Road To Recovery 900ss

Hello everyone, new to the forum although I have been reading for quite some time. I introduced myself earlier in the newbies section and explained I am not new to ducati, having owned M600, M750, M900 and 848. I purchased lately a 900ss, sold on a Q plate as stolen and recovered in 1997. The person who owned it explained this had been stolen and when found (apparently it was just parked in a barn down the road alongside few other bikes) it had all the IDs grounded off (frame and engine n). Before buying, I did all the diligence checks, phone local authorities and also DVLA, and ran an HPI. I took the bike home and it was in an overall good condition, but you never know until you strip it, which I did so. I flushed all the fluids, fuel, stripped off the carbs and belts, basically all the general maintenance you would do to such a bike. In the meantime my mind was in motion trying to understand how to give an identity to the bike with the hope to have an age related plate. With some further investigation and also with the help of DVLA, it seems like the bike had been imported. The hpi shows to be clean from theft and I called the data tag company who informed me the bike has been registered with them since pre 2000, basically almost immediately. The previous owner was a nice chap who believed the bike was a 1991 and effectively it seems so, as per white frame and brake fluid reservoir being the black cast ones, but something did not add up to me: rear brake callipers being upside down compared to earlier models, some 1997 dates on the fairings and other components. I came to the conclusion that the bike was never stolen but imported, as it shows so on hpi, and had few bits swapped in order to make it appear cosmetically being a 1991 rather than 1997. Effectively, mine is a 1997 900 ss. I still wonder why grounding off the engine and frame number which remains a mystery. I have several papers and tax discs back dated to 1997, but not earlier. I then called back DVLA asking for some more assistance and they have been very helpful I have to say. All they need at this stage is some proof of age of the bike but I am struggling to provide that. How can I, considering the entire engine seems to be original but with no engine numbers and the frame has a number given from DVLA which belongs to the Q plate, obtain any kind of ID or useful info? The Road ahead is challenging and long but I won’t give up hopes. View attachment 265777 View attachment 265777 she is looking much better now. I will not sell her and I am planning to rebuild her properly and keep (wife already warned to never attempt asking to sell her)

 

Haha it's funny how despite riding a modern bike everyday (1250 gs) i feel much more attached to the SS than the 1250 GS. You can have that one if you want

 

Hey Jon, the previous owner Had it for about 5 years and therefore he knew as much as I do, probably less. There is no temperature gauge on the dash. Yes, the fairings are pre-1997.

 

Yes. There is a lot of confusion. 90% of the bike is and resembles a 1991 but the frame colour underneath and the rear calliper leave me in doubt. Was it a common thing on the pre-1995 to turn the calliper upside down?
If anyone knows any other place I may find some clues that may link me to either original frame number or engine number it will be much appreciated.

 

Not at all Jon, I also believe this is an early model but maybe I got tricked from the colour of the frame and rear brake. I also discovered the bike belonged to a member of this forum and that he spent several hours rebuilding it. That’s a great peace of mind although I still prefer rebuilding it myself and try to bring her to her best of the days. It will be a long process but I am in no rush at all. It is surely enjoyable although the bike isn’t running properly. It idles fine but won’t deliver any torque above 5000rpms. I suspected the diaphragms being misplaced or damaged but these are intact and correctly positioned. I checked both slides with engine on and revving quite high but the slides did not move at all. They were not blocked as they could move easily if manually lifted, who knows! Carbs are stripped down and just had a sonic bath and completely re-built. Guess I have some fun ahead, I’ll keep you guys posted.