I’m always torn when considering bikes like the Ducati 749R: on one hand, they’re rare and increasingly valuable and should be carefully preserved. On the other, there’s really no point to them as roadbikes, since they’re uncomfortable, high-strung, and obviously more valuable than a more common 749S that offers very similar performance with less of…
I know it is early in the year, but I’m going to go out on a limb and proclaim this advert as one of the top 5 worst presentations of 2018. Fortunately, the bike is a MH900e – the Terblanche-designed internet wunderbike that put Ducati collectables on the map. Sold in limited numbers and online…
Kid brother to the Pierre Terblanche-designed 999, the 749 looked down-market to pick up more riders. It also made possible to homologate the 749R for the AMA Superbike series. The most basic faired model in the range, the matte black 749 Dark has a few less bangles than an -S ( which has quite a…
So here’s a bold statement: if the Ducati 916 had never existed, the 999, along with its little brother the 749, would be considered a masterpiece. It’s a superlative machine in almost every way, and was possessed the typical Ducati virtues: a thumping v-twin with a wide powerband, stable handling, and glorious noise. But it…
The Terblanche design era created a Ducati lineup unlike any other. Sharper than the Tamburini 748/916/996/998 model language of the previous generations, the 749/999 bikes were sometimes referenced as the ugly Ducs. The stacked headlight design is very polarizing to many, but the follow on years have been good to the basic look. These bikes…
The Ducati Triple 9 series launch was a bifurcating event. Designed by Terblanche as a radical departure from the iconic 916/996/998 series of bikes, the 999 was instantly vilified as ugly and lacking design focus. The intervening years have been kinder to the design approach, however, and the 999 now stands out as a unique…
Amid the super-exotica and ultra rare rides that grace the pages of RSBFS, it is sometimes important to realize that rare and exotic need not always break the bank. Take this ’03 Ducati 749S, for example. With a characteristic booming twin sound, striking design by Terblanche – including the stacked headlight look of the 999…
With all of the race bikes showing up on the pages of RSBFS, I thought these would fit right in. While not purebred GP racers, the Ducati R models represent some of the most vaunted, most rare, and most expensive of the Italian firm’s line up. Here are three examples, smallest to largest. For Sale:…