Terblanche vs Tamburini. Seems like we’ll be discussing this till the end of times… Which may not be that far away, mind you. I never really got into the 749/999 design myself. But back in early 2000’s, I was riding a 900SSie with great joy and much pride. Which was another ugly spawn of our friend Pierre T. So when I was allowed by my insurance company, I test rode a 999. Twice. And the reason I didn’t buy one was not it’s ugly « cyclop » face, but how much it scared me. Too fast. Way too fast and agile… A 916/996/998 will keep you humble. Very. A 999 will whisper in your ear that your balls are bigger than Rossi´s. Which, on the road, is very dangerous, imho. Today, I’d venture to say that these xx9’s are the best bang for your buck, right now. Still very affordable and so performant!
I do…. off course its an evolution of the 916, thats because its a testastretta. But the 999 era engine’s (testastretta) are not an evolution of the 998 serie which as you now know are testastretta engines. I rest my case, selling numbers will tell from that era Love my shed….
When I got the vanilla '03, I could have got an '04 for the same price, with the 140bhp motor and 170 top speed and lower mileage; but the '03 looked better to me, and had a full service history. So only 125bhp/165mph. Peak torque lower down the range, for what that's worth, but it's already hard enough not riding like an absolute fucking maniac in order to use it like it's meant to be. FSH or not, I still got a fractured subframe and a failed coil, but I gather that's 'a Ducati thing' rather than a 999. At least the belt service had just been done. I don't expect the new subframe to crack and, with the new coil, it's smoother and ticks over like the whole bike is new. It's amazingly solid for an 18 yr old superbike and all that let's it down is the shitty paint on the front of the motor which, again, appears to be 'a Ducati thing'TM, not a specifically 999. Funny to think bikes I've had that were considered to have excellent handling are probably so-so today, but they were good. They did the job relative to the power. The 999, though, is the best handling bike I ever rode. While - on the road - any more acceleration would be insane. Depends what you want it for. Cyclops only had one eye.
I had a couple. The last being a 2006 999R which is my ‘one that got away’ bike. It really was so good. I too had the sub frame drama but not with the R. I seem to remember the bi posts had steel sub frames and the monos had aluminium (these are the breaky ones).
As a reasonably new 999 owner, still in the honeymoon period, I have to say my love for the bike has taken me by surprise. Despite my advancing years, in a relatively short time I went from the M900 and 900SS's I've had for years to an M1000ie DS and 1000SSie DS. When Sev rocked up at my place to collect some parts on his 749 it reminded me just how much I'd wanted a 749 or 999 when they first came out, having really not been a fan of the whole extended 916 range with their single sided swing arm and styling that always makes me think they've been rear-ended by a truck pushing the back wheel forward and the tailpiece up in the air. As mentioned earlier in this thread the return by Ducati to SSSA etc for the 848/1098 disappointed me. The 999 was going to be about the rebuild for me, the chance to have a play with something far more modern in my workshop, to soak up what I think is sublime styling far ahead of it's time, then ride it a bit before deciding what to do with it. I was resigned to it being far to quick for me, it being hard to ride, and thought I'd not be able to do more than 10mins without needing help to get off it. The truth now it's on the road is completely different. Firstly, I find if far more comfortable than my 1000SS once on the move, apart from the underseat heat. At lower speeds it's far more civilised than the older bikes, which allows me to ride it at legal speeds easily without frightening myself. I really enjoy riding it, which is why I tried to sell the 1000SS instead of the 999. last year the prices of them were going up, which is partly why I decided that if I was going to have one as a project I had to do it sooner rather than later whilst I could still afford one. Since prices started going up they appear to be coming out the woodwork, and lots more 749 and 999s are on Ebay etc now than there were last year. I think this is a direct result of the prices raising, and people deciding to move them on because of that. So prices have dropped slightly again because buyers have choice, but I believe will go up again when the supply of bikes dragged out of garages after being laid up for a few years dries up. When I was negotiating with Lady Nasher about spending the money on the project I brought last year we sat down with a laptop and one of the first sites on the goggle search for Ducati 999 started with the simple line "Buy one now while you can still afford one", which was obviously a great help with the negotiations, but I believe should really be taken note of now. Also of course, if you want a modern era Ducati sportsbike, but can't stand Single Sided Swingarms(there are more of us about than you think) you don't really have a lot of choice.
Are you sitting down? I sold my split mint 999R for £8450. To a German dentist. It will haunt me forever
I love the 999. Don’t know whether it’s because of being a teenager in the early noughties, and it’s the nostalgia of memories of going to BSB WSBK rounds, or just because it’s the underdog of Ducati’s famed history of building beautiful bikes. On the occasion of seeing one at trackdays I shamelessly stand on pit wall and enjoy the sight and sound of it going past. If I had to choose one bike to have as a lounge centrepiece the 999 would definitely be it. Don’t tell my Panigale.
It is… if I don’t laugh I’ll cry… At the time (~2011) I’d priced it to sell at around ~£9k. Of course the moment I’d sold it, the prices started creeping up. The rest as they say, is history…
