This is the dash on my 1/95 916. The font around the warning lights is certainly different. Please forgive my custom tacho unit.
Mine was an early Strada, you can see by the elephant logo on the screen, rivets and the non adjustable levers. But the letters round the warning lights were straight..
David, only the very first bikes had this curved writing. I’ve only seen it on vins below 500. I know yours is an early bike. To the nearest ‘10’ what is your vin number (last 4 digits).
It's an interesting thread and I was reminded of it while working on a mono posto I bought recently for my 748 - it's a bit scruffy and has had a couple of repairs in the past (the mono posto, not the 748 ) but the date stamp seems to suggest that it's quite an early one.
I've got the black air pressure sensor on my 916 which is a 95' California model manufactured at Varese in May 94', serial number 00066'x'.
I have a blue sensor on one of mine but not the other. They are a consumable part that no doubt many will have been changed over the years. Dating the historic changes on these bikes from 25 years ago is difficult. Not like the modern age now with camera phones and the internet where everthying is recorded and detailed verbatim. Back then you had a 12k bike and only you take one photograph as they’re 5 quid a film and 7 quid to develop for the 24 snaps including the two of your finger, one of your feet and 7 of the family with no head and shoulders.
My bike seems to confirm your sub 500 vin number theory, my bike has a 00066'x' vin number and 'straight' text on the dash -
There's a 1994 mono posto seat unit on Ebay for £600 without the seat or rear lights, it unfortunately seems profitable breaking these Varese bikes for parts looking at some of the 916 1994 part prices.
It's definitely worth braking 95 biposto bikes which have all the 94 parts for the people who feel better if their bike is "correct"
I must say the letters curving around the idiot lights isn’t my favorite Ducati design feature ever offered. Perhaps a non-Bologna 1995 916 built late enough to not have the swooshy font shall heretofore be referred to as a Varese Series II lol.
There’s a good site for early 916 bike pics on Facebook it’s Netherlands based Ducati 916 Strada it’s called although the guy who started it initially had it private and has since turned it public So one site morphs into the other.
A few of the bikes on that site have the curved lettering one of the bikes is a two digit frame bike so very earlyOne. I’m hoping this is just a pic. of a 94 916SP with the same dash.
These small and (in my opinion) inconsequential details show how ridiculous the argument for 'Varese' bikes is. The design spec for parts was clearly fluid for several of the first few years the 916 was released. We already know this, of course, as Ducati tried to fix obvious design flaws as they arose (the fairing rivets are all popping out? Yes, that was Tony's idea after he'd had 4 glasses of sangiovese with lunch...). It wouldn't surprise me though, to see folks now claim a real Varese bike has curved words on the idiot lights.
I personally don’t care what folks want to call their bikes. I’ve no interest. I do however have an interest in the early 916 bikes exactly as I do about the 72 Z1, I like to know as much as I can, it interests me and it looks like there’s a few other guys wanting to know as much as possible I don’t see a problem. Well maybe one
Ducati was nearly bust when these bikes were released. They would have no doubt had poor credit with any suppliers, hence the varied small volume numbers and different parts suppliers. If they went on stop with that supplier so onto the next. That’s commerce lads
It wouldn't surprise me though, to see folks now claim a real Varese bike has curved words on the idiot lights. [/QUOTE] I wondered where the term came from,
I think this thread has become one of the best sources available for establishing the provenance, with regards to origination and derivation, of the early Ducati 916's. As much fun as Ducati 916's are just to ride for the majority of riders (like myself), it is very important that the originality of some these ground breaking Ducati 916's is maintained for as long as possible, purely because it's part of our history that can never, ever be repeated. To me the Ducati 916 is just as significant to the history of motorcycles as the Brough Superior SS100 and Vincent Black Shadow.
