I had always ridden, owned and raced Japanese Superbikes up until one spring day in 1993 when my good buddy Scott Reif who word at Honda R&D of America designing new bikes, brought one of their newly purchased 2nd Generation Ducati 916 Superbikes on one of our regular Sunday morning rides. Scott let me ride the bike on our twisty canyon roads, and the first corner I came to the bike seem to dive into the corner without any input and railed its way through and powered out our like it was on rails. And that V-Twin punch was just icing on the cake. At that point in time it was far and away the best sportbike I had ever ridden. I had to own one.
That opportunity came a just 6 month later when an attorney friend who had bought a 916, now wanted to sell a quite a discount. It turns out back in those days Ducati didn't Lock-Tite much and the rear wheel hub nuts backed out, causing the rear wheel assembly to fall of on the freeway and throw him on the group. You don't want to do that to an attorney. Short story, I got a like new rebuilt bike by Ducati at a great price. And soon after that all Ducati's motorcycles have come with every bolt Lock-Tite with a paint check mark.
My first 916 who soon get a lot of performance modifications including an Ohlins rear shock, a Ferracci 926cc Hi-Compression Big Bore Kit, a Jerry Branch ported head, Corse Camshaft, Full Termignoni Race Exhaust and Ferracci computer re map, ISR 6-piston front brakes and Dymags Magnesium race wheels. This 926cc Special was pretty much the ultimate 2nd Generation Ducati Superbike until the release some 10 years later of the new 2002 year 996R.
Still a 2nd generation Massimo Tamburini design, the 996R featured the all-new Testastretta deep sump sand cast engine, Titanium Valves and Rods, to homologate it for World Superbike, and cure the oil starvation and breaking engine cases on the factory Corse race bikes which until then were running the biggest possible displacement 955cc engines. The power increase on the new 996R motor was nearly 40 horsepower more than the previous 916, with an equally impressive low end torque increase. The bore x stroke was 110 x 63.5 mm.
In 2003 the 996 would be renamed 998 and would also receive the new Testastretta engine, now with volume production die cast engine cases and a slightly shorter stroke stroke of 104 x 58.8 to allow it to rev higher and make more peak power on the Corse race bikes. There would also be a 998R with Titanium Valves and Rods for WSBK homologation. |
Year 2004 would see the introduction of the new 3rd Generation Ducati 999 Superbike with its all new Pierre Terblanche designed body and chassis. The new 999 was certainly more comfortable to ride than the previous generation 916-998s, but the styling didn't prove to be as popular and it possibly didn't handle as well. But the 999 came with an even more potent 998 Testastretta engine which helped compensate for any handling deficiencies, at least until the Monza World Superbike that June.
The factory Ducati Corse Superbike team had been struggling to learn how to set up the new 999RS factory race bikes that first year. Privateer Frankie Chili however, was on ad older 998F bike prepared by the legendary Bologna tuning shop NCR, which was running one of the new 999RS motors. With the old 998 chassis running the new 999R engine, Frankie had the perfect combination of Ducati handling and power, and would trounce the factory 999RS bikes to win Race Two out right at Monza that year.
Little noticed that year of 2004, what with all the fan fare of Ducati introducing the new 999 model, they started off the year by also releasing a numbered 998S Final Edition model. Fast forward 11 years later and there I am browsing the Ducati motorcycle ads on E-Bay where I see what appears to be a brad new 998S Final Edition with the much coveted Corse extended length lightweight Magnesium Swingarm/ This was the swingarm the factory team used from the 1999 season as it was said to improve handling.
I dove further into the E-bay listing to sew the bike actually was brand-new, never having been ridden, with just 2 miles of dyne running on the Speedometer. And that it had been heavily modified within a year of purchase with a 999R crate engine, Marchesini Magnesium race wheels, and a full Termignoni Ti Racing Exhaust System with computer re map, 520 Chain and Sprocket kit. The bike had been built and tuned at Ducati AMS / Advanced Motorsports in Dallas, TX.
On contacting the seller, I found his name was Michael Snoderly from Atlanta Georgia, and that he had some $40,000
invested in purchasing and building the bike, plus a $5,000 6-year storage bill from AMS. Mike told me that once the bike was complete, his US government job had transferred him to Europe, and he had to put both this modified 998S and a new Ducati Desmosedici RR into storage without having ridden either. When he finally returned back to the USA in 2012 the government Budget Sequestration of 2013 left him without a job.
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Soon Michael had to sell off his brand new, never have been ridden Ducati collection.
I made Mike an offer for his beautiful new super trick 998S Limited Edition and he accepted. A shipping company picked the bike up at Mike's house and delivered it to my local dealer Pro Italia, Glendale, CA, where it was checked out, including a good clean out of the fuel system, and installation of fresh new Pirelli tires.
I also added those beautiful NCR Titanium Adjustable and Folding Foot Controls which are the same that as Chili used on his NCR race bike back in 2004.
This new 998S is so beautiful, at first I didn't want to even ride it, but what good is a Ducati if it isn't ridden? Particularly possibly the world's finest 2nd Generation . And if I keep the miles low, it should not devalue it any.
So far I've ridden it twice on the twisty and high speed canyon roads of the santa Monica Mountains outside Los Angles and i have to say, it is the best 2nd Generation Ducati Superbike I've every ridden. The handling, particularly with the longer swingarm, is simply incredible, and the 999R engine is incredible with its broad torque and super powerful power band right off idle. It is a nicer bike overall in handling than the bigger feeling 3rd and 4th Generation Ducati Superbikes.
Only the new 5th Generation Panigale 1199 handles better. But the Testastretta 999R motor with its awesome power band, is a far more enjoyable engine to ride on the street and canyons than the new higher revving short stroke Superquadro found in the new 1199.
If you are a serious Ducati Superbike enthusiast, you need to have a 998S in your stable. An in my mind the 2nd Generation Ducati Superbike with the 998 engine is arguably the best Superbike of all time. And with a total of 6 World Superbike Crowns to its credit, its hard to argue with a record like that. - Jim Gianatsis |
