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Original 996 Fairings? Clearcoat Decals?

3K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  Desimoto 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

New owner of a 2001 996 monoposto as of a couple months ago. Definitely feel like I paid too much, and trying to get all the cards on the table. Picked it up in San Diego, CA from someone who mentioned it was completely stock, no leaks, 7k miles, blah blah. Still had the stock exhaust on it. Seemed legit, and seemed like the bike just overall maintenance done on it.

After staring at it for months with the fairings on and off, I keep going back and forth on if the bike was repainted or not. Of course, I was told, never wrecked, never been down, always garaged, never abused, etc.

I've pulled off the fairings and tank and they all appear to have the Ducati part numbers and stamps on them with black heat shield (not tinfoil), which makes me think they're legit (do chinese fairings fake stamps?).

Primary question I have is: on the upper fairings, are the "996 desmoquattro" stickers sealed from factory under clearcoat? From my honda cbr bikes, I've learned that clear coat over stickers mean it's been repainted or aren't factory fairings. But I've seen "new" oem fairings on ebay that appear to have clearcoat over the 996 stickers. Also, were there some factory overspray on the fairings onto the back of the fairings? Like light clearcoat overspray?

Lots of questions, and I know I should just get over it and ride, but it's been in the garage on a stand while I've slowly done full maintenance on it lol.

Thanks ahead of time!
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Hi chgeorge!

If you have not already, please start a thread in the new members section and introduce yourself.

To answer your questions, yes, the graphics are clear coated over. The decals are not buried, in other words, you should see and feel the graphics under the clearcoat, but yes, they are most definitely cleared over from the factory. Keep in mind that Ducati is a premium brand, and fit and finish is typically better than you will find on Japanese bikes, even these older Desmos.

To answer your other question, yes, there will be overspray on the back of the fairings.

One thing that may concern you if you have a non-red bike is the presence of red pigment shining through, should you get a rock chip. This is common at the v-nose area of the side fairings. At first, you may think this means the bike was red and then repainted to q different color... and you would be partially right. All of the 748, 916, 996, and 998 Superbikes started out red, and were painted to the correct colors at thefactory. Think of it as a little race heritage beneath the skin of all Ducati SB's. ? Of course, if yours is red, then you will never notice this.

A few things to concern yourself with, since you are a new Desmoquattro owner...

1. Check and see when the timing belts were last replaced. They are to be changed every 24 months, or 12,000mi., whichever comes first.

2. Check the valve shim tolerances. If you do not have a manual, I suggest investing in a Haynes shop manual... it will be a God send.

3. Change the oil, bleed the brake and clutch fluids, and service the final drive chain, if you do not know 100% for a fact that they have been done, and are still within correct mileage and timeline. Do not ever trust what the other guy says they did to maintain it.... and at 7k on the clock, I would certainly be sure to do everything scheduled, unless you have reciepts.

4. I typically recommend removing the fuel line quick disconnects, which are nylon and prone to failure, causing fuel to spill onto the vertical cylinder. Upgrading them to metal QD's is fairly simple, and can not only give you peace of mind, but possibly also save you from catastrophic failure. Same goes for the $30.00 billet fuel thermistor nut upgrade.

5. Make sure the tires are good. Not only condition, but date. A motorcycle tire should be dated within the past 5 years. There will be a four digit numeric code on the sidewall. The first two numbers indicate the week, the last two the year, or production.

6. Ride the thing! Enjoy it. The worst thing you can do for these bikes, is precisely what many people did with them... make them into really expensive living room furniture. These bikes were built for the track, so ride and enjoy it!

7. In your down time, snap and post some pics!
?

Glad to have you aboard, and welcome to the Ducati "family"! Ride safe... you have a legend in your hands!
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the replies guys! And thank you for the detailed response Desimoto. I did start a thread a few weeks ago for an introduction. Really excited to finally own my dream bike.

I definitely don't trust the previous owner, so I've done full maintenance myself. Belts, oil, oil filter, checked the sump filter (no flakes...whew), clutch/brake fluid bleed, fuel filter, spark plugs, wires.. soon to have a new chain and sprockets.

Unfortunately it does look like there's a fuel leak that hasn't been taken care of for some time :( I bought the large o-ring and the one for the sender. It looks like a billet nut was place there already. For the quick disconnects, do they typically leak from the female side? It's hard to pinpoint where the fuel is coming from due to all the gunk built up on the part. Also, does the piece with the snap ring (breather tube?) tend to fail?

Thanks again for the replies!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Thanks for the replies guys! And thank you for the detailed response Desimoto. I did start a thread a few weeks ago for an introduction. Really excited to finally own my dream bike.

I definitely don't trust the previous owner, so I've done full maintenance myself. Belts, oil, oil filter, checked the sump filter (no flakes...whew), clutch/brake fluid bleed, fuel filter, spark plugs, wires.. soon to have a new chain and sprockets.

Unfortunately it does look like there's a fuel leak that hasn't been taken care of for some time <img src="http://www.ducati.ms/forums/images/smilies/frown.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Frown" class="inlineimg" /> I bought the large o-ring and the one for the sender. It looks like a billet nut was place there already. For the quick disconnects, do they typically leak from the female side? It's hard to pinpoint where the fuel is coming from due to all the gunk built up on the part. Also, does the piece with the snap ring (breather tube?) tend to fail?

Thanks again for the replies!
Any time, happy to help! Sounds like you are right on track, and are going to have a nice little bike when you get the nit-picky stuff taken care of.

Yes, typically, the disconnects will fail at the female end, going into the fuel pump sending unit. They get brittle from the heat, then begin to crack and break. When they do break, they are a pretty big pain to replace, as you will need to extract the remaining plastic that is threaded into the housing. Better to upgrade now, and save yourself rhe hassle of them breaking later
Not only that, but the retention clip on the metal ones are much, much more solid and secure. And while you can replace the broken disconnect with an OEM replacement from Gotham City, the metal ones are about the same price, and well worth the upgrade. I'll link you to the website that mine came from. I actually did a write-up a year or so ago under my other screen name (created a new account after I forgot my password and had changed emails..... DOH!), with a how-to. I think I even wrote about how to deal with a broken off disconnector, should you face that issue as well.

As for the breather tubes, if you are referring to the ones outside the tank, they do not typically fail, but can get gunned up inside. Mine just constantly fall off the sender, but this does not lead to leaks, as the other side is closed off from the fuel. Inside the tank, you will find two more breather hoses, going to the fuel filler housing. These do not typically fail either, as they are fuel rated hoses, but can become cracked, and may occasionally collapse. Keep in mind that harsh ethanol fuels were not around when these bikes were built, and ethanol is horribly destructive on non-approved fuel system components.
 
#8 ·
Here you go, friend. I put the part numbers and comprehensive tools list on the write-up. Turn around time took about a week to get the parts in, and the entire job took around an hour, with 45 minutes of that being the extraction of the broken nylon QD. Too bad you are not in East Tennessee, I would pitch in a hand, and put my PEX tool to good use again.

https://www.ducati.ms/#/topics/713050
 
#10 ·
Just as a side note and word of caution.

There was a bike I saw once that claimed oem paint and fairings. But looking close the little gold colored torx bolts that hold the upper and lower side fairings together where red. Also the decals on the fairings where white while the tank decals where metallic silver. All the fairing decals where clear coated though.

Basically, the bike was a respray with non oem decals. Looked great but when looking closer you could clearly tell it wasn’t oem.

So just having clearcoat over the decals isn’t always a tell-tale sign of something being oem.
 
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#11 ·
Thanks everyone! And I'll try to get pics up soon. I'll probably get the metal disconnects when I do maintenance check up round 2 in a couple months /:

I ran into another issue today with the water pump cover. While changing the coolant, I figured I'd replace it. Unfortunately, I don't think the coolant was ever changed.. which lead to horrible corrosion on the gasket surfaces :( now I'm looking at spending money on a new cover and doing a JB Weld/stone job on the alternator cover...

I'm getting pretty discouraged with finding out that this bike has probably sat for awhile and all the seals are starting to go :(

Pictures coming soon!
 
#13 ·
Here are the pictures. It's flipping images upside down when I upload to the site, but I can't seem to fix it..

I'll keep my head up lol. Definitely happy to own a classic, just sad to see it was abused in the past.
 

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#16 ·
"One thing that may concern you if you have a non-red bike is the presence of red pigment shining through, should you get a rock chip. This is common at the v-nose area of the side fairings. At first, you may think this means the bike was red and then repainted to q different color... and you would be partially right. All of the 748, 916, 996, and 998 Superbikes started out red, and were painted to the correct colors at the factory."

I am no expert but I can tell you having repaired several spots on my 04 998 Matrix were the paint was worn
down to the bare plastic and a dime sized spot that something took out of the rear cowl there is no red paint
at all in any of the paint layers on my plastics.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Allow me to correct myself..... sort of.
The biposto seat cowl on my 1998 appears to be molded in white plastic, and has no red on it (unless painted red). Same thing for the airbox. The fairings, however, are red underneath, and appear to be molded in red. I have rock chips on my 1997 where the red is showing through, and the red is actually fairly prominent on the inside left fairing of my 1998 Neiman-Marcus bike, where the paint is void. The right fairings (both upper and lower) were rashed fairly well, and the plastic material itself is definitely red. The mono seat cowl on my 1997 is also red material, painted yellow.
Do you know that your panels are OEM, and have not been replaced? Maybe Ducati started molding in a color other than red, by the time the 996/998 bikes came out?
 
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