Long forgotten in the wake of the 916, the Ducati 851 and 888 have seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, likely because they are seen as the genesis of Ducati’s four-valve, liquid-cooled v-twin superbikes that may have reached its apex with the Panigale: Ducati is struggling in WSBK and there is talk of…
The Ducati 851 debuted in 1987 and featured brand-new four-valve heads and liquid-cooling, revolutionary design features for the already venerable 90° L-twin. The Pantah engine, while very durable even under racing conditions, was limited in terms of outright power by its two-valve heads and air/oil cooling. Ducati wanted to compete in World Superbike racing, and…
While Ducati’s MHE and 900SS may be collectible and iconic now, they were seriously long in the tooth by the time they were discontinued, and even the Pantah-engined SS didn’t exactly offer cutting-edge performance when new. In order to keep their racing heritage alive in any meaningful sense, Ducati needed a top-shelf sportbike like the…
After Doug Polen’s 1991 Superbike championship aboard a 888 Corsa, the Ducati 851 SP3 ( which used the 888 engine ) was updated to the 888 SP4 for the 1992 model year. Though there was also an even racier 888 SPS, the SP4 used the winning 851 frame and 888cc engine. Quite rare here in…
Earlier this week RSBFS poster Tad D gave us a nice bit of unobtanium with a Ducati 851 Superbike prototype for sale in the states. Now here is something perhaps even more rare, a Ducati 888 previously used in British SuperBike. 1996 Ducati 888 Former BSB racer on ebay uk There have been numerous previous…
1987 saw the introduction of a new four-valve, water-cooled L-twin engine in Ducati’s new 851. While the air/oil cooled two-valve motor was and continues to be a motor with impressive tuning potential and durability, it had hit its performance limit in racing, and something new was needed to compete against the four-cylinder bikes from Japan.…
The Ducati 888 SPO is a bit of a hidden jem, no doubt due to the bike that came right after it, the 916. Only produced for two years and specific to the USA, the 888 SPO was a limited edition of the 888 – only 390 were produced. NOTE: 1993 was the first year…
In the states, Ducati offered us the Ducati 888 SPO, which was very similar to the SP5 global offering. This “sport production” offering has a warmed over engine and full Ohlins suspension to name a few of the upgrades over the SPO. This particular example has been on our site before in 2012 and at…
