If there were a "Who wants to be a millionaire" Ducati version, this could easily make the final questions. Unless I overlooked the 998’s parts manual, there appears to be no mention for this soft plastic cone/nipple (possibly a production line after thought) that appears to provide some vibration protection and fitting stability to the air conveyer (as the parts manual officially refers to the 'V piece') that bolts in front of the water and oil radiators. That awkward pin that sticks out from the base of the oil radiator fits in the hollow part of this cone/nipple. As the entire air conveyer will shortly be replaced, I am on the look out for a new one (obviously not hard to think of a 10p suitable alternative, but would like to keep things period correct where possible).
All the ones I’ve seen have had a rubber O ring type thingy there. Like a double washer with a thinner part in the middle to match the hole size on the V panel.
I think that this soft cone was a 998 series thing, as all my earlier models of the range had exactly what you describe.
Perhaps a ‘Rubber Wire Sleeve Boot’ would do the job. Google it. The part in the photo just looks like one. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14477489...=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
