[Ducati] 98 916 model info

[Dennis Piamonte]

Hi Rich.  I pulled out my copy of the Ducati Story by Ian Falloon (c 2006) because I too had never heard of a 916R.  Here's an excerpt:

The customer 916 Racing was essentially the 955 cc bike that Fogarty had raced the previous year, and even as they came from the factory they were competitive machines.  With a total of 62 constructed, they even had to take over the new 748/916 production line to be completed.  They had the 96 x 66mm 955 cc engine that now produced a claimed 155 bhp at 11,500 rpm at the crankshaft . . . . .


I'm curious about the term "customer [xxx] Racing."

> Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:05:32 -0700
> From: bigredxrunner at yahoo.com
> Subject: Re: [Ducati] 98 916 model info
> To: ducati at ducati.net
> 
> Thanks, for the correction, I guess I was thinking of models that were sold as street bikes. But that might rule out the 916SP as well since I am not so sure how many of those actually made it to the street, someting like 50 I think but have only seen a few. I assume the 916R was actually a 955? When you start to talk about the race bikes it gets a little fuzzy. I would have to go back in the archives but wasn't Fogarty on a 955 by 96/97 and they called that a 916R???? to distinguish it from the more street 916SP which at some point was also a 955? Without diggin back into past volumes of junk I have collected over the years, I do not think there ever was a 916 with 94mm bore that had SP cams from the factory or any other race cam, I think they went right to 955 with 96mm like the next year or so after the 916 came out. which would make it 95/96 or so. I started building my old 955SP about that time and sort of used the 916SP as a blueprint. I would
>  guess the 916R of the same time period was also a 955 but I could be wrong, not much was ever written re the 916R so I do not know much about it. It was only around a year or so. But I distinguish that from any of the road bikes which the 916SP was still a roadbike. Can't imagine selling a R or RS that was truly a factory Superbike for a pittance on eBay, have seen some though but wondered as to authenticity, you would think most of the stuff that Foggy or John Kocinski rode back then would be in hands of museum or collector. Rich
> 
>

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