Hi all What's the going rate for OEM monoposto seat units? All variants. Ideally after the 1994 strafe monoposto seat unit where it's just red with the campione de superbike along the side. Also been looking at the ones with the white number boards. I don't want aftermarket really, just OEM. Id also like to get the monoposto seat, lights and brackets so it's a quick changeover from my biposto seat unit. Just wondering how much realistically I should spend without getting ripped off! Cheers Jeff
It depends if you want one that is immaculate or not. I got a 748SP mono seat for £25 via someone who I bought something else off on eBay. It's a very early one so it is a red plastic base despite being a yellow seat but it was a good buy. Realistically with all the seat components you could be looking at £200 possibly (a lot) more. Some seat parts are cheap to buy new but others aren't. As an example the front U bracket that the seat pins go through at the front is over £10 plus VAT just on its own. Rear lights can go quite cheaply and you could use a Cagiva Mito one and change the plug. If you are fitting the seat to a Biposto subframe you will need some spacers to mount the locking bracket correctly. Ducati used to do a full kit for the conversion less seat and it was over £200 at the time, I doubt that you can get it now. I have done a lot of these conversions for myself and others so if you do need to know something specific you can always PM me. Don't forget you will need a mono seat pad and they are pretty dear on their own apart from the fittings. I have one of these for sale in primer if you are interested and want a mono type look, it's a copy of a genuine Ducati seat cowl cover and makes the seat look like a mono type but without all the hassle of a complete conversion and it's easy to revert back, just unscrew it, I make them myself and I provide all the fixings with it, the genuine Ducati price at the time was £127 . Again PM me for a price, it will be a fraction of a full conversion and a lot less than the original. This is now a very rare item so it's unlikely you will find one on something like eBay. The matt look on the one in the photos is because it was flatted for lacquering, that one went to a forum member on here who has bought two of them over the years. This is how it looked in the Ducati Performance catalogue.
Thank you very much for the reply Red, very interesting. I didn't realise I'd need spacers to fit onto the biposto subframe so I'll have to make a couple of these. I did think about the seat cowling but was never to sure on them, matching the OEM paint and not damaging the seat unit through rubbing. Looks like you make a good copy and I may be interested in one to go onto my old seat unit, then possibly mould it in and full respray, I'll consider it for the track. I actually managed to pick up a monoposto seat unit with the white number boards, OEM with OEM paint. It also came with the OEM seat, lights, wiring and all brackets so I got lucky to find one in such good nick I think! I'll post pics when it arrives. Thanks again Red!
The seat cowl probably would not mould in well to a dual seat frame as there are some slight differences to shape etc and whilst it could probably done I would avoid it. These were actually quite a poor item for the money when they came out and were very flimsy and having had one to mould off of and another which I refurbished for someone I can say they were pretty bad value for what they cost. You will need spacers to go under the lock bracket to raise the seat to the correct height to clear the exhaust etc. Ducati used to sell the spacers separately but they were very long. I did an early conversion for myself and found that one spacer accurately cut in half was sufficient to do the job. The spacers need to be quite thick in wall space terms to stop the lock plate rocking and damaging the seat or it's mountings. Depending on exactly what seat you have will determine what spacer length you will need. All parts will fit in the conversion but you will need a new bracing bracket which is part number 827.1.108.1A (For a 2002 748R) This is essential to keep the seat plate area rigid. Fortunately the plate is\was around the £5.00 mark if you don't have one.
I didn't realise I needed spacers etc for this! Thought it would just be a changeover on the hinge. This is the seat unit in question: So I'll need spacers and a bracket. I'll see if my Dad can make them, or take a trip to a dealer for the bracket.
You can get the brackets on ebay easily enough Jeff. If you add an ally subframe they will need changing too. I'm sure ive my old set thats fits the monoposto on the standard subbie in the garage somewhere but fuck knows where. THink they were very cheap though. But mind, theres a set for an OEM subbie and at least one other for an ally subbie.
It looks like you have a different bracket for the seat. If it is stepped and if fits properly then you can use that one. it's hard to tell from the angle of the photos, do you have spacers under the lock plate end?, if so all should be OK as it looks like someone has already fitted the bracing bracket but just used a different bracket. If you offer it up and it fits it should be fine. The bracket used in the link below is often used instead of the bracing bracket I quoted, which is largely flat. As you can see there is a price difference. You will still need spacers to get the lock plate to sit correctly but these go under the angled plate and not on top of the plate that I quoted to you. It's just a different way of fixing the seat unit at the back, both work equally as well on stock plastic seats. If you use a non stock seat then the flat plate needs to be used as the spacer length needed is often greater. I hope this makes sense as there is a bit more to fitting these seats that people often realise. I can make custom spacers for you if you need them. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DUCATI-Re...pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item258835f81f
