748SPS renovation

I

ibgarrow

Active member
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]I've picked up a '98 748 SPS in a poor state - no fairings, no headlights/headlight mounting, and water pump cover missing (suspect it's been dropped, but no serious damage to lock stops, forks or swingarm.)
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Rusty - left out in the rain, but at least they're authentic discs
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Carbon Termis on 50 mm link pipes
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plus the standard cans with both ECUs
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I've managed to source another yellow set of fairings (from a 748S). Apparently mine should only have "Ducati" on with no number, but I think finding those would be unlikely - there aren't many SPSs about. I'll be selling off the extra Biposto seat unit, tank and airbox if anyone needs them.
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I've spent today removing the exhaust for cleaning up, and perhaps things aren't as bad as I first thought ( I had to travel 600 miles to pick everything up, and at first sight it was very depressing!)
More images here http://s877.photobucket.com/user/ibgarrow/slideshow/748SPS

If anyone has, or knows of a headlight unit, complete with metal support and mirror stalks, or a 4-bolt water pump cover, or alternator cover plate, please PM me!
 
I've sent the VIN and engine numbers off to Sophia at Ducati so that she will (hopefully!) confirm it's an authentic SPS. It has all the hallmarks: alloy subframe, braided lines, Ohlins at the back, 2 sets of silencers with ECUs, oil cooler. It even has a full Ducati toolkit, but no cover or stand unfortunately.

Once I've sourced the water pump covers, I'll change the belts and fluids, then look for parts to finish the fairing fitting.

I'll be back asking for help as things come to light.
 
Re the water pump cover - I bought new from Ducati (circa £100 inc VAT). At the time there were a few on international ebay for the same money, however most were damaged.
 
Had to go international and import one from USA - still, they've sold me a nice-looking one-I hope it arrives as it looks
 
Parts

Hi Ian,
Check out ducati parts online they have headlight bucket and water pump cover and prices are reasonable.i have bought bits from them before and they are ok.
 
Progress update: spent the time cleaning/de-rusting, checking, disassembling and putting back again.
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Discs done - they're the full-floating cast iron originals in good nick underneath
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45-50 mm exhaust system de-rusted and cleaned. Not to mirror finish, I'm afraid, but at least respectable.
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And the previous owner's found the crank position sensor. I've got lights and light support coming next week, but had to get a 4-bolt water pump cover from the States, as everyone in the UK drops their bike on the left-hand side and ruins them. Funnily, I can't find a protective cover a la R & G for the 748.

So now it's bolt together, a full service, fingers crossed and fire up... More soon.
 
Thanks-got one coming from USA but other sources good to have.

Now I just have to wait for all the bits to arrives and stick them on.
 
Now I feel like an idiot. The bike was sold as an SPS and the vendor spoke confidently about it. The place where he had it serviced etc. said it was "a standard SPS" when I rang them. I asked the vendor for the frame and engine numbers but Ducati Customer Services in Bologna couldn't trace it as the format was wrong, so I picked it up on the vendor's say so, checking the frame numbers myself and sending them off to Sophia at Ducati (wonderful person)
Unfortunately, the bike comes back as a '97 SP, not a '98 SPS, so instead of a very rare bike worth around £5K in good nick, I have a less-rare one worth £1500 less. I don't fancy my chances of recovering the full difference from the seller, who maintains it's an SPS - does anyone know of any visible differences between the two models (I know the SPS has titanium rods but I'm not dismantling the engine to check)
 
Further checking by Ducati CS reveals that the frame is an SP and the rest is SPS. this'll make it interesting to sell - the SP and SPS frames are identical, but it's never going to be the same as the original pairing, and Any check with Ducati will throw up the discrepancy and cause problems. Looks like I'll have to keep it...
 
Is the engine/frame # combination original?

I would like to suggest you make use the the absolutely wonderful V888 form Which for a fiver will get you photocopies and full history. I can't tell you how brilliant it is for a fiver.

It has a dual purpose - to allow individuals with fair reason to track down another owner, also to allow owners to recover lost docs/history for their own machinery.

You'll see what it was originally and what the original numbers were.

Takes a few weeks, BTW - they do 'quite a lot'.
 
Thanks. I'm still awaiting the V5 to see whether it has the correct frame number-if not, there's another issue to deal with. Once I have this, I'll definitely by using the V888 form to find out when it changed frame. I've refrained from getting stroppy for a refund as the vendor still has the V5 and other parts he's promising. Once I've got these secure, I'll definitely be talking money with him!
 
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