Smart Money: 2006 Ducati Paul Smart LE for Sale

2006 Ducati Paul Smart LE
Miles: 20,819
Clean Title
Listed Price: $25,900 Or Best Offer
Auction ends: November 22nd, 2024

Pierre Terblanche, stylist of today’s Ducati Paul Smart LE is a bit of a controversial figure among Ducatisti. His Supermono is considered to be a modern classic, his MH900e almost too outré, his 1999 SuperSport a bit weird, and his 999 superbike very much a misstep, although I personally rather like the MH900e and 999. But in 2003, Ducati showed off Terblanche’s vision for Ducati’s future, one that also pulled liberally from its past. Response to their Tokyo Motor Show display bike was excellent and the Paul Smart LE [Limited Edition] was put into production in 2006, with a striking blue-green frame and silver bodywork clearly meant to evoke Ducati’s historic Imola win in 1972. A whole range of retro sportbikes followed soon after, with modern underpinnings and looks that hinted at vintage glories. All used Ducati’s characterful 992cc air/oil-cooled L-twin, here with DualSpark dual-plug ignition and a claimed 91hp, mated to a six-speed transmission. Frames were stiff and light, with modern sportbike geometries and quality suspension components. Solo-seat bikes featured a distinctive tubular swingarm with offset rear monoshock that was changed to a dual-shock design on later biposto models. The wire-spoke wheels were the only real anachronism, and featured inner tubes [?!] inside the classic-looking, but otherwise thoroughly modern compound Pirelli Phantom tires. Sales cooled quickly after initial enthusiasm, and the bikes were discontinued after just a few short years, although prices have increased significantly in recent years, suggesting that perhaps Ducati was just a bit ahead of its time…

Rare and desirable bike
20,819 Miles From new – well kept example
3 Keys including Red Key
Equipped with rare lower fairings
Termignoni exhaust
Recent Service at our local Ducati specialist

Okay, so maybe this Ducati Paul Smart LE really isn’t exactly “smart money,” since values for nice SportClassics seem to have been pretty flat for a while, after the sudden surge surge after the bikes initially went out of production. This example looks very clean and well-kept, with a bit of actual mileage on it, so at least the current owner is actually riding their investment… The Termignoni system is nice, but to me there’s really only one exhaust a solo-seat SportClassic should be rocking: Zard’s wild two-into-two system designed for the solo seat SportClassics. And I’d personally ditch that awful factory rear taillight and put it into a box for some future owner obsessed with originality.

-tad