Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > General Motorcycles only > Ducati Speciale Challenge gallery on ducati.com

[KeefyB]

Originally Posted by sye73

could someone tell me a bit more about Ian Cummings bike? I'm not usully a fan of anything other than race reps, but for some reason his one looks stunning. What model is it and what is different from standard ?

This one?

Looks like a seriously blinged up 900SS FE.Cockpit fairing is non standard.

[dukess1999]

I think these are the finalists here:

http://www.ducati-upnorth.com/forum/...ead.php?t=2577

Cheers sye73, that's my bike. It's a '91 900ss with a pretty standard motor but various other upgrades (748 ti-nitride forks with Ohlins internals, slipper, 5 spoke marchesinis etc). I was aiming for something like the cafe racers of my youth (1970s) but with better everything!

[keefer]

there should be 12 bikes
interested to see the standard.
your 900ss is lush. tried to make mine look similar when I had one. But failed.
If anyone from the DSC is going I will see you there.

[chicken]

some curious comments in the upnorth forum.

I guess "Speciale" means different things to different people...

Ian, very nice SS by the way!

[bolds]

[quote=Dseered]Yep some comments made, I like the finalists bikes, I just don't understand how the Quad got through though, to me it undermines the whole competition, 'original Ducati frame ? '

Apparently the Quad has an 'original' frame

[sye73]

Originally Posted by dukess1999

I think these are the finalists here:

http://www.ducati-upnorth.com/forum/...ead.php?t=2577

Cheers sye73, that's my bike. It's a '91 900ss with a pretty standard motor but various other upgrades (748 ti-nitride forks with Ohlins internals, slipper, 5 spoke marchesinis etc). I was aiming for something like the cafe racers of my youth (1970s) but with better everything!

dukess1999, you've done a really nice job with that.
Interesting you say about the cafe racers : For some reason I have had a burning need for one of these recently! Strange really 'cos normally anything other than a modern sports bike doesnt really do much for me.I think it was when I saw a picture of a manx norton, a triton and a velocette norvel a few weeks ago that got it all going. Obviously the manx norton is financially out of reach, but maybe the other 2 are attainable... I just need to know more about them.
Do you happen to know any good sources of unbiased information on cafe racers c. 1960 ?
cheers

[dukess1999]

sye73,

don't know much about Brit cafe racers except that I like the look of them. Probably stating the obvious but the classic bike mags seem to provide a lot of useful practical and technical info, and I'm guessing web resources would be the same. I found the Gold Porfolio books by Brookland Books very useful for getting a feel for the period; they're reprints of road tests and reviews from when these bikes were brand new, and they do British marques as well as Dukes.

Here's a thread that covers a lot of the pros and cons:

http://www.ducati-upnorth.com/forum/...ead.php?t=2529

[sye73]

Originally Posted by KeefyB

This one?

Looks like a seriously blinged up 900SS FE.Cockpit fairing is non standard.

yeah, thats the one.....

[phoenix n max]

Marchesinis bike is stunning in the flesh. He was at the monster track day on it earlier this year.
Have to say that although I dont like trikes Gary Tomkins monster trike actually still looks like a monster - chunky and short and very nicely done.

Good luck to one an all

[chicken]

My point is that what is special to one person may not be to another.

Take the quad. I don't like quads, I don't know the owner and I've never seen it in the flesh. However, it must have taken some serious imagination, fabrication and time to get it to the point where it looks like it could have rolled off a production line. and inspirational to use a seat unit as a nose cone! To me, that is special.

Bolting on a bunch of off-the-shelf goodies may actually cost more money to do but if its not done in a cohesive fashion will end up being less special to me.

But like I said in the first line, it's all a matter of opinion. If you're allowed to have one then so is everyone else.