Even Ferrari lies, often, about the number of "limited" vehicles they make (the Enzo is a perfect case in point). Going over by a few is no big deal and common.
Interesting thread, but I guess if the 200 unplanned bikes were sold as race bikes, then wouldn't it be unlikely that they had any factory warranty, or certainly less than a 'road' bike. Presumably they were all road bikes which teams would convert to racers, rather than vice-versa? I also read somewhere that Ducati have no record of which 'plaque no' went on which "VIN/Eng No" bike. Not just the 996r, but all bikes with plaques. They were simply taken from a box and stuck on during build, so possibly not sequential either. Anyone know if this is right or not?
Hehe, see what I mean... And I am obviously special (needs!)... I bought the bike brand spanking new. I am the only owner. The bike came with this plaque, and the chassis/engine numbers have been verified by Ducati. Similar email to yours funnily enough The plaque numbers were just added to the bikes in no particular order- but it is pretty likely more than 497 were produced as demand was high at the time, so I expect there a few more with 500+ numbers. It is why the spec varies a bit across the same version as part supply was a bit erratic. But who really knows, and as I bought the bike to use with no thought of investment I'm not really concerned. No intention of selling and hoping my son will get some use out of it when he is older. Gratuitous picture below...
There's some discussion of plaque numbers and bike VIN#/Engine# in this link: https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/homologation-series.78206/ Hope it's of interest. Tom.
@KevB , the fact you’re the first and only owner is even more promising. As you noticed, Ducati stated the 497 number in the email they sent me earlier this year. Any hint about something different in yours? Edit: did you add the Agip sticker ?
Get that thing drilled out and become Medallion man for 2023, That's very satisfying having ownership from day one, i only thing i question should that key not be a CRD one.
So the bits on it that are non-standard are: Agip fairing stickers (both sides) Carbon air tubes (added after a car/bike interface incident) Carbon exhaust shield Carbon heel guard Carbon tank shield Braided hoses I have all the original OEM parts, rubbish stand, and standard aluminium exhausts and EPROM. No longer have the rubbish cover as they disintegrate over time. Nothing special about it, a standard SP3 with 504 on the plaque. The plague number is not linked to the chassis/engine number so it is meaningless really - a sales gimmick. The 916 SP ('94) & SP2 ('95) did not have plaques unlike the SP3 ('96). My bike (imported via Moto Cinelli) was ordered in 1996 and first registered in April 1997 as it took ages to arrive and I was told it was one of the last SPs, but again who really knows. @XH558 - the CRD (Cagiva) keys ended with the 888 (and perhaps first run of '94 916 models - note opportunity to re-ignite the Varese nonsense!).
Mine's from the mark 3 / 900SL, they probably had a suitcase full to use up overtime, but i do agree with you on nothing lines up based on my factory visit in 2000/01, as they had a mix production line for memory or batches of different models at different stages of the week / month for keeping all their worldwide customers happy.
Here it is in the back ground. It was in the package togheter with a brand new 996r in ‘01. Cant even imagine its more than 20 years ago. Now there’s is a 998s ‘02 under it…. View attachment 284013
Mine lived in the bike in the garage, and helped to rot the f*ck out of it over a winter in a cold, condensation heavy garage one winter than destroyed every surface. So I broke the bike and sold the bits for more than it was worth as is. Was a few years ago now
The 200 weren’t unplanned - it’s just that the facts have been lost to time and there was a mistake made at some point that proliferated the idea that there were 350 and 150. It may have come from one of Ian Falloon’s books - or he may have picked up the information and repeated it. Regardless of the source this inaccuracy has spread all over the web and the top results in Google mean anyone searching for information on the 996R get’s the same - wrong info. And then they use it in their adverts, forum posts, blogs, magazine and web articles, wikipedia. So unless you have prior knowledge then then every source you will find when doing a web search is going to give the same wrong answer. Most people look at the first answer they get - if it says so on Wikipedia then that’s as far as they go. I would guess a lot of the people on here fall into a 2nd group and would do some more research - which of course would result in them concluding that the 350/150 figures were correct. There’s obviously people like @92GTA who already knew the truth but it certainly isn’t what anyone would find from a quick search. I am however and obsessive lunatic and therefore noticed a couple of discrepancies that made me keep searching until I found the truth. The 200 bikes shipped from the factory without lights or switchgear, indicators, mirrors, side-stand and horn. But they retained the road wiring loom. I’m not sure if they came with the road exhaust and ECU as well as the Carbon slip-on exhaust and matching ECU. See this sales listing for very details pictures of an original unnumbered bike: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-ducati-996r/ I’m more and more coming to the conclusion that it’s very unlikely that the 996R road and track versions engines had any differences in the engines. Despite claims by some sellers that the Race versions were blueprinted. Just like today - The Ducati factory teams had the latest factory bikes. Satellite teams were a little after that. Privateers with the cash bought the 996RS. Privateers without the cash/club racers/track day enthusiasts would have bought the R and converted it. I just think at the time Ducati were actually being very good to their customer base and knew that a number of people would be buying the R specifically to put it on track. I would bet that the unnumbered version was cheaper. Not just because of the lack of a plaque etc. But also because all of that road gear didn’t come with the bike. The 2nd ECU and exhaust alone would account for a good chunk of cash so it’s possible they only shipped with the Carbon slip-on. When converting my road 959 to track, I did wonder, as I removed so much kit from the bike - why don’t manufacturers do bikes without all of this road stuff for the that very purpose? The only answer I could think of at the time was that there was no money in it for them - why sell something for less when you can sell a road bike - and then also sell a track fairing and exhaust? Now I can see that they actually used to sell just such a thing. And it seems that those track only bikes didn’t sell as well as Ducati thought they might - and lot’s of them ended up on the road anyway. I would think that Ducati dealers at the time did some pretty good deals in order to shift those last 996Rs. The 998 was coming and the 998S for Europe got the 996R engine. Yes - I have also read that Ducati have no record of which plaque went with which VIN. Frame numbers are completely unrelated to engine numbers too. The Ducati database links the Frame and Engine numbers together in their records but I have seen multiple examples of people trying to get info on which Plaque is linked to which VIN and all have stated Ducati cannot supply this information. That being said - for at least some of the limited run bikes Ducati must have had that information at some point. Because things like this exist!
I have a theory in numbered bikes - especially those that weren’t part of a fixed limited run. The VIN numbers don’t match sequentially with the Plaque numbers - and it’s been said that the headstock plaques were just all in a box - as the bike got to that point on the production line - the chap who fitted the plaque stuck his hand in the box and grabbed one at random. Now if there were no plans for a specific limited run - and the final tally was down to how many customers ordered a bike - why wouldn’t there be the possibility that higher numbered plaques were used than the actual number of bikes made? 497 bikes - Ducati only have that many in there database - those bikes will all have VIN and Engine numbers - there aren’t going to be more bikes than that. But maybe Plaque number 490 or 485 etc were still in the box when production ceased? This is the most logical answer to me.
I think there are two things that people don't fully get or forget, which you have mentioned also: Plaques for the 916 SP3 are not linked to chassis/engine numbers - take a random plaque from a box at build time The bikes were numbered, not a limited run, which is a big distinction, and one which is clearly called out in correspondence from the factory (at least on my emails from them) The second point suggests that there could in fact be more out there than the 497 total bandied about, any late demand may have meant they assembled a few more.... who knows without access to records. Pretty sure the team at the factory that respond to customer requests for info do limited research as most of the data is on fiche (at best) and therefore time consuming to dig out (and I accept it will likely have been scanned/digitally copied, etc.). So reckon your theory sounds pretty strong...
Yup, skipping plaques in a box containing, say, a batch of 550, and getting only 497 orders for the non limited SP3 run, is what seems the most logical. Someone needs to start a 916 SP3 registry to confirm this now…
Apologies for the typo, should have been un-numbered and not un-planned. I'll accept a flogging with a biodegradable bike cover as it won't hurt a bit.... On that point, why on earth would you make a biodegradable bike cover? Presumably the material used was just cheap, and simply degraded in UV light and/or moisture, and rather than admit to the poor choice of material and cover cost of replacement with a more robust item, just say 'Ah yes, they are supposed to do that, part of our green agenda'... On the other hand, a biodegradable bike cover sold to a presumably well heeled customer base, as a business model, is pure genius...!
But my theory isn’t that they made more than 497 - It’s that because of the way the plaques were randomly chosen there could be plaques that were produced but never used. Maybe they were produced in batches of 50?? Maybe less.? Either way - for a ‘numbered’ but not ‘Limited’ run Ducati is likely to have ordered an initial batch of plaques and then incremental batches as they were used up. Even if they were produced in house they would be made in batches. So my suggestion is that there would have been a box somewhere with the left over plaques from the last batch - some of which would have lower numbers than yours. Computer databases have existed for a long time and Ducati would have definitely been using them by the mid 90’s even if they were behind the times. And legally they would have to keep records of all of the VIN and engine numbers that they produced. I don’t know what the law was then but these days they have to keep a traceable record for 30 years. So it’s very unlikely that there are more Bikes out there than Ducati say there are. I would imagine that throughout the years mistakes were made due to human error and some VIN numbers were recorded as one variant when they were in fact another. But overall they have to account for every chassis and engine produced.
I think I was agreeing with you... but just suggested that there may be more than 497... But who knows without the factory confirming this, especially given the confusion (even in this thread) over the numbers produced of even later models... I reckon it will always be an around about number that is available to the punter as it would take time and effort by Ducati staff to do the leg work to check and confirm records... but I honestly wasn't suggesting they don't have records of the VINs/Engine Nos. As for DBs, their use, and the veracity of their content, that's a whole different discussion...
