/helmet lock.
Ok Ducati collectors, what do you think? Is there any extra collectability here or is this just a nice Paso with a nice paint scheme? I do have one thing to admit. These things are really growing on me. A few years ago I think you would have had to drag me kicking and screaming to look at one. I think the design as aged quite nicely. I might have been hooked if Ducati had made the Paso Limited in this tri color look, tasty. .
IK
I think it looks pretty damn good. And I’m a big fan of 928’s, so you know this guy is okay
dc
Not my favorite Ducati, but I do love the colors!
The second biggest fail in Ducati’s lineup – only second behind the Indiana. Sorry, just a plain fugly bike.
The paint just is nice, but it’s like putting lipstick on Whoopie Goldberg…..
This bike is truly rare…I remember seeing a red one years ago in Marietta, GA on a very cold and cloudy day. He passed me on an interstate connector road and I thought “what a weird bike”. They sure didn’t sell many, but, it is cool.
Wow, 2 days left on the auction and already 8 bids with the highest being almost $4k already! And with 14k miles on it too? Damn!
I’ve seen a bunch of real nice 907’s (still a Paso but almost twice the bike; what with having a stronger and proper running 904cc water cooled fuel injected motor, modern size wheels that aren’t hard to get tires for, etc) advertised on craigslist with less miles for around $3k in the last 6 months. Plus I’ve seen a few of these 750 Pasos that people could barely give away. Either the spangly paintjob on this one is entrancing some poor saps into a bidding war or something fishy is going on here.
Latest Q&A on the auction shows the seller proclaiming non original twin carbs, which would reportedly be a very very good thing. From all reports the stock dual throat weber is absolutley categorically an awful device for this machine. It was apparently so bad it seems strange seller didn’t mention it up front.
Personally I think Pasos (907’s in particular) are real stunners in the original solid Red or Black (907 only). I’m not digging the tri colore setup much. Be interesting to see where this auction ends.
I think the paint job is working its’ magic. I think if Ducati had done that paint they might have sold more of these things. I always take the Ebay selling price with a small grain of salt. Having watched these acutions for RSBFS I’v noticed all too often people will bid it up and then somehow have a reason not to pay.
I think the paint would detract from it myself, but if you like it that’s cool. I have and nicely sorted original limited I would sell for 2700.00. It was on here at one point so if you want it Ian, come get it. You can ask Doug for a reference, he bought my ZX7k last year. I can’t see buying a repaint bike no matter what when you can get an original for the same money. Dealer mod bikes would be cool if the dealer had some notoriety at the time like with muscle cars Yenko , Baldwin motion etc.
I appreciate the offer but there is a GSXR400R in pieces in my garage that is taking all my attention at the moment.