Should I Trade Up My Ducati 996 Sps For….

I had both 996s and 1299s. I recently sold the 1299s but won’t sell my 996s. They are different, but I think the 996 is more reliable, easier to ride, makes you feel more connected with the bike, is iconic and will not depreciate. Don’t get me wrong I loved my 1299s but it was hard work less than 60mph and it just had niggles ( I’ve had two and they both been the same ). Stick with your 996sps

 

Just reading this, I would as others have said keep the 996sps and get a 1198s as well I think. My 1299s has full akra, mapped in race mode it was fastest thing I have ever ridden, too much for the road, it handled amazingly. But you can’t get on a track with akra full system, it threw up errors like des etc, etc etc. It was just more temperamental than my 996 and although the 1299 is stunning you’ll miss you 996sps for sure

 

Ride a 1198S first

 

If you can, don't sell it. You'll regret it for sure. 1299 is also a great bike, but the oldstyle (almost classic) tamburini effect is unbeatable.

 

Not sure that I can fully comment as I have not had a 1199/1299.

The testastretta engine and then the evoluzione have gone shorter stroke and more revy to be competitive in WSBK. Yes it made rocket ships of the road bikes and you can hold on to 1000cc IL4 in straights at track days but for normal use it makes for more linear engine characteristics that removes the sense of occasion of classic Desmoquattro.

I have a 1098s and the above is not so true. When Ducati was able to upgrade to 1200cc in superbike they had more scope for classic grunt instead of high revs.

personally, I would definitely hang on to the 996. After offloading a lot of parts I even went 888 as some opportunities materialised. But I would still want a 916/996 in the stable. I am getting older as well and don’t do track days anymore.

 

don’t make that mistake
keep your 996 SPS and buy another one
You will regret this choice to have resold it in a few years

 

Glad nobody has mentioned the word "investment"
Here's my tale... (condensed version)
Bought 851 SP3 (888) in 1992 - kept it, will never sell. Scarcely used (31,000 KM), but well maintained. Many other bikes in parallel that came and went.
Bought 996 SPS Ohlins in 2016 after riding a friends' bike (now with 70k km on the clock) in eastern Australia for some very long trips. Even in the heat, I loved my friend's bike and decided to look for one in the UK. I found a UK reg 2000 bike with 8k on the clock, totally original - hadn't even had a rear hugger fitted - and loved it... so then I have 2 DesmoQuattros in the garage, both made my heart skip a little when I opened the garage door. Both (in my head) nice little investments.

I was loving the 996SPS experience, but wanted to keep the mileage low - the 10k mileage threshold (in my head) was looming....but then, I was lucky enough to find a lovely 998S with 20k miles on it (FSH), exactly the sort of mods that I would do (Carbon airbox / tubes / titanium Termis) and bought it for a good price. Great bike and I still use it as my main road bike.

In 2021, I wanted to upgrade my RSV4 2012 to a more modern track/road bike. I looked at the value increase of the SPS and it barely covered the insurance, MOTs, belt changes etc. and I was terrrified of anything happening to it in the garage / MOT station etc. Having thought about it long and hard, I decided to sell the SPS and got a price that I was reasonably happy with.

The SPS had a certain magic that the 998S doesn't have, even though the power is a little less (hard to tell). Do I regret parting with the SPS? Not really... having a pristine, low mileage classic created a fair bit of anxiety for me (I know, bikes should be ridden.... like my 888 has been) and I was able to fund a very nice PV4 with the proceeds which is amazing on the track.

So there's clearly no right or wrong answer: parting with a wonderful machine like an SPS needs to be considered seriously. A lot will depend on your intended use of the bike. I think you will find the riding position better on the later bikes, it's odd on the Tamburini bikes, but I manage to cope despite my advanced years and rearsets on the 998S made a difference. Hanging onto a bike that barely gets used when you hanker for something else can play mind games, although remorse takes longer to heal
Good luck with your Ducati journey!!

 

Well I’m sure you don’t need another opinion but take it from me 996sps is a keeper. I have a 1199s and a 998 with performance parts so it’s pushing around 136hp at the crank. My 1199s has the Termi slip on and race map so is well sorted too. I love everything about the 998 the most fun you can have under 100mph. I love that I sit in the bike and not on it. I love that you can strip the bodywork in 2mins, I prefer the clutch action to my 1199s, the handling is great on both bikes but different. The panigale is actually more mechanically noisy and while I don’t see me selling either the 998 is here until I’m dead.

 

One from me, i advertised my 996r on sunday and pulled the advert on monday, that's how much i love this model range, and no i haven't tried the new generation bikes, i'm sure they're fantastic but why would i.

 

You'd be daft to sell a 996r

 

It was a toss up between that and the 998r.

 

Oh I see! Don't sell either

 

I'm financially in the black at the minute, but who knows what surprises are around the corner in the coming years for me.