In reality, the people who are looking for SP5s want to ensure that the bike is authentic and there is no doubt of its provenance. This has too many doubts. The engine is listed as 998cc We can all suspect a typo here, but without the engine number, we won't know for sure The frame number has been tampered with and indicates it being a Strada by the wrong prefix and the type approval plate has been removed on the left side (they were either riveted holes with no plate, or with a plate riveted on - This bike has has it removed by the size of hole showing). Possibly safe to assume a frame swap due to some possible damage, but it does look dodgy! The bike has been stored pretty much since arriving in the country Why? Based on these points alone, to bring it back to a really tidy condition, you would be looking at around £5,000+ especially if you wanted to sort the condition of the engine and paint over the whole bike, as it hasn't been "loved" in any way, then the big question is what would it be worth? If Ducati could authenticate the frame and engine numbers being correct, then £25,000 would be a "shooting for the stars" price. My gut would have it making substantially less and more around £16,000 to £18,000 without clarity on how the frame came to be so tampered with. Still might be worth a punt, but this is no "investment" bike. At best right now it would be a usable SP5 with a chequered past, so will have to reflect that when compared to a bike with unquestionable credentials.
As a police officer once said to me ref my missing engine number, there’s never a good reason for numbers to be missing or altered.
This bike has been relisted again due to an “error with the listing”. Price now £10997. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324584998758?hash=item4b92c60766:g:YUwAAOSwP3FgfXNv Looking at the frame number pictures, the overstamp appears to have changed between the two listings... First listing with “errors”: Current listing... ZDM appears to have magically appeared....
The remains of the dots of the last four digits are clearly visible. All have rounded bottoms, so the last digit cannot be a ‘1’.
That is even more dodgy that the old Bantam I bought years ago, but at £20 I wasn't too bothered. Unless there is some highly reliable and thorough documentation (such as from an auction of stolen bike parts sold off by an insurance company after they have paid out and DVLA evidence of frame number change) to prove history then it is obviously one to run away from very quickly indeed.
It’s still a 998! Plus the new photo has the hydraulic pipe moved out of the way, as well as a much clearer photo. The story of the modification makes sense (sort of) based on comments from people with knowledge of what happened in some countries, but without an admission from the company that did it, there is no way to feel comfortable. If I was the company that did it, based on the tax implications that I was trying to avoid, then I would rather not say anything, as I might open up a world of hurt if the authorities got a whiff of my past "modifications".
Did someone in the dim distant past try to ring an SP5 into a Strada? The remains of the original number could tie up with 888S.
The problem is you need to send photographic evidence of registration docs, frame and engine numbers to the team at Ducati and these wouldn't align, due to the changes made. No harm in asking, but I wouldn't be surprised if they said "No".
Hi Rich, I don’t think the stamping has actually changed, just taken from a different angle. Still would need very thorough checks, but at least it is not tampered with (recently!)
I think you’re right - just taken from a different angle and the ZDM was hidden by the yoke in first pic. Great detective work! That’s why I am not a policeman!
I don't know enough to speculate on this bike's history, but you would think an established bike trader would be careful about openly advertising something if it is seriously dodgy? As has been said in earlier posts, I think this could be a good option for someone who wants an 888 to ride and enjoy rather than invest money in.
My first thought was the different sngke as well but there’s no denying the Z and the D have been imprinted into the frame completely differently to the M and the rest of the digits. Also, as said above the numbers are different to that which was originally on there, judging by the shape of the bottom.
It's a shame your not as more of us could get away with speeding tickets by just flashing a Ducati forum pass on the day.
I would value it as a strada with a cat D marker. I think the price it was originally sold for was about right.
The homologation plate is still rivetted to the headstock and looks genuine. The VIN plate is stamped ZDM888S1, I wonder if that is why it has been overstamped.
What I have heard is that this is due to France's 100BHP limit on motorcycles until 2016, people "faked" the SP bikes to be Stradas, as they were rated at 100BHP, rather than the 130(ish)BHP that the SP5 had. People say that this was a common practice, but this damages the provenance of a real SP5, as it seems to have done with this one. Trying to get the person who did the modification to admit to it might be a bit of a challenge, or even get this illegal activity confirmed by authorities will be very hard. The Ducati Factory typically need to see copies of the reg docs, as well as photos of the engine and frame numbers. Obviously these will be a real challenge to get the factory to confirm.
As previously said at the £7500 it was originally up for it was worth buying but at 11,000 I’d say no
I guessing that the dealer in question if he has access to the forum is having kittens reading these comments as we type.
