Ducati 748 Model History

[Wilf]

Originally Posted by Dan

How much information.... fantastic effort Wilf, thanks! This thread is really coming together now....

Two Spoke wheels.... sounds dangerous!

Hmm just checking someone was reading my post !!! hehehe

Originally Posted by Dan

My 'E' is listed as a 2002 but has the side vents, so is my duke a 2001, or are you saying the changes were just applicable to the 'R'? Also got no quick release on the fuel hoses.

That'll be a 2001 S model then, there are very few of the MY02 models about most 02 reg bikes are 01 models. all 748 MY02 bikes has the flat sided fairings. E S were the same, R had Black fairing decals.

[gordonp]

Hi, I am lucky enough to have a 97 748SP, I belive that they were not part of the "official" UK range and Moto Cinelli brought a few in to test the water as the list price was 13.5K. From what I have read approx 200-230 were produced in this series (96/97) 98 saw them introduced into the UK with MPH speedo etc

I would confirm that all the above agrees with the spec on mine, at the moment I have travelled 58K kilometers and found no problems with the engine, just a few voltage regulators and still with this milage , no smoke, doesn't use oil and runs as sweet as a nut.

I have had alot of fun on this bike over the years and it is great to swop between the 999 and this as they behave or have to be ridden in slightly different ways.

Thanks for compiling this ino I do have a book at home which might have some more details, I will dig it out and see if I can add some info.

How many 96/97 SP's are there in the UK ? I have rarley seen others

[Topper]

Mines a 97 sp,they also came with the oil cooler and adjustable brake and clutch lever as standard,which according to the accessaries book that came with the bike,were parts you buy to put on the bip's. The speedo is also in kms

[Desmo Dave]

Originally Posted by Wilf

i knew i'd forget something !!!!

You're right, 2001 onwards had the smaller sealed (most of the time !) batteries with and adaptor to fit the original tray.

These may have been on the 2000 model 748 too but i think it was still the larger type, what's yours got ???

Yeah that 2000 model 748, gold 'e' frame and BP motor took me a while to work out too.

The R slipper clutch is there just so they can use one in supersports (rules dont allow clutch 'type' changes like superbikes do) so they fitted the bare min in order to qualify the proper corse type one. personally i think they are a pain on the road anyway.. but thats a different story.....

No, my E has the older larger battery, also my S, which is a 2000 model too. Can I order this adaptor so I can fit a smaller battery then?

Yeah, the slipper clutch on my R is an absolute pain on the road, grabs horrendously, the baskets been changed, along with the plates, the ramp regreased etc, so hopefully thatll improve things, if not ill swap the clutch for a standard one. I also read your useful tip for using the slipper from standstill on another thread and shall try it soon as.

[Wilf]

Originally Posted by Desmo Dave

No, my E has the older larger battery, also my S, which is a 2000 model too. Can I order this adaptor so I can fit a smaller battery then?

Yeah, the slipper clutch on my R is an absolute pain on the road, grabs horrendously, the baskets been changed, along with the plates, the ramp regreased etc, so hopefully thatll improve things, if not ill swap the clutch for a standard one. I also read your useful tip for using the slipper from standstill on another thread and shall try it soon as.

You need the adaptor = part no. 82912701a (£6.41 inc vat) and battery clamp 82711951a (£2.21 inc vat) then you can fit the smaller battery to your battery tray. (sorry dan, bit off topic)

Wilf

[Dan]

I know the Chassis Number contains the details related to which Type of Ducati it is ment to be; eg, 916, 749, 900ss, and presumably the 'Variant and Version' tells you which model it is, eg, 748Bip, 748E, 748SP, 748SPS, 748S, 748R? But seeing as there's no E or S in my Chassis Number I don't know how to interpret the number and find out for sure what Ducati Model I own.

How do you decode the 748 Frame number and pull out the info below that the workshop manual says it contains?

Data Punched on the frame =
- Manufactures Name
- Technical Name
- Variant and Version
- Year of Manufacture
- Letter donoting Manufacturing Facility
- Production Number
- Itaian Ministry of Transport
- Homologation Number
- National Homologation

[Peachyffm]

hi,
I have a fantastic german book on the ducati types which actually lists how many bikes of each version were produced for which country.... OK, its in german but its extremely informative on the data for all ducs produced. For the 748:
check the tables on pages 228 229. as an example for england, in 2000 there were
150 748E red edition 2000
75 748E yellow edition 2000
256 748E red edition 2001
50 748E yellow edition 2001
15 748E yellow monoposto edition 2000, no reds
in 1999 there were 30/10 editions 2000 built....

the same infos are there for the 748S, sps, s monoposto, R.....

nice pics etc...
now to the book itself:

Das große Ducati Typenhandbuch 1946 to today (999, doesnt cover 1098 or hyper)
by IAN FALLON (sounds english so there might be a UK version of the book)
Printed by HEEL
ISBN-13: 978-3-89880-546-9
ISBN-10: 3-89880-546-8

BTW, my 748 is 1 of 842 red Bipostos built for the german market in 2000, now with various carbon parts and mono seat...

hope this helps...
rgds
Tim

[Dan]

Great info Peachyffm, thanks...... but realise you've created a task for yourself now.... does this fab book of yours have info on decoding the Chassis Numbers? Also does it list any 748's made in 2002 or 2003?

[NedLudd]

The book is originally in English - Falloon is a prolific author, see this thread -

http://www.ducatisti.co.uk/viewtopic...hlight=falloon

But it's available as the 'Standard Catalog Of Ducati Motorcycles 1947-2005':

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Standard-Cat...977849&sr=1-11

(It's the book I reference in my 750ss model history @ http://www.ducatisti.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4252)

To answer Dan's question re models, no, 2001 was the final production year.

[cianer]

Originally Posted by NedLudd

To answer Dan's question re models, no, 2001 was the final production year.

You sure? http://www.ducati.com/bikes/my2002/d...modelName=748S on the Ducati website says "And new for this year...", and as you can see from the web address its the 2002 model.

I'm confused...


I'd love to know how many grey/red 748S models were made in 2002 if anyone knows?

[NedLudd]

Originally Posted by cianer

You sure? http://www.ducati.com/bikes/my2002/d...modelName=748S on the Ducati website says "And new for this year...", and as you can see from the web address its the 2002 model.

I'm confused...


I'd love to know how many grey/red 748S models were made in 2002 if anyone knows?

Well, according to the book they were MY02 but physically manufactured in 01. (With most car and bike manufacturers, after all, model year and production year ain't the same thing.)

For example, taking 748S models shipped to 'England':

There were 30 red and 45 yellow MY00, built 00.
There were 65 red and 35 yellow MY01, built 00.
There were 35 red, 5 yellow, and 30 grey MY02, built 01.

Model years are often built well into the previous year, which is what you're seeing above, eg before end of calendar 2000 they started building the MY01 bike. And I guess (and I underline that I'm quoting from a book - I know squat about the 748) that they actually built the MY02 bikes in late 01 and then launched them as new for MY02.

The global figure for all 748s (that's plural, not the 748S) built in 2001 was 4,359; total production of all 748s ever was 25,174.

If anyone else has any "how many were built in red and exported to Switzerland in year x?" type questions just let me know - I'm getting a worryingly nerdy pleasure out of this...

[cianer]

Originally Posted by NedLudd

...and 30 grey MY02, built 01.

Ahhhhhhhh. That explains that. My bike is a UK import so I guess there's only 29 left in the UK now, and according to Ducati Dublin it brings the number of grey 748s in Ireland to 3.

Thanks for finding that out for me. Might have to root out that book for meself!

[Leozeelion]

Hi all, thought I'd just revive this old thread. I haven't had my '98 748 SPS for long and reading some of the posts on the forum began to give me a slight sense of paranoia about whether my bike was a genuine SPS or some "cooked-up" impostor! I couldn't make sense of the frame number other than that it had 748 in it.

I decided the only thing to do was to phone Ducati UK and ask whether they could tell me. The guy I spoke to was really helpful and it only took a minute to reassure me that the bike was indeed a genuine SPS and that the frame and engine numbers were first joined in holy matrimony in Bologna!

Now I have a question - My front forks are Showa - were they original fitment? Someone told me that the 'internals' should be Brembo, is that right?

One more - Dan's list of models and variants contains original prices for some but not for the 748 SPS, anyone know what this was?

Cheers

[Scott A. Maciag]

BTW gents, quite often those books, with either # of models manufactured, etc., are off. I've even seen where Ducati isn't sure. The only one and true arbiter would be the motor vehicle registration. You'd then have to back track all of the VINs and even then, that won't account for model-model differences (like a one-off part swap or something because they ran out of one thing or another). Just thought I'd throw that in there. Be careful about quoting #s. Nice post though!!

[ziggi]

Originally Posted by Leozeelion

Now I have a question - My front forks are Showa - were they original fitment? Someone told me that the 'internals' should be Brembo, is that right?

Yes, original fitment. Not brembo internals (whatever that might be).

One more - Dan's list of models and variants contains original prices for some but not for the 748 SPS, anyone know what this was?

£12,250 or there abouts