BRITDUC

The 1997 Ducati 916SPS is a unicorn

Every bike has a story...

As some might know, the 916SPS was the first 916 with an 996 motor and was homogenized for the SBK race series of the day. Ducati sold most of these bikes to race teams but few were sold to private entities, this bike was one of said few. When I was getting into Ducati's there was a fellow in my town that was racing Ducati's at LRRS in NH (the series I later ran in) and he would have his bike serviced at a friends shop which I would frequent. On a few occasions I would see his 1996 916 and later his 1997 916SPS and would essentially sit and start at the bike.

Much like the 851Special, this gent became a friend and the bike later came to my shop for a possible rebuild that I never had the time to do. Over the years I figured this fellow had these bikes still stashed somewhere and that old itch came back and would not leave me alone. Much of this was that it was fun to build the 851special because it was owned by a friend, this bike carried that same story and they both were in my shop together 15 years before but both were neglected by me as my priorities changed.