Shifting Gears #3 - Finding a New Home for my Ducati 900 SS MHR

As some of you know, my spouse and I are currently back in Scotland where I grew up as a wee lad and where I still feel a wonderful sense of home. We are walking the streets, talking to locals, getting a feel for neighborhoods in central Scotland as we are looking for a property here to escape the heat of the Tucson summers and to get involved in a local community. It is exciting, busy and it is becoming clear that what we want in a home will require a little more cash. As a result, this new chapter of our life will require some difficult decisions and with a heavy heart, I am going to put my favorite "canyon carver", my late 1970's Ducati 900 ss MHR (Mike Hailwood Replica) up for sale. My MHR has lived in my shop office when she's not on a Ducati club ride charging up the mountain roads and canyons from sea level up to Mt Lemmon at 10k feet level. This is not because she's too precious to ride, quite the opposite. She's there because every time I walk past her, I am reminded of the first time my heart raced when I heard the "booming" exhaust note of that big bevel drive Duke fire up. In my opinion, the Ducati 900 ss bevel drive perfectly combines the Italian engineering brilliance and the genius of Dr Fabio Taglioni and wrapped in the artistry of Italian Design that only the greats like Michelangelo could conceive. 

As I have owned this beautiful Ducati 900 ss MHR for decades now, I have worked tirelessly to improve the performance and reliability in order to ensure that this is the best version of this street based motorcycle from installing modern Marvic magnesium "Campy" wheels, 38 mm SmartCarb flat-slide carburetors, Hand Held Dyno Digital Ignitions by OEM Digital, and our Ducati 900 F1 NCR styled carbon fiber fairing. As we are dealers for each of these manufacturers it has always made sense to test these significant upgrades on my Ducati 900 ss MHR. These modern Marvic magnesium wheels (as shown above) transform the already exceptional handling of the Ducati 900ss MHR platform into something truly special. Weight reduction where it matters most — unsprung and rotational — and the kind of rigidity that lets the chassis speak directly to the road. What you are looking at is a "sorted" motorcycle. Every modification has been made with one goal in mind: to make a great machine better — more reliable, more responsive, more capable on the roads it was built to conquer. The Ducati 900SS MHR is a rare thing: a classic that has been improved rather than compromised. Therefore, this favorite Ducati bevel drive deserves a rider who will push it hard and use it. She deserves a rider if not a racer; Not a display stand. As an aside, my MHR has never been raced nor been crashed in all this time. 

The original carburetors have been replaced with a pair of 38mm SmartCarb flat-slide units, and the difference is immediately apparent. What sets the SmartCarb apart from conventional setups is the pressurized float bowl — a design that delivers linear, consistent performance whether you're cruising at sea level or pushing hard up to 10,000 feet to the top of Mt. Lemmon. No pulling over to re-jet or fiddle with adjustments. No flat spots as the altitude climbs. The engine responds the same way at the bottom of the mountain as it does at the summit. For a machine that was made for mountain roads and almost 50 years old, this is not a minor upgrade — it changes everything. The current version of the SmartCarb combined with excellence in Italian engineering demonstrates what absolute peak performance sounds and feels like through the 2:1 race exhaust. The Ducati bevel drive twin is not just a motorcycle engine. It is a statement. If you've never heard one come to life for the first time, words cannot give it justice. If you have, you already know exactly what I'm talking about. With the addition of the SmartCarbs we did find 11% more power-to-the- ground than with the stock DellOrto's. On my Italianiron.com website, I have written 16 blog posts on the successes that we have had across a range of Ducati twin cylinder engines using our SmartCarb flat-slide carburetors. 

As shown above is the installation of Michael Arnott's Hand Held Dyno Digital Ignition kit by OEM Digital that in addition to the SmartCarb flat-slide carbs allowed us to pin point and maximize performance for our Ducati 900 ss bevel drive engine. It is a brilliant piece of kit and we installed it on our Ducati Pantah 750 with outstanding results and now on my old Ducati 750 Desmo "Round Case" racer. We found the installation and wiring diagram for the Hand Held Dyno digital Ignition extremely easy to follow and it is very user-friendly to the installer regardless of their level of experience and skill. We found the Hand Held Dyno kit to be truly "Plug and Play" as our Ducati 900 ss MHR bevel drive started up extremely easily on the first kick. The real genius of this kit, however, are the diagnostic tools that can bring out the mximum potential of these brilliant vintage engines that connect via bluetooth to your Smart Phone. As a result, this system can provide the rider with data as simple as voltage regulation to balancing your carburators and Air Fuel Ratios just for a start. And this data is all available in the palm of your hand. This system provides vital information without needing to remove bodywork to check the baseline of your engine performance before that ride. 

The chassis is original. The fuel tank is original. But mounted up front is our own Ducati 900 F1 NCR fairing in carbon fiber — a piece that transforms the visual presence of the bike while shedding weight and improving aerodynamics. This is not a fairing bolted on for looks. It is the right fairing for a machine like this — purposeful, aggressive, and beautiful in the way that only Italian design can be. My approach has been to always embrace Ducati's racing passion and heritage which is why I build almost exclusively "race-reps". If the buyer does not like my tribute to the Sports Motorcycles TT racer, I can supply an unpainted Ducati 900 F1 NCR fairing in fiberglass. Similarly, the state of Arizona, US does not require turn signals on vintage machines but we have mounted BMW bar-end turn signals on the end of the clip-on's where that customer required it. This allows us to remain legal while maintaining the race aerodynamics and our tribute to racing history that is our trademark. Our 2:1 is a race exhaust system, however, we welded in "some" baffling to be legal enough here. Otherwise, this MHR is "Loud, Proud and Italian"!! This is not a collector's machine as it has been used lovingly and thoroughly. Let me be direct about that and the list price will reflect that. This is a rider's machine — sorted, enhanced, and built to be used hard on mountain roads. When we return next week I will build a listing with pricing, frame number, engine number and proof of US title to post on my Italianiron.com website. Looking for an enthusiast who is passionate about the Ducati bevel drives as me and will be a good steward of this brilliant machine!!