851 tricolere spotted.
 

I was over at Ely motorcycle spares yesterday and could'nt help noticing the nice 851 Tricolere they had in the shop window.Was in a bit of a hurry so did'nt get any details,but she sure did look purdy.Apart from carbon cans,(gutted and sleaved origionals?) it was exactly as it came out of the factory.
Might be worth a look if anyone was after one of these rare beasts.:)

I've only ever seen one in the flesh and didn't think it was as nice as the later red ones, but maybe that's just me:D

I seem to remember that they had a smaller front wheel which made them handle strangely in comparison to later models.....but perhaps I just dreamed that one?

No you are right. They had 16" wheels in 1988.

Yep,16" Marvics,...similar to the early Superlights.

yup, but the 92 model superlight, the only one with marvics had 17"
IIRC the first 851 also had slightly different geometry which was changed when they went to 17" brembo wheels in 89.

Do you have a email address of this shop?
Or a url?