Posts by tag: Marvic

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Ducati November 30, 2020 posted by Tad Diemer

Elemental: 1993 Ducati Superlight #838 for Sale

Until pretty recently, Japanese sportbikes were subjected to a pretty ruthless program of focused evolution, with significant updates to styling and mechanical components every two years. European sportbikes, on the other hand, often hung around well past their sell-by date, and special editions like the Ducati Superlight were often used drum up a bit of interest in a moribund model.

Put simply, the Superlight was a lightly modified 900SS. The engine was bone-stock, but weight was saved through the use of carbon fiber sprinkled here and there and a solo tail section. The biggest performance increase can probably be attributed to a set of Marvic composite wheels that contributed the lion’s share of the 15lbs saved, compared to the stock bike. It wasn’t especially fast then or now, but the 900SS is a simple, charismatic bike with excellent handling.

This particular example looks to be complete, with the lightweight wheels, open clutch, upswept exhaust, and numbered plaque, although the carbon has faded noticeably and the mufflers don’t appear to be original. The bigger issue is the nearly 40,000 on the odometer. That’s no problem for a 900SS, but I can imagine collectors might balk, considering the $9,000 asking price…

From the original eBay listing: 1993 Ducati Superlight #838 for Sale

Limited Edition Number 838. Outstanding condition, and just a bit of weathering, but overall very presentable and nice with 39,767 original miles. In 1992, Ducati took their 900 Supersport and added several choice extras to create a limited edition called the Ducati Superlight – 953 examples were built over 2 years. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, in 1993 they removed almost all the extras, leaving just a fully floating rear brake to differentiate the limited edition from its less exclusive brother. We are proud to have a beautiful example of one of those ’93 models.

It’s easy to see why cynics scoffed at the Superlight a bit at the time it was introduced, since it was basically a just a 900SS with some bolt-on parts that saved a bit of weight. There wasn’t much of the package that was really all that special, other than the numbered plaque and the Ducati DNA already present in the Supersport. Personally, I think these look great, but I’d probably just find a nice yellow 900SS/CR and fit improved suspension so I wouldn’t have to worry about riding a depreciating asset every weekend.

-tad

Elemental: 1993 Ducati Superlight #838 for Sale

Ducati May 2, 2020 posted by Tad Diemer

Purist: 1992 Ducati Superlight for Sale

The Ducati Superlight is a far-cry from today’s “limited edition” superbikes like the Superleggera that have a performance envelope well beyond most owners’ ability to fully exploit. The Superlight isn’t a particularly fast bike, but it is very collectible, and rewarding to ride at speeds normal humans can enjoy without risking license, limb, or achieving escape velocity… Basically, the Superlight is a 900SS/SP with lightweight Marvic composite wheels with a polished aluminum rim and magnesium spokes, some carbon bits, upswept exhausts, and a solo tail. Combined, the upgrades saved about 15lbs compared to the regular 900SS. So the Superlight wasn’t super light, unless Ducati was referring to your wallet: considering the minimal performance improvements, it was priced significantly higher than a regular Supersport. You did get a nice numbered plaque, though.

They still sold like hotcakes, and Ducati increased production to meet demand far in excess of the original planned 500 bike run. Part of that is down to the usual Ducati mystique, but the basic package has long been viewed as much more than the sum of its parts. On paper, the air/oil-cooled, two-valve 904cc Desmo looks pretty anemic, but a good Desmodue makes around 75 horses at the rear wheel, which really is plenty to have fun with on the road. It’s also relatively simple to maintain, surprisingly durable, and even gets good gas mileage. Fully-adjustable Showa suspension at both ends and a stiff trellis frame meant handling was very good then and still competent now, while very reasonable ergonomics [for a sportbike anyway] means even… ahem, older gentlemen can enjoy all-day rides. It was available in the vivid yellow seen here, although some markets got red instead. Considering how few bikes look good in yellow, I think it’s a great choice, and makes the bike feel more exotic.

The carbon-fiber Ferracci cans seen here are an almost mandatory option for any air-cooled Ducati, since the stock components make the bike sound strangled, and would likely be drowned out by the unfiltered rattle of the dry clutch. Ferracci didn’t make their own exhausts to my knowledge, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing: at various points, they rebadged SilMoto and Arrow parts, so quality should be high.

From the original eBay listing: 1992 Ducati Superlight for Sale

1993 Ducati Superbike, bought new and stayed in same ownership since.

I am happy to answer any questions about the bike via messaging.

Thanks!

So is it a 1992 or a 1993? It’s also odd that the seller calls it a “Superbike” when it says “Superlight” right there on the fairing. They may not know exactly what they have here, since a 300-mile Superlight would normally go for well north of the $9,000 the seller is asking. Although in this uncertain market, maybe it’s just priced to sell? From the pictures, it looks a little dusty, but otherwise as nice as you’d expect a bike with such low miles to be. It’s hard to tell from the images just how nice this bike is.

-tad

Honda May 28, 2018 posted by Dan

A Couple Hours Remaining on Memorial Day: 1990 Honda RC30 in Costa Mesa

Just a quick post to keep an eye on this Honda VFR750R currently on eBay. We’ve seen this one come up on Craigslist several times but it’s the first time in my memory that it’s been on eBay. Current bid is $25,600 reserve not met and just a couple hours left.

1990 Honda RC30 for sale on eBay

from the seller:

What you have here for your consideration is a 1990 Honda RC30 VFR750R homologation race bike of which only 300 were imported into the USA to make eligible to race.
This bike was not built at the Honda factory instead it was hand made at the Hamamatsu HRC race plant and for it’s time was an amazing thing to behold with honeycomb frame, multiple magnesium parts and specialties to make it lighter along with the single side swing arm which was a 1st in the industry along with the high revving V4 gear driven cam engine that red lines at 12500 on 49 state models.
The bike has been serviced with all fluids changed, new battery and new tires and has a clean title only covering 6900 miles and also has a lot of HRC parts including exhaust system, carb cooler tray, radiator, temp gauge along with other internals and also has marvic wheels so you can run decent rubber which it has new tires on.
The bike was serviced a while back and has sat since and needs to be run.
You don’t see these once in a blue moon or an eternity so here is your chance to own the fabled Honda RC30 to add to your collection.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfUi44InJX9/

We hope you’re enjoying the long Memorial Day weekend, and thanks to all Veterans for your service!

A Couple Hours Remaining on Memorial Day: 1990 Honda RC30 in Costa Mesa

Ducati December 17, 2014 posted by Tad Diemer

Classy Twin: 1993 Ducati Superlight for Sale

In 1992, Ducati introduced a limited-edition of their air/oil-cooled 900SS called the Superlight that featured distinctive Marvic composite wheels, cast-iron front rotors, a vented clutch cover, bits of carbon fiber bodywork, a solo tail section, and high-mount pipes to increase cornering clearance. Unfortunately, there was no engine performance increase as delivered. Available in yellow or red most years, depending on what part of the world you were in.

The “manufactured rarity” and a negligible performance increase weren’t really enough to spark much interest at the time. It wasn’t even all that rare, with 861 made in 1993 alone. Later years lost some of the lightweight bits, changing to the standard wheels and regular rotors on the front brakes, making it even less special, and turning the Superlight into a solo-seat SS with high pipes.

The older 900cc engines certainly won’t set the world on fire in terms of performance and they do tend to run out of breath long before redline, but that midrange boom more than makes up for a lack of high-rev histrionics. And if 75-ish rear-wheel horsepower doesn’t sound like enough, Ducati’s two-valve twin does respond well to basic tuning, and there are big-bore and high-compression kits available to boost power significantly. The engine has been in production, in one form or another, since the early 1980’s and is, in spite of Ducati’s temperamental reputation, extremely durable when properly cared for.

With too many made to be particularly collectable, too little power to really impress, and later models missing the actual super-light parts, the Superlight suffered from a “manufactured collectability” that has kept values relatively low, although I’d expect prices of nice examples like this one to be next in line for a price spike among Ducati collectors.

The biggest draw of the Superlight is that many were purchased at least partly as investments and have been correspondingly well-maintained, making them some of the best-looking and best-cared-for 90’s Ducatis available.

There are some additional pictures over at the original eBay listing: 1993 Ducati Superlight for Sale.

But unfortunately, there is virtually no information about the bike’s history listed, just some reprinted specifications. There are a few minor scratches and scuffs as shown in the pictures, but nothing you couldn’t live with, or easily repair if you wanted the bike to be perfect. I’d probably just fix the little tear in the seat and leave the scratches alone, since I’d plan to ride rather than show the bike. I’d certainly leave the color alone: the 900SS is one of the very few bikes that look good in yellow. In fact, I actually prefer it for this era’s style, especially with the very slick half-fairing found on the CR models.

With just over 6,000 miles on this particular bike, mileage is low enough to be very desirable, but not so low you’d be afraid to ride it, or need to put tons of money into replacing bits that have gone south from sitting for too long. Although the Superlight isn’t quite the limited-edition that Ducati implied, they’re definitely less common than the high-mileage SS and CR’s that tend to litter eBay and Craigslist, and early bikes with genuine lightweight bits should be plenty of fun strafing back roads with your riding buddies.

-tad

Classy Twin: 1993 Ducati Superlight for Sale

Ducati November 19, 2013 posted by Dan

2 Owner Ducati 900SS Superlight #857

We’ve seen a fair number of 900SS/SL’s this year and in fact we’ve seen this particular bike as recently as November of last year. At the time of that writing it was showing a $10,900 buy-it-now. This time around it has met reserve at $9100 with a little over a day to go. The seller has updated the listing a couple times with additional details and states that this in fact a 1992 model and the wheels came with the bike, making it a MK1 version which has proven more desirable.

Ducati Superlight for sale on eBay

from the seller:

This is a very nicely-maintained 1993 Ducati 900 Superlight, #857. It is a very desirable “MK 1” first series Superlight, with the composite Marvic wheels. It has very low miles (5153) and is in very nice original condition. It has a full Fast by Ferraci exhaust and runs smoothly and flawlessly. The paint is only flawed by minor cracking around the seat mounting screws.

A Corbin seat is installed, as are after-market carbon timing belt covers, chain guard, sprocket cover and dash/instrument cover. Original seat, belt covers and sprocket cover come with the bike, as does the original exhaust. This bike came stock with a carbon front fender and rear hugger, which are in excellent condition.

MK 1 Superlights are rare, especially in this condition, with such low mileage.

Ducati June 12, 2013 posted by Mike

Custom Frame Special: 1977 C&J Ducati 900SS

Update 6.12.13: I’m getting a lot of email to alert me that this rare specimen is back on eBay. Originally listed in January, it now has an opening bid of $30k, which is $10k less than previous. And it appears no reserve. Thanks all! Links updated, -dc

Do you want the best of everything? Do you want the coolest Ducati bevel desmo twin ever created? Do you want to show a bike at Pebble Beach and know that nobody there has ever seen another one? This will be the last time you will ever get the chance to own one of these.

These opening words, provided by the seller, really do tell the story of the rarity of this particular bike. Besides, I fall for a quality custom frame the way Ian swoons over radiators or the way Rem eyes a hot pink 90’s Gixxer. You had me at the first weld…..

C&J was a custom frame builder that primarily specialized in dirt track racers, although they also built a few road racers. As the story goes, they even built a handful of TZ frames for the famed Erv Kanemoto in the 1970s. These racers were ridden by the likes of Gary Nixon, Gary Fisher and Freddie Spencer. It looks like the original C&J changed hands just after the turn of the millenium, after which little information is available. With the original frame company seemingly imploded, this particular Ducati-powered C&J special becomes even more of a rarity.

As for the rest of the bike, the seller does a great job of highlighting the features:

From the seller:
C&J DUCATI 900 Lightweight Special, 1 of 3 Built!

This motorcycle is one of the most unique and beautiful Ducatis ever to be offered for sale. This is one of three produced by Mark Henry and C&J Racing Frames in 1987. The inspiration was the new, at that time, Ducati F-1 which offered state of the art styling and handling but an engine that was considerably cheapened when compared to the labor intensive, traditional, old world craftsmanship of the bevel drive desmo engines like the one that took Mike Hailwood to victory at the Isle of Man TT races a few years earlier. This bike is very exclusive and very well conceived and executed.

The C&J frame is carefully designed and constructed of high quality, light weight, 4130 chrome moly tubing. C&J achieved a very strong and light structure. The frame also has some nice features. The steering head angle is steeper and adjustable in a 2* range to get the feel that you like. The rear suspension is a mono-shock design that reduces the wheelbase considerably to 58 inches for fast steering.

The fiberglass tank, tail section, fender, and fairing are the highest quality products you will ever see. Mark Henry had these carefully made at Fiber Systems, his company. The custom paint work in pearl white and green metallic with black striping is stunning.

Suspension on this bike is upgraded to the highest spec adjustable Marzocchi M1R front forks and Works Performance aluminum remote reservoir mono-shock. Nothing but the best!

Braking is handled by the absolute top of the line Brembo gold components up front featuring twin floating discs and 4 piston race spec calipers. Rear braking also features quality Brembo parts. This bike stops!

Real Marvic magnesium wheels are mounted, front and rear. Light weight, expensive, and worth the every penny!

Other features are custom billet aluminum triple clamps with the lower clamp acting as a brake line junction, genuine Ducati gauges and switchgear, Ducati F-1 foot controls, and gorgeous custom Bub exhaust.

What about the engine? Engine number 086784 has around 50 miles on it since a complete rebuild by the famous Dr. Desmo of Evanston IL. The displacement is 905cc(88mmx74.4mm) and I have 8, hand written pages of assembly notes with dimensions that are included. Features noted are 42mm and 38mm mille valves, aluminum clutch kit, stainless screw set, gear gazer, heavy breather, aluminum oil filter cover, aluminum tower tubes, and lightened clutch assembly. This engine has the right stuff and was built by a world renown artist.

My bike is very special and is essentially brand new. It has only traveled around 50 miles since it was completed in December of 1999 by bevel expert Mike Dusik, owner of Mikmar Motors in Paxinos PA. It has been living in my climate controlled “museum” at my house for the last 13 years. It comes with a number of original receipts dating back to 1987 and some notes and a few old pictures. It also comes with the ultra-rare glossy C&J sales brochure from 1987 and a somewhat rough copy of the aforementioned June 1987 Motorcyclist magazine. It comes with a clear PA title. An extra bonus comes in the form of a spare, painted, fairing and front fender.

Note: Speedometer mileage does not reflect actual mileage estimated to be 50 miles.

First titled in November of 1998, frame purchased in 1987, bike completed in 1999. Bike titled as 1977 to match engine serial number.

Custom-framed bikes are a bit of an oddity on the open market. In some cases they lack the history or awareness in order to sell for big bucks (often selling for less than the sum of the parts), while in other cases the frame-up build adds an exclusivity buyers are willing to pay for. Which one is this? I haven’t a clue.

This bike is availble right now for a cool 40 grand. That’s right. $40,000 US dollars (or best offer) will buy what appears to be an attempt to out Super Sport an original Ducati Super Sport. Does the C&J name and the quality of the build warrant that kind of number? Buyers will be the ultimate judge. Check it out here and then jump back and tell us what you think.

Yamaha January 3, 2013 posted by Mike

New Years Resolution: 2006 Yamaha TZ125

If your New Years resolutions for 2013 include losing weight, becoming more fit AND spending more time at the track, then this little TZ125 might help you meet all three goals at once.

The specs for an ’06 TZ125 include a semi-dry weight of only 225 lbs. With this particular bike putting out 43.5 HP at the rear wheel, it is clear that the biggest improvement to be made is with the rider. Nothing like incentive to keep those New Years resolutions in line! And with the copious amounts of spares included in this kit, you can still meet the “more track time” goal as well. I can see the argument forming now: “Honey, I NEED this bike in order to maintain my goals for this year.”

From the seller:
Yamaha TZ125,2006 Model,original owner bought new in 2006,Excellent condition,new paint and bodywork,KLS Shifter,Air-tech MCE Racing design ram airbox intake system,Galfer rear brake,six piston nissan front brake,Galfer front Rotor,ohlins rear shock,PVL Programmable ignition,Marvic wheels,MCE Racing Ported Cylinder with two replated Spare Cylinders,Mikuni Carburetor,thumb Choke,43.5 Rear wheel power on Dynojet !.new spare Crankcases,New spare front fork tubes inner and outter,new spare wndscreen,several other misc gaskets and engine related spare parts,spare rear sprockets/new spare chain,KLS Tyre warmers included,very reliable and quick !,This 125 finished 2nd in 2012 AFM 125 GP Championship,owner retiring.

This is modern racetrack weaponry, which generally does not come cheap. Unlike many of the more vintage models which have listed for far less, this modern era TZ125 is being offered with a BIN of $8,250. While steep for a track day machine, the price is really not bad considering the level of GP-tech that your cash will buy. Any comparable four stroke 250 will run you twice as much, and this two stroke will likely continue to appreciate once the world gets nostalgic for smokers again.

Your chance to buy is right now. Check out the auction and the pictures, and then let us know what you think. Does a “new to you” bike fit into your New Year plans? If so, what are you after?

Ducati October 14, 2012 posted by Mike

Featured: 851/955 Ducati Superbike racer!

For Sale: 851/955 Ducati Superbike racer!

Unlike some pristine offerings that have been modified to appear like a race bike (such as this Ducati 1080 Supersport), what we have here today is the REAL DEAL – an honest racebike. Don’t let the battle scarred exterior scare you away; at the track these are the bikes that the competition fear. The shiny bikes are for show. This is an experienced warrior with serious “go” potential – and the creds to back it up.

From the seller:
955 Superbike engine built by Fast by Ferracci
– Large Valves
– “G” Cams
– Titanium connecting rods
– Lightened and balanced crank
– Corse close ratio gear box

From the seller:
– Marvic 3 Spoke Magnesium Wheels

– Ohlins rear shock

– “LE” Front forks

– Carbon Fenders

– Brembo Cast Iron Front Rotors

– Previously owned and raced by Greg Koup

This is the kind of bike that really speaks to me. Ducati built the 851 to go racing, and previous owners have continued to modernize and enhance the basic package with some of the best knowledge and modifications avaiable. I can’t even imagine how quickly this one spins up with the lightened crank and Ti rods. If you are looking for a track bike with great handling, massive torque and that fantastic Ducati booming sound, you’d better jump on this one quickly!

The seller has this 851/955 listed at just $5,750. That is not a lot of money for a bike with these kinds of mods (have you rung up Eraldo Ferracci lately and asked him what it would cost to build you a desmoquattro motor?), and replacement skins are easy to find if you prefer the show AND go. Contact DucPond Motorsports directly for this one via EMAIL or phone: 540-667-3498