I have a question for all yoo knowledgeable Ducati peeps... Were some 999s' (esses) sold with standard fairings ie without the 's' decal. Reason for asking is I am looking at a potential purchase of a 999s which has 999 decals on the fairings. The V5 states 999s and the online MOT checker also says 999s. @Exige, I know you have already commented on another thread about this but I am still not sure? Paul
Most obvious explanation is that the fairings are replacements for damaged or sold fairings, or that the fairings were resprayed and the standard "999" decals applied afterwards. I have never heard of an "S" model being supplied with non-"S" decals. Not to say it didn't happen, of course. We are talking Ducati, after all.
Yeh, it's a new one on me - but stranger things have happened, if no one has come across this before then very doubtful though as I can't see a buyer accepting that for the sake of a correct decal...
Agreed. If I bought a new bike I would expect it to have decals relevant to the spec/model. Is it worth mentioning that it has NI number plate so was probably registered there?
My 999S was a northern irish bike and it has the s and it has been lacquered over so I'd be wary of it !
Fairings are easily damaged. Check the rest of the bike over for signs of being down, replaced components etc. Could have happened prior to the current owner.
Went to see this bike today. I could well be wrong but based on all the evidence I suspect it has been down at some point in its life, perhaps the seller is unaware? As well as the standard fairings (the seller was quite insistent that some 999s models were sold like this), I noticed a couple of other clues. The brake lever was at a slight angle inwards and the footpegs looked like aftermarket ones. There was a gap on the right hand side of the front fairing between top and bottom halves. 6 former keepers, 14.5k miles with no evidence of recent servicing, it's due a big one! Several small scuffs and scratches. Based on all this I put in a cheeky offer but was refused.
I would leave well alone...a better one will come along, and i concur with the above comments, an 'S' should deffo have the right decals from the factory, never heard of any 'S' models not saying 999S on the side.
you did the right thing. anything been dropped or down the road needs to be priced accordingly. im happy to buy bikes which are not mint as chances are they will get unminted by me at some point. He might come back when he realises it priced a bit high unless a un suspecting fool gets involved.
Hi all, I finished up taking a punt and buying this for what I think was a fair price. The bike is a genuine 999s mono, MY2003 and registered early 2005. In 2006 it was re-registered on a private plate (one of them NI ones with 3 letters and 4 numbers) which it still has. I was particularly looking for one of these and the thing is, there's not a lot of them for sale at any one time so few to choose from. This one was fairly local for me, I went to view it 2 times. The seller was (is) a mature genuine honest bloke, his house was full of bikes, this one had been kept in his front room for the last 5 years. Just after buying it I took a chance and rang the number of the first owner which was on the PDI service page in the service book. We had quite a long chat and he gave me some interesting info. I have had the bike for a few weeks now, I have had a chance to have a really good look round it and I am very pleased with it. It goes and stops like it should, takes me back to when I had a 748 but with a lot more grunt and more comfortable. I have already sourced and fitted some 'correct' fairings, repaired the slightly bent footbrake lever and fitted original footpegs. It's off for a belts and valve service to the artist formerly known as Ducati John in the next few weeks. Happy days
I do really like the yellow and was looking at a potential purchase. But this one came up a bit cheaper and the colour goes better with my lid
Ducati Leeds have confirmed from the VINs that my bike left the Bologna factory in October 2003 as a 'MOTO 999S GBR 04 MON R'. I think I can now rest assured that it is not a conversion and is a genuine UK bike