Maybe he will just wait a month, and sell it cheap at £8999, only making a quick 1500! Poor bugger...
What do you now know that i don't then, also have you ever seen a poor motorbike salesman and remember he bought the race triple eight as well so plenty made on that little drive out in the country.
If I were the Old Bill I'd be turning up and impounding that bike, it looks well dodgy to me. Steve R
I am sure he will pop up here at some point. The good thing is he knows what he has bought and he is pretty handy with the spanners, so this will be a cheap SP5 with some question marks that he may be explaining forever, if he ever decides to sell, or the Factory help him with recognising it as an original SP5.
And goodluck to him. If I'd always wanted one to ride, and knew I couldn't/ wouldn't ever cough up £15K+ I may well have done the same. Sell it in a few years for the same price I paid or lose a couple of grand (much less than most people lose on a new bike). Perhaps ride it once in a blue moon and keep it in the lounge. Its not always about making money for everyone. In fact I'd guess its not about making money for most.
I would want to confirm that the engine number and it's internal components are SP5. These were very similar to the Corse engine. It's reported that's why Ducati didn't fit Ohlins forks, due to the cost of the engine.
It is I that bought the SP5. I thought at the money, it was not too bad and worth a punt as they don't come up for sale often at all. I'll be keeping it so not bothered about resale value as this was my poster bike when I was 17/18 in 1991/2 with the SP4 and SP5s. All the SP5 unique parts are there and it is a SP engine number on it. I am good pals with Slick Bass as he does my ZXR Classic Superbike engines so I am sure he will be of help as knows them inside out. WIll be interesting to get to the bottom of the frame number conundrum as would be good to get that sorted out.
The SP5's had the same spec motor as the year earlier SPS's, basically a '91 Corse motor but without the "G" exhaust cams. I doubt the decision to not fit the Ohlin's had anything to do with the cost of building the motor. Steve R
Good man, fuck all the muppets and nay sayers, I hope you enjoy it immensely. Ducati in Bologna will no doubt be able to confirm it’s origin.
I hope for your sake the dodgy frame number isn't because the bikes a previously stolen "Ringer"??? Steve R
Nice one @Alasdair Cowan . Hope you enjoy the new bike and have fun getting it back in shape. Slick Bass will be a good man to have around! Send us pics of the resto.
If the numeric numbers had been changhed, I would have been wary. But to change the prefix I am not too worried about as you can see the remains of the original number teaps underneath. The French plate rivetted on the headstock has the altered number on it with the matching number 888S1 on it and looks original so the chances of getting a Strada plate with the exact number is strange. The details will all go to the factory so will see what they say themselves.
