Saturday, February 4, 2012
Riding sensation Ducati’s 900SS Raw
Mike Hailwood drove kids like me mad by winning on a Ducati 900 at the 1978 TT and we’re the adults who desire these bikes today. The 900SS is a single-minded sportster that still stirs emotions, some of which don’t have a name.
The 900SS I’m riding is not as perfectly pretty as the earlier solo-seated, wire wheeled models, but it’s still long and lithe in glitzy black and gold paint. It’s all so 1978, like a flashy footballer’s bathroom. The lines and proportions of the classic Ducati half-sports fairing, clip-ons and long, stretched tank are sensational. The square engine cases, uglier sisters to the earlier and sought after round-case 750 motors, still manage to sit well with the smooth curves that make up the rest of the bike.
John Fallon of Mdina Italia, who lent us this original early Speedline cast wheel 900SS, reckons the bike’s been repainted, but the motor is unrestored (although a Lucas Rita electronic ignition has been fitted at some point). If that’s the case, it was well put together in Borgo Panigale, Bologna, all those years ago, as I’m about to discover.
