Tip Top Duc: 2008 Ducati Desmosedici RR in Florida

2008 Ducati DesmoseDici RR with GP exhaust on ebay

A lot of motorcycle manufacturers produce race-replica (RR) bikes that they promise are street legal versions of track bikes.   Honda did it with the the RC45, Kawasaki with the ZX7R, even BMW with S1000RR.    But above the RR bikes are the “Halo bikes”, outrageously expensive modern day homolgation machines that truly are the same as their raceday counterparts except for a few bits added to make them street legal.  For Ducati, the Superleggera is the current “Halo-level” vehicle, a $65,000 USD street legal WSB bike.

But the Superleggara isn’t the first time Ducati has offered a true WSB-level bike for the street;  back in 2007 Ducati produced the Desmosedici RR, a 1500 unit production run of barely street legal moto-gp level bikes.  The Desmosedici RR was essentially the same base unit used by the factory race team on which Casey Stoner won the MotoGp championship by a very wide margin over the competition.  The Desmo came with 197 horsepower, track exhausts, forged Marchesini magnesium wheels, carbon-fiber bodywork, race-spec Öhlins dampers, rigid Brembo monoblock front calipers, and Magneti Marelli electronics and instrumentation.

Here are some  excerpts of reviews regarding the DesmoseDici RR-

“Maximum acceleration pins the rider against the seatback while he crouches under the windscreen, adrenal glands pumping out a charge.  Breathtaking quickness—0 to 60 mph comes in less than three seconds—is matched by the bike’s Brembo brakes. The four-piston front calipers yield such dramatic braking force that even one finger on the lever raises the notion of how easy it would be to go flipping over the handlebars.Cornering manners follow suit. Like many modern sport bikes, the Desmosedici uses the engine as a structural member; the steering spindle mounts on a compact steel trellis bolted to the engine’s cylinder heads, and the aluminum rear swing arm bolts to the crankcases. Together with the highly adjustable front fork and rear shock, the Desmosedici RR corners with uncommon accuracy. Provide a few millimeters of handlebar input or tip a knee slightly, and the bike faithfully follows your lead.

As noted, it’s the nearest thing to a 2006 990cc MotoGP race bike. The U.S. quota of 300 units makes it highly collectible—so much so that one delivery has gone from the owner’s garage to his living room. Having sampled one on the track, though, we think that owner is missing the point. This bike is more than static art—the real art is in the way it rides.”

Only 300 of the 1500 produced were allocated to the US and prices when new were an eye popping 72,500 USD.   Apparently the bikes didn’t sell that well when first introduced, which is probably due in part with their price being equal to a small condo/apartment and the fact that they were launched while the “great recession” was still underway.  This particular unit is #413 and comes with the “Rosso” all red bodywork (the “Team” version bikes had red and white bodywork and seemed to have been a bit more popular).  The condition looks to be absolutely perfect but the pictures on the ebay auction could certainly be better so perhaps an in person inspection is in order.

Now we get to the question, what is this bike worth?   The seller has a Buy-It-Now price of 65,000 USD which may seem extreme but there are actually several other Desmosedecci for sale right now on CycleTrader and price for those seem to be pretty close to this with variations for mileage and location.   Also, while the SuperLegerra is the current “Halo-Level” ducati and only 500 SuperLegerra are scheduled to be produced, I think this Desmosedecci will actually be the more collectible bike since it was a bike that mirrored Casey Stoners MotoGp mount when Ducati won its first MotoGp championship in almost 30 years.

-Marty/Dallaslavowner