Does anyone know why some 916s have a black (unpainted?) side panel when others are red? Seen a bike advertised with black panel and 1995 registration. Is this a genuine feature? Carl
The 916SPS, the 748R, 996R & 998 R all came with carbon fibre airboxes with unpainted but clear coated carbon on that part of the air box. I gave seen available also carbon fibre dress panels that can be added to the red or yellow plastic sides of the air box. Personally I wouldn't do that.
Some Ducati panels were finished in black plastic and they are from around about 1995/1996 (ish) the very early panels were red plastic and were made of a different material that became very brittle with age and often cracked or broke, avoid these as age could have taken it's toll by now and they could end up cracking or even breaking up on the bike. I know this from some experience, top fairings also can break in two and even shatter into pieces. The last type of panel was made from white base plastic and seems to be the best of the three, not prone to cracking unduly and can stand the test of time. Black plastic was used for a limited time only and possibly may have been so due to where Ducati was sourcing it's panels from. I have had a bike which had all white panels and one black lower half on one side. These were the original and genuine panels so there seems to have been a cross over period.
