999 Is This A Prototype?

Yeah, bit different. Is that a tell-tale sign its a prototype? I can't imagine that's easy to reproduce?

 

A pre production CB750 (pre K0) sold in the USA 2 years ago for circa £90,000 - they will be worth more than standard bikes at some point - I have seen a couple of others over the last 2 years come up for around £6 to £7k - not sure if the sold - this one obviously didn't. Perhaps now they are asking more it will be more attractive to some collectors than it was then!!!
Out of interest - do you have Filippo's direct email - it is cut off on the image you posted.
This Nigel character, he is in the UK isn't he? If so he is not the one that is selling - I'm sure he was an agent and was only buying to sell to me at the time.

 

It isn't a prototype - it's a pre production bike

 

996 calipers too.

 

Humor me, what's the difference?

 

There will be pre production bikes, show bikes and lots of others produced before a product goes into production. What they are and were used for will dictate the value. A pre production bike used on a dyno for a week at full throttle to test engine performance will be worth buttons compared to the one Troy Corser sat on for sales brochure photographs.

I don't know the provenance of the CB750 you speak of, so can't comment.

This particular bike is nothing special and does nothing to command a premium. It is and always will be worth less than a standard 999.

 

Doesnt look like deep sump motor so could be base spec.
The later fairing and graphics suggest it was dressed up for display similar to the mock D16 999's like ex's

 

It a pre production bike - you have a note from Ducati you posted saying as such - we seem to be going round in circles. I can show you an invoice of two others sold out of Ducati course in 2007. The prototypes had 5 digit numbers - there were 5 of them as mentioned in 999 The Birth of a Legend by Alan Cathcart. Pre production bikes were 11 digit numbers - this is number 1 of those

 

Well this is a thread that just saved you a heap load of cash if you were going to follow your heart rather than your head.

 

Well in the car industry, our prototypes are used in the design centre as the model is being developed. Pre production vehicles are built at the factory to refine the production process. The vehicles (Typically about 200 of them) are assigned to mostly Engineering departments for testing. They aren't treat well.

 

Honestly, get yourself a 999R if you want to spend that kind of money.

 

They phone me so as not to have to write anything down :Angelic:

 

See the current results of your poll

 

Cool, I will dig out my emails from when I was looking at buying

 

The engine has been changed accoring to the ad. The sticker kit was added later and someone's been using it as a track bike by the look of it.

 

Sssshhh :Bag:

 

I don't have one of these pre production bikes :Angelic:

 

all these prototypes being ' found' ( being knocked out on a Saturday more like) common muck ,values must be plummeting....

 

If it has the frame number 'dotted' on the head stock then at best it is a pre production frame and older prototype tank. The other posts will tell you this. Can you check as this seemed to be an anomaly when I was looking at it and was never confirmed to me.