Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 999 / 749 > New Biposto With Ohlins? Are you sure?

[Harry S]

'We've got something a bit special for you H, don't worry, but we're not telling you what - we think you'll be pleasantly suprised'.... So, you've just spent your dosh on a 999 Biposto, had Termi's fitted straight off (well you have to don't you?) and you're not quite sure what to expect... yellow? Please no.

Turned up on Saturday at Ducati London South to pick up the new 999 and walked into the showroom expecting to see it occupying pride of place ready for me to gingerly ride it back through the damp streets of Croydon, Merton and Wimbledon.. Except there isn't a biposto to be seen. Three bikes lined up in the middle of the showroom - an R, an S and another Biposto S... all shiny with fat Ohlins forks to differentiate them form the normal Biposto...

'So what do you reckon?' asks Martin..' Yeah, nice bikes, shame I'm not prepared to fork out for anything other than a BP thanks mate - where's mine?'

'You've got you hand on it' says Martin.
'No, this is an S - Ohlins forks and a double seat - bit weird, but there you go'
'No, H; that's a Biposto - one of only a few in the country that Ducati have seen fit to place Ohlins forks on. It's yours - told you you'd be pleasantly suprised!'
'*@... me!'

So, cutting a long story short, it seems that I have walked away (well, wobbled) with a 999 Biposto fitted, courtesy of Ducati, with a sexy set of Ohlins - the difference is amazing between my 998 and the Showas it had, and the Ohlins on this bike

So what's going on? Are Ducati about to launch the 999 with Ohlins as standard? Why fit a set of Ohlins to a BP for no particular reason?


Got to extend my thanks to Martin, Marcello and the boys at Ducati London South for sorting this bike out for me - it's fantastic, even without the Ohlins; but they just make a great package even better. I'm really, really, really chuffed.

[Lee1980]

Wow, Harry thats well good, what a great suprise to.

If that was my dealer they would have been swapped for showas before I got there and sold on

[Ray]

Will this do as a theory?

The man, or more likely woman, at the factory went to the Showa shelf and oh dear no forks. The Ohlins shelf was full so there you go!


The price difference is not massive and its better than bringing the production run to a halt??

As an added bonus the customer is over the moon!!

Ray

[Jools]

Yep, sounds like Rays theory is right.

Nobody, from supermarkets and retailers to manufacturers, have huge amounts of parts in stock now. Everybody uses the Just-in-time supply chain approach.

Forks cost money to buy from whatever supplier, so unless Ducati can sell the forks on quickly (and that naturally means nailing them onto a bike) they're just another inventory overhead which ties up money.

So it could be simply that the Showa lorry got stuck in traffic and didn't arrive that day. How many bikes would Ducati make in a day? They wouldn't be paid for these bikes until they were delivered, so they would be loathe to lose a days production if they had a stack of Ohlins lying about, cos they would lose far more money by halting production than paying the additional cost of the Ohlins

[nathanhu]

hi harry,
this seems to tie in with whats just happened over here in germany ,
999 bp with öhlins forks
the bikes over here also have a few carbon parts fitted as standard e.g. cam covers and front mudguard
they call it the DMD( Ducati Motor Deutschland) limited edition but i dont know if it cost any more than the standard one

[chris999]

could be a "s" in biposto ,there are a few around, i nearly went for one, it was a 2003 model 0n an 04 plate-this dragged the price down a bit....

well done,, sounds like you dipped in !!!

[nathanhu]

i m 100% sure that it was a normal biposto that i saw as it had no öhlins rear shock

[Ray]

I have just come across another at Ducati Leeds.

Take look at their Website

www.ducatileeds.co.uk then click on the special offer button.

Regards,

Ray

[chris999]

riders of brigdewater had 1 999 bip with ohlins on front only.
selling for £11700ish.
apparently ther are a few dozen kicking around..
riders are also offering interest free on it...

[Twinfan]

Ducati Manchester have one in the showroom and it's only £250 more than the regular model. Bit of a bargain I reckon...