Ducati 851 - at least as far as Ducatis are concerned. It was the first 4 valve watercooled Ducati. How many have they produced since? And it won Superbike races. Ducati would be nowhere without this bike. The 916 built upon it. GSXR750 : it was the first Nipponese bike that came as standard with clip-ons, a 4-into-1 zorst, a race fairing, and weighed nothing. All other race-reps built on this.
^ Totally agree with every word - for me the 916 is drop-dead stunningly gorgeousness - can't think of prettier bike - ever - perfection ^ An 888 that got dressed in an Italian suit
harley davidson inspired loads of jap clones and made the village people look good again ..............:biggrin:
If we are talking Ducatis then it has to be the original M900 Monster of 1993 - it effectively created the modern naked class and saved the company. Without it there would not have been any 916 or anything that followed afterwards. Not bad for a parts bin special cobbled together from a 900SS frame, 750 forks and an 851 engine.
Off the top of my head: - The Monster, 916, FireBlade, K1 GSXR, GS1150 Adventure and 04 - Zx10R. Im sure there are others thou
Ducati 916 & MV Agusta F4 I can think of plenty that have lifted the bar a bit but either of these two would always be worthy of a place on a pedestal. That Tamburini was a clever bloke wasn't he?