Bike of the month -- My 93 888 SPO

[bulldog002]

Year: 1993
Model: 888 SPO
Eng size: 955
Pipes: 50mm full Spaghetti Exhaust System with Carbon Staintune cans
Seat: Leather
Wheels: Marchesini 3 spoke Magnesium Wheels
Accessories: Tons


The story:

Second owner, at 390 lbs, this bike is 60 lbs lighter than original, and at 130 true rear wheel hp, it has 30% more than stock, giving it a remarkable power to weight ratio. The chassis modifications consist of 100% Carbon Fiber Body Work (including fuel tank), Marchesini 3 spoke Magnesium Wheels, Titanium Axles, Brembo Floating Rotors, and a generous treatment of Titanium Hardware holding all the beautiful light-weight pieces together. Titanium bolts fasten the brake rotors, calipers, caliper halves, axle pinch bolts, triple clamp pinch bolts, shock bolts and nuts, sub frame, rear sets foot pegs, fairing mounts, and more.

The Carbon Fiber body work was installed with great care and precision to assure a superb fit. A paint scheme was designed to tastefully expose and highlight selected portions of the Carbon Fiber. The Ferrari Red paint and clear coat is Imron Polyurethane, and you'll have to look long and hard to find a nick or a scratch. The fuel tank is custom made of Carbon Fiber and is dimensionally 1/2 inch narrower between your legs to allow better body movement while hangin' off. The underneath tunnel of the tank is larger to accommodate a taller carbon fiber air box lid and a carbon fiber pressurized air box base, yet the capacity of the tank remains the same as the standard 4.5 gals due to careful design of the bottom tunnel and sides. The air box is custom designed to mate to the Corsa Dual Injector Throttle Bodies, and to fit a K&N filter, which is too tall for the stock air box lid. Most guys just cut off the back end of the air box lid to accommodate the K&N, but then the engine is breathing hot air off the cylinders, and losing HP as a result. This air box remains sealed, so it breathes cool ram air from the stylish custom carbon fiber air inlet ducts, which replace the inefficient, cheap and ugly corrugated flexible air ducts on the standard SPO. These air ducts will flow a lot more air and the air box will pressurize, substantially increasing HP as speed rises.

After completing all the chassis mods, and with 15,000 miles on the odometer, it was now time to coax more power from the motor. That task was assigned to long time Ducati Guru, Scott Waters of Moto Servizio. Scott used mostly Ducati factory "Corsa" parts, including Corsa racing engine center cases for reliability. The first day he finished the engine, we put the bike up on the Dyno at European Cycles, and it honked out 130 hp and 85 ft lbs torque. Then we jettisoned the stock flywheel in favor of a super light Nichols flywheel which is three pounds lighter, and also an aluminum clutch basket, and the difference was incredible.

The real test is out on the road, and this thing has gobs of torque and horsepower, superb throttle response, it accelerates lightning quick, and it's plenty fast. I know this for sure...I've dragged raced a 916 S, a 996, a 998, and a 999 (133 claimed hp), and it beats 'em all quite easily, even on the top end at 150 mph and above. This engine pulls from as low as 2500 rpm, and starts to make very usable power at 4000 rpm, and at 6000 rpm it's pulling hard. At 7000 rpm the front wheel floats a couple inches off the ground all the way through the first 3 gears, and it begins to bellow out a symphonic harmony between the intake of the Corsa Carbon Fiber Velocity Stacks and the Spaghetti Exhaust System to create an Italian V-Twin Concerto unlike anything else you've ever heard. Speed builds blindingly fast while the motor quickly revs to the 12,000 redline, where the soft-rev-limiter cuts in to remind you to shift to the next gear.

This bike is one-of-a-kind and second-to-none for quality, fit, and finish. It will stand out in a sea of every-day Ducatis, and attract plenty of attention wherever it goes. This motorcycle is fast enough for track days, and yet it is reliable enough to ride on weekend canyon rides, and after all that, it's still beautiful enough to display in your living room. Oh yeah, and it's also loads of fun spanking your buddies with their brand new bikes on this 15 year-old classic. "How old is that thing?" they'll be saying..."and it's only an 888?" ( you don't have to tell them it's a 955 ! )


CHASSIS MODIFICATIONS;

CARBON FIBER FUEL TANK
DUCATI "CORSA" CARBON FIBER FAIRINGS COMPLETE
DUCATI "CORSA" CARBON FIBER SEAT / TAIL SECTION
REAL ITALIAN LEATHER SEAT COVER WITH CARBON FIBER BASE
CARBON FIBER UNDER SEAT TRAY AND LICENSE PLATE HOLDER
CARBON FIBER FRONT FENDER
CARBON FIBER REAR FENDER
CARBON FIBER INLET DUCTS
CARBON FIBER AIRBOX BASE
CARBON FIBER AIRBOX LID
DUCATI "CORSA" CARBON FIBER LARGE BELL VELOCITY STACKS
CARBON FIBER BATTERY BOX
CARBON FIBER CLUTCH COVER
CARBON FIBER CHAIN ADJUSTERS
MARCHESINI 3 SPOKE MAGNESIUM WHEELS
TITANIUM AXLES
BREMBO 320Mmm FLOATING ROTORS
NISSIN 17mm FRONT BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER
CARBON FIBER REAR CALIPER BRACKET
POLISHED STAINLESS STEEL FULL SPAGHETTI EXHAUST SYSTEM
CARBON FIBER MUFFLERS
PRO ITALIA FOOT PEGS AND LEVERS
STORZ PERFORMANCE CLIP-ON HANDLEBARS
STAINLESS BRAIDED CLUTCH AND BRAKE HOSES
GUSTAFSSON PLASTICS DUCATI FACTORY CORSA WINDSCREEN
WHITE POWER STEERING STABILIZER
ALUMINUM SUB-FRAME
TITANIUM NUTS AND BOLTS ON 95% OF CHASSIS, WHEELS & SUSPENSION

ENGINE MODIFICATIONS BY SCOTT WATERS @ MOTOSERVIZIO

955cc DISPLACEMENT ( 96mmBORE, 66mm STROKE )
DUCATI "CORSA" RACING ENGINE CENTER CASES
DUCATI "CORSA" OMEGA 12 1/2 TO 1 FORGED PISTONS
DUCATI "CORSA" DUAL INJECTOR THROTTLE BODIES
DUCATI "CORSA" VLO3 EPROM CHIP FUEL MAPPING
DUCATI "G" INTAKE CAMS
DUCATI "B" EXHAUST CAMS
CARILLO RODS
FLOW PORTED CYLINDER HEADS
LARGE CAPICITY OIL COOLER
NICHOLS FLYWHEEL (3.5 LBS LIGHTER THAN STOCK)
CARBON FIBER CLUTCH COVER
DUCATI PERFORMANCE ALUMINUM CLUTCH BASKET WITH TIATANIUM BOLTS
DUCATI PERFORMANCE BILLET ALUMINUM PRESSURE PLATE
BARNETT ALUMINUM CLUTCH PLATES
TPO CLUTCH BRACE WITH TITANIUM BOLTS
(TOTAL CLUTCH PACKAGE IS 3.1 LBS LIGHTER THAN STOCK)

[bulldog002]

Couple more pics:

[redgea4]

Beautiful!

[fanj400]

Awesome bike..

[corks67]

omg pure bike porn

[jcsport]

What a machine!

[RevJunky]

Very nicely put together!

[jogreeen]

Nice. I feel like going for a ride now.

[46thedoctor]

thats a nice bike

[RossaGT]

Incredibly well executed! Beautiful bike!