Fully restored 1981 Ducati 900 SSD that has been rebuilt from the crank-up. Frame number is DM900SD*950999. Ian Falloon in his book, Ducati 860,900, & Mille Bible on page 84 states that, “Although not as lithe and lean as the 900 Super Sport, the 900 SSD was one of Ducati’s more successful styling exercises.” This Ducati blended the best of the aggressiveness of the 900 SS and offered a stable and comfortable platform for the street rider. A very sought after model with only 1400 built.
The boxes of bits for this Ducati Bevel Drive 900 SSD came in a large bevel drive inventory that I purchased from Biggelaar Specialty Performance, a third generation Ducati dealer in The Netherlands. It has been a real privilege to work with the talented Ducati engine builders at Biggelaar who restored the engine from the “crank-up”.
Jan and Toine Biggelaar, as well as their team of experts, are very talented racers and tuners in their own right. Their expertise is obvious with the care and attention to detail that they put into this engine build. This engine, number DM860*900527 started its life as a Darmah with the smaller valves. The crank was magna-fluxed and balanced with the new lightened Super Sport rods. Toine used Hasting piston rings on Borgo Super Sport pistons. All bearings, to include the main engine bearings, are new and not the cheap items that can be found on the internet. Viton valve guides that are hardened to use with modern fuels were also installed. All transmission gears that needed replacing were replaced with NOS items. Additionally, the bevel gears in the bottom end of the engine were tested and replaced as well as a new clutch and internals.
The engine cases were also pressure tested and any hairline cracks or imperfections were professionally welded and fixed. New piston sleeves were bored professionally to take the Super Sport Borgo pistons and we used 900 SS heads with new rockers and Desmo valve gear. This race spec engine picks up revs very quickly and starts immediately with the rebuilt electric starter motor. As a race prepped 900 SS engine, it comes with 40 mm Del Orto’s connected by rubber boots for better insulation to the Malossi manifolds! She truly performs as well as she looks.
The header pipes have been re-chromed and mount into a set of new Conti Replica exhaust pipes. I have the original Lafranconi exhaust mufflers, but I felt that it was sacrilegious not to use anything other than a Conti style muffler for that wonderful exhaust note.
The 18” Oscam wheels have replaced the scary Speedline wheels that were common on this SuperSport as we did not wish to subject the new owner to Speedline’s dubious history of breaking. I have used NOS Dual Front Disc Brakes with new Brembo F08 calipers and stainless steel lines though covered in black rubber to look vintage. I use a modern Brembo master cylinder with the calipers as I believe that this is a safer configuration for the street. I used the black “dog-leg” lever to match the black “dog-leg” lever off of the Tommaselli clutch lever. Pirelli Speed Demon rubber is new and measures 100/90/18 at the front and 120/80/18 at the rear.
We also rebuilt the Marzocchi front forks that came with this SuperSport. Totally restored Marzocchi rear shocks hold up the rear of the bike. The unique front fairing of the 900 SSD was provided by Phil at Road & Race. New Nippon Denso gauges are mounted to the front fairing bracket.
The bodywork and fuel tank have been fixed where needed and painted . We painted the bodywork with the original silver and added the blue decals from CutGrafix. Tony O’Connor of Eldorado Seat Restoration provided the seat cover to his exacting standards. I am pleased with how the colour scheme of the bike worked out and it is very satisfying to be getting the accolades on Social Media or when the bike is in public.
As this Ducati 900 “SuperSport” SSD was built for spirited but reliable riding on the street, we made our own wiring harness/loom and use modern, more reliable materials with original connectors as well a upgraded fuse box. Dyna coils were used for greater reliability. Our philosophy is to keep the soul of the vintage bike but upgraded with modern components for safety and for reliability purposes. We have kept the turn signals for states or countries that require them. All of the original items that were replaced by the new modern, more reliable items have been kept.
In conclusion, the engine has run long enough for tuning of the carbs and for one test ride. Other than that, this is as new as one can get with a motorcycle that was originally built in the early 1980’s. Toine Biggelaar can speak to the full engine build and he can be reached at info@biggelaar-performance.com . This machine carries a clear, valid US title for Arizona. I can be reached by phone at 520-730-7576 or through my e-mail address, italianiron@msn.com. We will work to answer all questions. Will work hard to make shipping of this magnificent machine to your location as easy as is possible. Feel free to visit the bike here in Arizona.