Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > 916 or 996

[Dave B]

As your probably aware I'm on the look out for a Duke My budget it between £5500 - £6000, what will that get me(the newer the better)?
And what is the differance between a 916 and a 996, advantages, disadvantages?

Hi Dave,

The simplest rule is to buy the newest & best looked after example you can find. There are a few for sale in our own Market Place.

The difference between the 916 & 996 is just the larger capacity engine between the two (916cc or 996cc).

The real difference in models comes with the varients, ie Biposto, S, SPS, R etc ... and the extras you get the further up the range you go ... Ohlins Forkd, Shocks, Dampers etc ...

Just find the best one you can for your money ...

Hope thats some help mate ...

[muttsnuts]

Dave, pretty much what Dibble has said (hi Dib's, hows the bike??)

The 996 has a more powerful engine (unless you get one of the 916 specials, which you won't for £6k ).

The thing to look out for is a full service history and a 1 or 2 owner model is a better bet than a 5 or 6 owner one.

Make sure that its had belts done at regular intervals and check out the general condition and spec of machine. Have a look through the archives here to see the differences between model types, you can pay alot extra for a 'tricked up' bike, but it might be hiding something, so be careful - like with anything really.

If you are offered/see one 'dripping in carbon' this that and the other, and the owner states thousands have been spent on extras - that maybe true, but it doesn't add that much to the value to be honest. If buying from a dealer, be careful, they will want top dollar for it chances are and they may not be a Ducato dealer and know nothing about them !

Some models/ages have suffered various problems, the biggest being flaking cams, but its not a model/year thing, just certain bikes suffer it, this has been discussed to death on here and the general opinion seems to be that it depends on how they are treated by the owners and whether you are just unlucky to get ones with slightly soft cams - its a real mixed box. - Don't be put off by this, we have a lot of members and visitors to this site and not many have suffered this problem and most have had it sorted under warranty anyway.

If you can find a 998 (difficult, but not impossible for £6k) then you might be better to get one of these, some prefer the 996 to the 998, but its mainly an engine thing and little in it performance wise, although the 998 is meant to be more refined - I own a 996s so I can't comment personally, but I am sure somebody here will be able to clarify that one !

check the archives and if you find one and its not on here, post the details and ask for opinions on the price/value etc, we might be a mad bunch, but we are honest !!

Mutts

[Ray]

If you get an early 1999 or ealier 996bip you get three spoke wheels and no titanium nitride on the forks.

from 2000 onwards they had the grey/silver five spoke wheels, the frame was silver grey to match and Ti nitride on the forks. You night even get an Ohlins rear shock.

6K should buy you a 2000 or later 996

Be cafefull about the model year you are buying, so of these bike hang around in showrooms for a while, quite often the year of registration doesn't tie up wiyht the model year.

Yo get a good idea of prices/specs go tp the bike section of www.autorader.co.uk

Theres a 2000 spec 996 bip on there athe moment looks nice with termis on. 12k miles W reg, £5,500.

Ray