Hello guys.. Just curious and question covers all models... Is there a way to know if a 748 916 996 998 come from factory as a monoposto or a biposto?? As the transition is fairly straight forward to get basically as factory would have supplied... other than the previous owners knowledge.. is there a way to know if its originally monoposto or biposto?? And were 748s bikes equipped with a ohlins shock??? Just add that question on at the end haha. Thanks.
Easiest way is to send frame and engine numbers to Ducati and they can confirm its original spec. The 748S models were never fitted with Ohlins anything and the engines are the same as the base models.
Ahh ok so it is a case of contacting ducati then.. What exactly did the 748s have over the other variant ??
Just adjustable head stock, quick release fuel pipes, 5 spoke wheels, Showa shock, Fairing Dzus fasteners and TiN fork stanchions on the later versions, the rest of the bike is the same as an E (or the base model).
748 of that era with 40mm caliper spacing, old graphics and old wheels would only be monoposto if it were an SP/SPS. If it isn’t one of those then it’s a BP with a monoposto subframe and seat unit.
I see the sticker isnt what usually come on the shock yes. Orange??? I can only assume you mean how the body colour looks in first picture??? I think it's just a bad picture.. So... this bike definitely was not originally monoposto and the shock has been added??? Would this be very early production bike??
Can you get the engine & frame numbers? My 748 is a 99MY and has different Showa forks to that one in as much as the caliper mounting is different, also the disks are different. I agree with what Ricky says above. You have a gold frame and wheels (3spoke) which IMO dates it 99 and earlier. Brake lever doesn’t look standard, worth knowing why.
Rear shock has been added but the bike could have been a mono originally, only way to tell is via Ducati.
There was no “mono” back in those days for the 748. Either BP or SP/SPS. Brake lever appears to be a standard adjustable type, not fitted to BP, only fitted to SP/SPS. What year is the bike? Orange...that was a dig at the sub optimal photography...a small joke, sorry...
Sorry to contradict you Ricky but the brake lever is black, I thought they were all bare, but lacquered, metal. My levers are adjustable and are the originals, also I could have ordered mine as a mono at the time but thought I might want to take SWMBO on the back so ordered a BP - silly boy me the thing is not designed for a pillion. I’m open to being corrected.
F##k me these old ducatis are head work hahaha. This is a bike I found on ebay..(no longer available on ebay) but have contact with seller... It was listed for £3800.. I'm currently away and the seller would like a phone call about the bike rather than exchange of messages so I know next to nothing about it other than what I have learnt from you guys and the pictures. I just wondered as it had a full red mono and a ohlins if it was a S variant but seems not... As per my other post I'm looking for a cheap 748 but I was willing to pay a little extra for this one as I thought I may have found a little bargain.... Haha at the orange joke.. I thought it may have been the case... yes.. all pictures on the ad are very bad!!!!!
FYI 99MY and pre 748 are a similar spec to the S, ie adjustable headstock, adjustable Showa forks & shock, steel braided brake & clutch lines, adjustable levers. From 2000 on Ducati introduced a ‘bargain basement’ 748 the E, with cheaper components, and called the old BP the S. They also changed the frame colour to silver and wheels to 5 spoke.
Luke, you could be looking at one of the original MY97 748Ss, I hope so as there are very few of them in existence and only 100 built of which 20 were UK spec red ones. They were factory monos only but were basically the same as the standard MY 97 bip of that MY with the mono seat and alloy subframe from the SP (all of them had Dzus fasteners in those days). All 100 of them were built in 97 so it is probably 1st registered 97 or 98. There are a few on this site and often on ebay that have incorrectly assumed their bike from that period was an S due to the Vin sticker having an S in the frame number (most of them did). The forks have the 40mm calliper brackets that were used up to MY98. As for the shock, they take ten minutes to change and many many owners have done that mod. This one is worth checking with Ducati as it could be one of the very few S models made prior to the MY00 Ss which were built in late 99 and 2000. Do you have any more photos? Edit, the levers are cheap aftermarket black adjustable ones, I have the same ones on mine
Paul, Es did not get the 5 spokes and the "cheaper components" were simply not having the headstock, TiN forks or Dzus fasteners, MY00-MY02 S models were available as mono or bip although I'm not sure the mono S was available as an official UK spec bike after MY00
Yep, since July 1999 @Denzil the Ducati that’s new information for me, that Ducati had a 748S model in production prior to 2000, I stand corrected. The only difference though from a BP being that it had a mono seat and alloy sub-frame then?
Sorry, my post wasn’t clear, I meant S’s post 2000 got the 5 spokes. The reference to cheaper components was that (at least my understanding is) Es had a Sachs Boge rear shock, Showa front forks that were not 3 way adjustable, non-braided brake & clutch lines, plus what you say above.
