Hi I was so close to possible/ most likely disaster today.. My dreams had come true or so I thought .. A 1994 Corse 955 listed on e bay for £27k.. After speaking to my Ducati techie I went in with an offer of £19k and he accepted it at 19.5k.. I agreed subject to seeing it, he even offered to bring it in a hire van to me on a you like it you buy it you don't I take it away basis.. Now he told me it took 4 yrs to find the parts for this bike build which is very likely, but the frame has no number and he's not sure if it's a prototype or what? Ok.. This is the important bit.. It's currently parked in a block of flats car park in London where there's no 13 amp connections to power the paddock starter.. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX He then said to me .. I will bring it to you but if you don't want it I'm not going to bother anymore I will put it in my local Ducati dealers window and leave it there till it sells for £30k ..? So one min I can have it reduced from 27 down to 19. But if need be will wait for 30k and yet I've told you i must sell it quick for my divorce! I began to feel a little bit concerned by this time.. On Fri I asked can I pls have the engine number so I could check its history via Ducati UK.. Yes no probs he replied I will get it too you ASAP .. Today, no engine number received, he text me saying have you any dates yet to meet up reg sale? I said I'm working on it but still waiting for text with the engine number.. Then he flipped.. Sent 3 texts in quick succession basically saying why do I need the engine number, I said well you claim it's a Factory Ducati Corse engine so I want to check its what it says it is.. Came back saying forget it, I'm running around for you anymore I've no got others interested so &£7? Off! Left me thinking alls not as the brochure read here.. Don't know what your thoughts are? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX You might think differently .. It is basically a race bike with no history admittedly, after all.. X
Was the seller Hugh? In which case all of the above is probably true and he is busy rather than dodgy.
sounds very dodgy! Although some people maintain that replacement frames are supplied by the factory with no frame numbers, I've seen one, which I understand is a prototype and missed the production line entirely. Engine cases may not have production numbers, but will likely have some sort of numbering (not recorded at the factory) added by the builder or by Corse. Race bikes always have some history, even if it's not backed up by paperwork. The seller will know it and will have tried to impress you with it. Whatever, the usual Ebay stuff applies - zero feedback and a massive big carrot - no way. Run a mile
You know him? I understand divorce is a very difficult situation to deal with, but, one min your desperate to sell and the next min your happy to take as long as it takes, and then, if you want it you had better get a move on.. Doesn't fill you with confidence really..
Well the fact he seems reluctant to give you the engine number doesn't exactly inspire much confidence. Still might be worth taking a look at it just in case it is indeed a peach rather than a lemon!
If you are serious, arrange to go and see the bike and meet Hugh (a few on here will know him from when he raced in DD). I'm sure you won't be dissapointed. I know from experience how it is just as frustrating trying to gauge how serious a buyer is on items like this, and with everything else I am sure he is just frustrated. speak to him and I'm sure all of this can be sorted out.
The bike is mine... I haven't been on these forums so long I seem to still have a username but no posts apparently (was this the ducatisiti site? lol) The bike cost over £60k to build (parts and labour) and was built up by Alistair Wager over 14 months. Many of you will know Al. The Frame I am known to a lot of Ducati folk and my purchases and sales over the years were mainly to build this bike. I am also very good friends with Tom Irvine (Tom I) and as I told "Noods" I purchased the frame from him along with the engine. I had the choice of many Corsa frames over the years and this was the most appropriate. Tom is a busy guy too but I will retrieve the history but I am fairly sure it came from a bike he imported from Italy which also had the engine I used. Regarding my Ebay account I have 2 ebay accounts and my lack of feedback is simply because I stupidly used an old laptop to place the ad and when I went to ebay I didnt notice it was logged into the old account. Mind you there WAS nothing wrong with it. It did have 100% positive but I assume due to lack of activity it went to 0. Here is my active account. Almost 500 and 100% positive..... hughsimps on eBay Circumstance XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Price So at the point I received an offer of £19k I had reduced the bike to £23,500 from £27k. Its a joke of a price but these bikes are worth far more in parts. £20k is what I decided would be my line and as Ethan offered £19.5k without the wet weather discs so it was about right. History So Ethan's first question "what would it take to put this bike on the road". :tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy: A 916 Corsa race bike with carbon brakes and superbike forks etc etc :tearsofjoy::tearsofjoy: I humored him and said a daytime MOT and anything else the law requires. Just like any track / race bike. I couldn't be bothered to go into detail on the inappropriateness of the dust seals on superbike forks, the calipers the lack of a security key, kick stand, the reverse shift gearbox, the way the ridiculous nature of the beast of an engine delivers its power... TBH it was an early enquiry and I just thought each to their own. Ethan's second question (for a bike that took 4 years to build and is a better representation of the 1994 bike than in the Ducati Museum..) "are they stickers or painted graphics on the bike". To which I answered just the Ducati logo (as per the race bike) are lacquered over and all other sponsorship decals are surface mounted. Next question.. "what is the code number under the fork"... I reply with the number and pictures of the fork loose... After a while when selling an item of value you starting to think perhaps the buyer should just get off his ass and have a look himself! Yes it is true I now live in a new build apartment building in Fulham and while there are electric charging points for Teslas etc there are no 13amp sockets so yes I am at a bit of a loss. Unlike Ethan here I wasn't looking to ride it around the streets!! I have other bikes for that! But should that stop him from actually looking at the bike and understanding the condition and getting all the info and codes he wants? I don't think so. I would have done this and agreed a deal subject to inspection. I did offer to take the bike to a Ducati dealer for him so it could be inspected and seen running. Ethan asked ME to bring it up to Ipswich as part of the deal and I agreed. So if his wife doesn't like the idea of this guy bringing it up in a van then she can blame him! If he wanted to know where it was before then I would again suggest to get off your ass and visit the bike. As for knowing where to "send the guys round" just stfu. I then also sent 2 videos of the bike running and at which point Ethan replied that it was pretty much deal done! Where have we gone since then... NOWHERE. Friday I ask when would I bring it next week, I am told the specialist's garage is shut Monday and then the mechanic is on holiday. I said ok and could he put a date in the diary so I can plan (and know the deal is actually material). Response is that he is trying to get a date but to bear with him and a request to know where I got the paddock starter. I send an image of it and explain it came from demon tweeks for about £800. Sunday a txt asking for my name on the bankers draft and the engine number? I give him my name but say perhaps save time and money and just call the bank and let them know of the transfer and you should be able to do it on the mobile or app banking. I then said I would get the engine number while I can. I told Ethan in an early txt about bringing up the bike that I was "hectic this weekend but could do early this week". I have not been near the bike till today and in my space there is another ducati up close so I can also fit my car so it involves a lot of unlocking of chains and moving around and removing panels. So yes I haven't done it yet but then Ethan neither have you! You have sat there doing sweet FA and asking questions. I sent a nice text this morning saying "please could you look at dates, You have shown a good interest but are yet to see the bike, I got a few more inquiries over the weekend and I am trying to put them on hold to see this through". To which you responded.... "Hi.... I'm waiting on the engine number mTe..." At that point I got fed up of all your questions and your lazy attitude to the purchase and I said "Ok lets leave it. Not jumping through any more hoops for you, thanks and good luck with your search". Quite simply the engine number is stamped on the engine, if it was a prerequisite of the purchase I would suggest you ask for it before offering. If you are this anxious about spending £20k I would suggest you come and look at the bike. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX So you can try and trash talk me all you like but simply put you haven't met me and you haven't seen the bike. You do not come across as a serious buyer and my time is limited and you have had all I can be bothered to give you. So as I said before move on and find yourself another "dream bike". Try JHP or Pro-Twins they will be use to holding hands of nervous buyers like yourself. But you might find they would like a little bit more than £19.5k..
Thank you for your explanation. @Noods as a detailed explanation has been given, do you want me to closed the thread or would you like to delete it?
Oh and I may well have also bought parts off the 916corsa ebay account. There is feedback just no % rating due to inactivity.. eBay Feedback profile for 916corsa And I am also happy to disclose all of the ebay mesasges and txts here if that should help anyone who is uncertain of whether I am speaking the truth. Just ask! Hope that my response clears it all up. Just a case of the wrong buyer for this type of bike / circumstance. Thanks to those old friends who txt me to let me know about this post. I obviously haven't been on the forums for a long while so wouldn't have known about this mud throwing exercise.
What a very eudite reply. This would give me at least enough confidence to meet the vendor and see what the bike is all about. Especially if it's your dream bike.
Apologies to Mr 955SP for implications of impropriety/dodginess, however it appeared sage at the time.
Hugh, glad to see you're still around. A real shame that you're having to let the 955 go - I can remember the time, effort and money into that bike. @Noods, buy it!
