I'm about to acquire a '91 SS, it's the white frame/white wheels model with full fairings. It needs a little tidying up so I'm after some pics of an original bike so that I can sympathetically put her back to her former glory. I can find loads of pics of owners bikes, most of which have been modded in some way, but I'm after pics of bikes in an unmolested state. Can someone point me in the right direction please. Ta
Is it a 900ss or a 750 you are after pics of? Mine is a '91 half faired 750ss, but its a long way from standard, but it was 100% stock when I got it. There are lots of little differences when it comes to comparing the super early models with the later ones. My 750 came without a right hand side disc, the 750 engine has a dry clutch with the hydraulic cylinder in the clutch cover, and the master cylinders for the clutch and front brake are square and built in rather than remote and round. Early 900ss models also had black brake calipers at the front. The right side footrest hanger is a little different, as it doesn't have the cast guard for the rear brake master cylinder (well that applies to my 750ss, don't know about the 900ss) Early bikes have 17mm front spindles (instead of 20mm) and a slightly different speedo drive, and the clocks don't have a temp guage. My early 750 didn't have an oil cooler or carb heaters fitted when it came out of the factory either. Alloy swinging arms are only on the early bikes, with a larger diameter swinging arm spindle on the 750, with oilyte bushes instead of needle bearings. The seat catch is different on the early bikes, and the '91 has only a small 'dimple' in the top of the tank where the breather fits, compared to the longer, wider 'dimple' on the later bikes. Im pretty sure that the '91 model year has slightly lighter red paint. Not sure if there were any yellow ones made then. Mine only has one ID plate on the frame top tube on the left hand side, later ones have them both sides. I think that is it, but Im sure to have forgotten something!
It's a 900. It looks pretty much standard but has had a couple of mods. It's mainly detailed pics I'm after, like the engine area. The paint has almost totally gone from the engine. I'm toying with the idea of fitting hi level cans and a single seat so am not hell bent on keeping it as standard, but if I'm going to get the engine repainted then I'd like it to look like it did originally. The brake caliper thing is a strange one. I see some pics on the net with the black calipers, and others with the gold ones. This one I'm buying had the gold ones.
OK, I see. I can't help you out with pics, as Im at work, but the 900ss crank cases should be silver, with the outer cases on either side satin black. The heads and barrels should be satin black, and the clutch cover and valve covers in silver. That was how my 91 900 engine was when I got it.
That's a big help thanks. I hadn't noticed the RHS footrest differences but it's obvious now you've pointed it out. It's looking like the engine is the same as the Mk1 SL and I've got loads of pics of that from my old bike. I've spent ages looking at other pics of the '91 from across the net and it seems that my new bike is almost standard then. There does appear to be two different types of front caliper in use though, the black and the gold.
If your in WHSmiths or similar, blag a free look in this months Classic Bike magazine. There`s a 1976/1991 900ss comparison. I don`t know if the `91 ss is a totally standard bike but it has a white frame, black wheels and gold calipers.
Not sure I'll get a chance to take a look at that but thanks for the heads up. That 91 doesn't sound quite right as I think it was '92 bike that had the black wheels and white frame, and all the pics I can find of the 92 have the gold calipers. I've just picked mine up and the calipers look a bit too clean and shiny for a 21 year old bike, but it has been stood for quite a while.
No probs mate. Here`s a link for the Ducati specialist that supplied it for the magazine, the bike is at the bottom: V-Duo Motorcycles News A couple of pics from the magazine. They have the value now @ £1800- £4000
Now that's what I call a good looking bike, and in the fastest frame colour too (sorry could not help it). Having researched the 92 model for my renovation, for my 2p the bike in the previous post is a 92, I could be wrong, there could be some cross over. I thought the 91 had white frame / white wheels and slightly different decals. Instead of "SUPERSPORT" on back side panels it had "900SS" and I know its hard to tell from the picture I found but the DESMO stripe is different. There is a guy on the Internet - eBay My World - the-reverend-unseemly-dogposture that has the 92 decals (which again the stripe is slightly different to mine) he has in the past had the 91 decals on ebay but not at the moment. I think I can confirm other posts that the 92 colours are: white frame / black wheels / silver engine case / black side case / silver clutch cover / black cylinder and heads / gold calipers. The tank breather is round rather than elongated just in case it has been swapped. Hope this helps and gives you an idea of what to do, or rather NOT what to do. Cheers, Gaz.
Thanks for all the input guys. Here's what I've worked out from trawling the web. The bike in Classic Bike mag pics from Pierre is a 92 and looks standard for a bike of that year. Is that your bike in the pic Gaz? Very nice. As you say above, the tail decals are different between the 91 and 92. The 91 does just have 900 ss, the 92 says Supersport. Also the fairing decals are different. The 91 doesn't have any stripe running from the DESMO to the rear, the 92 does. Also the footrests are different. It's looking like the 91 bike I've bought is pretty much standard, apart from the later carbs with heaters. I'm still not 100% certain about the calipers but I'm happy with the gold ones which are fitted. If the originals were the black ones I certainly wouldn't be bothered to source some and fit them so I'm happy with what I've got. From what I can see of the remaining engine paint it looks identical to the Mk1 Superlight. I've got loads of detailed hi-res pics of my old SL so I'll use those for reference when repainting it. Here's what mine looks like at the moment. It's a bit of a state but should be looking good soon. Note the different clutch slave cylinder too. This is certainly different to the one on the SL and in the Classic Bike article.
No that's not mine it was a picture I found of what I thought a 91 was like, I have a 92 in bits and trying to get it back to original like yourself so would be interested in what you end up doing. Regarding the stripe. As I said my 92 stripe was slightly different to the ones found on ebay I contacted the guy he said there Ducati could have changed the design in the year. He makes a claim that he has supplied the Ducati Museum. So I suppose there could have been a 91 set of decals with a stripe and without a stripe, the one from: eBay My World - the-reverend-unseemly-dogposture had a stripe. Also I found a US site: - Discontinued Decals that also has a stripe on the 91. It looks pretty standard may be silencers have been changed. The slave clutch looks the same as mine, can't be sure of foot rests because they are packed away but again from memory look same as my 92. Looking on the end of the handle bars there seems to be something gold coloured mine had a pressed in black plastic bit with radial grooves and the screen was clear. All the best with reno, take plenty of picture of the wiring and be careful taking the bolts out had a few stripped nothing too major. Cheers Gaz.
I've got to the bottom of the brake caliper question. In 91 the 750 had the single gold P4 30/34 caliper, whilst the early 91 900s had the older black type. From bike number 1601 onwards the 900s got twin gold P4 30/34 calipers. Mine is no. 1702 so the gold calipers are correct for my bike.
View attachment 2902 Gilps, Get a copy of this book, It's got everything in it you need to know. Even bitza'a which left the factory with parts from other SS's (Carb models). I have a copy somewhere and still trying to find it!!!
My early 92 white frame SS i owned back in 1996-98 was all original but was fitted with a few 91 parts but it had black wheels and so on. It ate head bolts for a past time too.
I've got his History of Ducati book which I have found quite useful. You can see evidence of some of the bitsas just looking at pics on the web of one owner unmolested bikes which are different. One oddity is the decals on the tail unit. In 92 the 900 changed from having 900 ss to 900 Supersport, whereas the 750 seems to have kept the ss decal. weird. I was mainly just trying to ascertain how original my new bike was. I'm now happy that its pretty much as it came out of the factory, apart from the carbs and the hideous gold Ali fasteners everywhere.
That's why I'm leaving the heads well alone. The seller reckons that the dealer who sold it to him back in 97 believed that it had the 944 kit in so maybe the snapping studs thing got fixed at the same time.
Just looked at a photo of my 92 and that has 900ss on the tail. It's was totally original registered in feb1992. I'm guessing because it was a early 92 they fitted 1991 body kit. Wish i could scan the pic. Also it has the desmo stripe on the fairing lowers.
Two of my studs snapped - I think the snappy ones are silver with an 'M' stamped on the end, that's what mine were anyway. Gaz.
When I rebuilt my 900ss motor, I checked with Baines, to make sure that the studs were up to the job, and they said that if the studs were black, with an O stamp on the end they were the better ones from Ducati. Don't know if this is difinitive though, as its the only 900 engine I have had apart.
Thanks guys. I've taken a look at my bolts and cant see any letters stamped on the end, but that's not helped by the large amount of rust on them. I dropped the motor off this morning at Louigi Moto for Rich to check it over so if it is an issue I'll get him to sort it out. The frame and wheels are being repainted professionally too, so hopefully in a couple of weeks the rebuild can start.
