Final: Ducati 916

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Final: Ducati 916

The powerful Ducati 916

It is one of the most beautiful motorcycles of the past decades. And complements external beauty with great internal values.

B.ei us it wasn’t love at first sight. There were two reasons. On the one hand, I instinctively keep my distance when something is cheered up somewhere. On the other hand, in the spring of 1994 I was busy with the consequences of a different kind of soaring, namely a hearty highsider, when the 916 hype began. I first came into contact with her at the beginning of June – on business, of course. At that time I worked for the sports motorcycle magazine PS, I had to do a comparison test between her and a Yamaha YZF 750 R and followed all the rules of reason. For example, those who want to postpone work with an increased scrap risk, i.e. take the still photos first, but take the stunt photos later.

Final: Ducati 916

The powerful Ducati 916

Ducati 851 and 888, an ordeal. Between 30 and 50 screws, nuts and washers of all kinds were then in the puzzle, plus the classic brackets of the brand bending wire-on-sheet-metal-pizzled plus brackets from the bracket and whatever else there were at large-scale atrocities. And still there.

Not with the 916. After removing ten quick-release fasteners, five screws and two plastic pins, as well as unplugging a plug and two fuel lines (also with quick-release fasteners), it was standing in front of the photographer without paneling, tank and seat. I was deeply impressed. Clever minds had given a lot of thought.

Then it was time for the driving photos in Hockenheim. And as always in the first half of 1994, there was no 916 driving image on the slide film on which not PS test boss Michael Pfeiffer himself moved the noble piece. It was already later in the afternoon when I presented him, who is now MOTORRAD’s editor-in-chief, with the following alternative: If he continues to occupy the Ducati, he should kindly write the comparison test himself or I would come to the pretty , powerful red one to train. He saw that right away. Probably because the tank was empty anyway.

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Narrow engine, tight-fitting cladding, raised silencers – this is how the 916 enables inclined positions to beyond the limit of detention.

I emptied the freshly filled tank in one go. In intimate togetherness with the 916 during Monday training. Certainly we have been overtaken by very fast people a few times, but we have overtaken others far more often. Because the 916 was fast, or rather, it made me fast. Especially in the corners. We later verified this with measurements, but it was also felt. When we hissed through the curves with the dashing vehemence of a full blow of the saber, I felt like the point of the blade. However, only after the muddy condition of the front brake had stabilized and the braking points were fixed. When I returned to the paddock, I came from a great distance.

Only now, after she had shown me that she was no designer pattern, that she combined functionality and good looks, that she, as a member of the Italian motorcycle nobility, felt obliged to the concerns of her bourgeois mechanics, was I able to really appreciate her elegant appearance. A few years later I saw a Duc – a successor to the 916, the 996 R with the first Testastretta engine – convert a skeptic. It was exactly the same as with me. Countless laps in Hockenheim, parking with an empty tank and worn tires, taking a few steps back and looking for a long, very long time without saying a word.

It is clear that some things were put into perspective over time and we discovered other weaknesses of the 916 in addition to the inadequate braking system: The heavy original three-spoke wheels developed powerful gyroscopic forces and pulled the motorcycle when accelerating in an inclined position as if by magic towards the exit of the bend. In addition, the tubular steel rear frame of the later Biposto models weighed so much more than the aluminum frame of the first Monoposti that the handiness was noticeably reduced. But no 916 has ever needed more than the light rear frame and lighter wheels as well as a decent braking system in the hands of a hobby racer. Even today you are fast on the racetrack with a machine prepared in this way. 16 years, 16 racing ages after their debut.

This can only be achieved by a motorcycle that is of the same high quality outside and inside, and is even permeated by high standards in all areas. If you visit it at the MOTORRAD booth at Intermot, please give it a deep look.

Technical specifications

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The stripped 916 is not uncomplicated, but well thought out. Undressing takes less than ten minutes.

Engine:
Water-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke 90-degree V-engine, four valves per combustion chamber, desmodromically actuated by two camshafts via rocker arms, bore x stroke 94 x 66 millimeters, 916 cm³, 83 kW (113 hp) at 9000 rpm, ignition – / injection system, passage 50 mm, electric starter, dry clutch, primary drive via gears, six-speed gearbox, chain drive.

Landing gear:
Steel tubular frame, upside-down fork at the front, single-sided swing arm with spring strut and lever system at the rear, double disc brake with four-piston fixed calipers at the front, single-disc brake with two-piston fixed caliper at the rear, 17-inch cast wheels front / rear, single bench seat.

Measurements and weight:
Weight fully fueled 210 kg, tank capacity 17 liters, top speed 254 km / h.

Price: 27,900 marks (1994)

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