Ohlins Fork Types for my Ducati 955 SP?

[955SP]

Basically I have a deposit down on a 955SP. The exact bike that Ive wanted for 11 years. These bikes came from the factory looking like a standard 916sp, with a 916 fairing and 3 spokes. NO badges etc etc and this is how it looks now. So I want to give it some identity. So originally I was going to put it back to how I first saw it in the magazine which is the pictures below with the red marvic wheels but I got swayed by the sales person there who persuaded me its a bit bling and instead perhaps its new identity should make it more like a road going 955 Corsa like the 2nd picture.

I went away for a few days and had a think and agreed to this and we agreed the following in the cost of the bike:

• A full service and overhaul of the bike plus new all new hoses, and replacing anything that looks at all damaged or worn.
• Polish the termi pipes
• New carbon fairings & tail all round with the larger Corsa style nose etc
• Original carbon corsa tank (which is wider and flat at the top) with the key turn positioned in the frame area
• Nice paint work with 955 graphics etc
• The existing marchesinis painted magnesium gold colour

I then got carried away and agreed to the suggestions of a Corsa front end. But a couple of days later after doing some adding up I got v.worried as I was hugely overspending and tried to cancel these only to hear that I had to take the Magnesium yokes cause they already been ordered? These cost £1055 alone! Plus the forks which I cancelled were going to be £3000 2nd Hand.

I just wondered if anyone knew much about Ohlins forks and all the different sizes? What size is on an original 916sp, my '03 748E or a later 998R? What would a 955 Corsa have on it (the one I ordered and in the picture)? Also I heard that like all things Corsa that these corsa Ohlins need adjusting and setting every few weeks, is this true? I just want to know more about forks and sizing etc so I can make some more informed decisions and be able to hunt around to source something cheaper myself.

thanks and I promise anyone that helps can have a lap on it at a track when its done......... err actually maybe just a quick sit on it?

[Nickalos]

I'm not sure if the 955SP is one and the same as the 955SPA (Sports Production America) - of which around 50 examples were made specially by Ducati for Eraldo Ferraci team (Fast by Ferraci) to compeat in AMA racing. All 50 odd examples (I think the exact number was 52 or 54) went to Eraldo Ferrachi.

If they are one and the same and yours is the real McCoy - CONGRATULATIONS in capital letters.

You are damn lucky to have got your hands on one. They are the rarest of the homologated 916 type bikes, and one of the few 916 types whose value will just go up and up... In my humble opinion, there may be some sense in putting the original body work aside, for use on special occassions, and for day to day riding putting a "copy" set on.

Yes, the mechanical and suspension setup/maintanence is time intensive - the bike was after all designed for one purpose only: to be a balls out race bike.

Okay - who to speak to about this bike? The guy to contact would be Eraldo Ferrachi (still alive), who "designed" and spec'd the bike (it's mechanical spec's were done by the old man himself) - Ducati just built it for him.

He is to the best of my knowledge also the sole source for genuine 955SP/SPA parts - and still has loads in stock from the early 90's. And of course is the man from who you'll get the best setup info for the bike.

Congrats again on a great great purchase

[Mr.R]

Hi,
As far as I can recall the mag yolks you've just bought won't fit a standard front end.
They're wide track yolks and the standard front end on your Showa's is narrow track as was the Ohlins front end on the later Ohlins kitted 9966ps's.
To fit the mag yolks you would need a complete front end fork legs, wheel, discs, calipers, spindle etc as all of these were different on the race bikes.
You could sell on your new yolks and look to buy a late Ohlins front end from a 996sps, or buy Road and Track Ohlins with the assorted brackets needed to fit the new conversion to your existing wheel etc.
If the bike is a genuine 955sp you'd be better of leaving it as standard.
I might be wrong but I think the 'ONLY' difference between the 916cc sp and the 955cc sp was the bore size which was plus 2mm, this was done to homologate the engine capacity for AMA racing in the states.
Eraldo was indeed the main man re: Ducati tuning in the states, having tuned Doug Polens WSB winning 888,
but I would seriously doubt he designed the 955sp, the last 888 Corsa's raced in the states were in fact 955's, in Europe they were 926cc, the only real difference between the 2 being the substitution of a 916 crank, which is 2mm longer on the stroke.
The Corsa bikes available in the USA for the 1st year of the 916 road bikes were still based on 888's.....
Eraldo didn't fall behind on his cheating (the 1st rule of racing), the 1st 916 based Corsa's were 955's but these needed to be homolgated, hence the short run of 955cc road bikes supplied to America through 'Fast By Ferraci' .
I still have the original brochures supplied to me by the Great Man himself.
On another note 'FBF' are notoriously bad to deal with, giving very poor back up/ customer service via the inter-web.

Steve

[Nickalos]

Was waiting for somone to say it before me ... yes, dealing with FBF can be as bad as dealing directly with ..... er, Bucci (anyone ever being on the Bucci waiting list - oh boy, that can go on and on and on).

Are we agreed that the 955Sp and SPA are one and the same (? I think so) - see attached pics for what is suposed to be a genuine example. Personaly I am not sure it is - because it has Showa forks and my undertanding is that they had Ohlins, but on this poitn I could be complelty wrong.

One thing is dead cert though: the Frame Number must start with ZDM955 - if not then it aint the real McCoy

In any event, the SP (or SPA) had an extra couple mm on the stroke, but also a higher comp ratio, reworked combustion chamber and bigger valves as well as a close ratio gearbox. What's not clear from the AMA writeup I have is whether Ferraci done this himself post delivery, or whether the bikes came to him with bigger valves and higher comp. The original EPROM was an 070 EPROM (check the black box to see if thats still in)

For the record: 54 were made, of which 50 went to the USA and 4 exmples remianed "in Europe"

[Mr.R]

The stroke on the 955sp remained the same as the 916sp the difference in capacity came from an increase in the bore size up from 94mm to 96mm, I have a pair of 955 corsa 'Pistal' (suppliers to the factory team) pistons sitting here on my kitchen table at this moment.
They were made to take the 916sp out to 955, the valve pockets are still made to suit 34mm inlets 30mm exhausts which is the same as the 916cc sp. I know this as I need to flycut the valve pockets to suit my 35/31 valves.
Standard comp' ratio on the 916sp was 11.5-1, the pistons I have here are 12.6-1.
I also have a 916sp piston sitting here, the standard sp piston looks outwardly the same as a 916 piston apart from deeper valve pockets and a 21mm gudgeon pin.

Steve

[955SP]

Hi.

Ok the 955SP which was named the 916SPA at the factory. It came out without much of a bang to quickly homologate the 955 for racing in the AMA as said. Consequently there was no visual difference between this bike and a 916SP (even the fairing says 916SP!) other than the engine number and the following as stated on the front of the Owners Manual (pictured below):
Your motorcycle differs from the 916SP model in the following technical features:
-Bore:mm 96
-Cylinder head gasket for 96mm bore
-Crankshaft - Main transmission- lighting

They came with Showa forks, by the way, and it was hit or miss whether you got a carbon v piece but none got a carbon airbox.

My bike No.25 (Engine number ZDM955W4*000025*) is particularly special because it is the only officially imported bike in the UK (not one of the American grey imports) and its history of how it got to the UK is beautifully accounted for in the Fast Bikes, Issue 67, October 1996. Here is an extract:

“You see, back in the spring, Steve Wynn of Playspeed, formerly Sports Motorcycles and Ducati fettlers to some of the World’s great vee-twin riders, had written to the factory in Italy requesting a special 916SP for the TT, to take on the Blades and GSX-Rs. Ducati, always keen to win an Island class, responded and shipped a crate over to Wynn containing a very special 916 – a 955!
Realising he couldn’t enter it for the TT, Steve wrote back to the factory who confirmed they’d replace it with a 916SP, though by now time was running out in the view of the desperately short supply situation.
In the event, time did indeed literally run out, and realising the only way he was going to be able to get hold of a bike in time to prepare it, set it up and get it over to the TT, Steve rang owner Everett Kirk who’d just had a 916SP delivered. Despite having waited just over six months, Everett agreed to Steve’s deal which included replacing his bike with a brand new one when it arrived and sat back to prepare himself for another long wait.
Well, we probably don’t have to remind you what happened next; Robert Holden tragically killed himself on the bike after just obliterating the production practice times.
‘Gutted’ would not be a strong enough word to describe how Kirk felt in light of the circumstances. The only good thing to come out of it as far as he was concerned was the fact that there was now a 955 road bike at Steve Wynn’s which couldn’t be used for normal sporting purposes”


So if you keep one of these bikes stock it looks like a 916SP so people changed the markings and did all sorts but a stock one should look like the picture below. So I will keep some 3 spokes to one side and the original fairings but I want to tastefully give it its own image and I think the corsa is the way forward.

The Mag yokes are for a narrow head, I know because we discussed wider wheels etc and i didnt want to go down that route. I will call tomorrow and get the size but I think its for 43mm? I just want to get some appropriate ohlins to match it but dont want to get stung to the tune of £3k for something I wont use hard.

Are the ohlins road and track better than the ones fitted to 9**R bikes etc? Are these called the FG43 and are these then 43mm? What would the fork diameter be on the stock forks on a 916SP for example, if I replaced them with the ohlins from a 998R would I be changing yokes etc?

Sorry about the initial confusion but I dont need any replacement parts from the 955SP cause its just needs tidying and to be honest 99% are off the 916SP. Its really just about the Corsa mods that I need help? I want to get the showa off and ohlins on and would like to use the Mag Yoke I have now bought.

Mr.R, do you mean you have a 955SP brochure of my bike? or the 888? If its of the 955SP I would be a keen customer!!!!!!

[Nickalos]

You lucky ******* 955SP - any idea of current market value?

[955SP]

Originally Posted by nicklazos

Are we agreed that the 955Sp and SPA are one and the same (? I think so) "

Yep these are the same. To my knowledge they were known as the 916SPa in the factory and many Americans who got them refer to them as this.

Originally Posted by nicklazos

In any event, the SP (or SPA) had an extra couple mm on the stroke, but also a higher comp ratio, reworked combustion chamber and bigger valves as well as a close ratio gearbox. What's not clear from the AMA writeup I have is whether Ferraci done this himself post delivery, or whether the bikes came to him with bigger valves and higher comp. The original EPROM was an 070 EPROM (check the black box to see if thats still in)"

Could you let me know where you got the info so I can add it in to the 955SP history pages? thanks

Originally Posted by nicklazos

For the record: 54 were made, of which 50 went to the USA and 4 exmples remianed "in Europe"

Same again, could you let me know where you found this out?

thanks Hugh

[kerrygav]

Can i just ask.....

Where and how is the ignition mounted, if its not behind the yoke!!!!

Gav.

PS. Keen to know, as i'm undertaking a project of my own and WAS going to remove the ignition altogther in favour of a flick switch8)

[Mr.R]

Hi Hugh,
I have the tuning catalouges and brochures, but not the sales brochure...Sorry!
I still think I'm right in the only difference being the bore size, this would include pistons, barrels and head gaskets it might be that they fitted a lightened crank but I don't know this for sure.
The close ratio gearbox IF it was fitted would be the same item that has been fitted to all SP 888's, sps 888's, all 748's and 916/996sps's. All the information I've seen/got says that the 916sp had a standard gear ratio cluster.
Which always suprised me, but maybe the factory thought the lower rev ceiling of the longer stroke bike didn't warrant the close box. The later 996's had bigger valves, stronger cases con,rods and also less agressive cams which would allow them to rev higher and withstand the extra stress.

Steve

[ohlins916sp]

The SPS would have Ohlins R&T (road & track) standard.

I don't know what the actual Corsa bikes would have had standard, but I'm guessing they'd be something along the lines of the FGxx00 series (where 'xx' is the model year).

The set I have came from one of Kochinski's '96 Kremlyovskaya Vodka bikes, but I'm not sure what actual model they are (not 9600 or 9620, so either 9640, 9650, 9660 or 9680).

They run a wider track so I believe spacers were put in to run my front marchesini wheel (I don't think it's wide track), which would also mean a longer front axle?. The magnesium triple clamps I have were also made by marchesini, but I don't think they came from the Kochinski bike.

[ripper996]

Originally Posted by nicklazos

Was waiting for somone to say it before me ... yes, dealing with FBF can be as bad as dealing directly with ..... er, Bucci (anyone ever being on the Bucci waiting list - oh boy, that can go on and on and on).

Are we agreed that the 955Sp and SPA are one and the same (? I think so) - see attached pics for what is suposed to be a genuine example. Personaly I am not sure it is - because it has Showa forks and my undertanding is that they had Ohlins, but on this poitn I could be complelty wrong.

One thing is dead cert though: the Frame Number must start with ZDM955 - if not then it aint the real McCoy

In any event, the SP (or SPA) had an extra couple mm on the stroke, but also a higher comp ratio, reworked combustion chamber and bigger valves as well as a close ratio gearbox. What's not clear from the AMA writeup I have is whether Ferraci done this himself post delivery, or whether the bikes came to him with bigger valves and higher comp. The original EPROM was an 070 EPROM (check the black box to see if thats still in)

For the record: 54 were made, of which 50 went to the USA and 4 exmples remianed "in Europe"

Actually, it's not the frame number that starts with ZDM955, it's the engine number. I recently sold my 996 SPS and have been ****ed ever since. I have an F4 1000S which is a great bike, but I missed the sound of the Ducati twin. A friend of mine owns Desmoto Sport in San Francisco and told me about a customer of his who had a 955 SPA but recently got into a low-side accident after he drove away from a gas station with the side stand down. I saw the bike and realized that this was my lucky day because it basically had just cosmetic damage. The original owner wouldn't sell the bike to me through the insurance company so I had to wait for it to go up on auction in the Bay Area. I paid $1900 for it. It's my winter project. In the space of a month I have lucked out and bought all the body work needed plus some top shelf goodies to go on it, including billet brembo monoblock X.10.17 calipers, ohlins front forks, 5 spoke magnesium marchesinis, billet brembo master cylinders clutch and brake, and newer carbon fiber replacement fenders, both front and rear. It's going to stand next to my SP4 and F4 in the garage. Roll on Spring. If anyone is interested, I can post photos of the project? By the way, Ferracci were quite poor as regarding any info on the 955. Maybe a personal email to Eraldo himself? For those wanting to know, my bike is #30.

[955SP]

Originally Posted by ripper996

Actually, it's not the frame number that starts with ZDM955, it's the engine number.

The original owner wouldn't sell the bike to me through the insurance company so I had to wait for it to go up on auction in the Bay Area. I paid $1900 for it.

True my frame number is ZDM916S*007202*
My engine number is ZDM955W4*000025*

Its good to meet a fellow 955SP owner. Not saying your a liar just a lucky b*****d as I am finding it hard to believe that you only paid $1900 for a cosmetically damaged 955SPA! If I had seen that auction.....you would have been outbid!

PICTURES PLEASE

[MarkST]

Originally Posted by ripper996

If anyone is interested, I can post photos of the project?

Of course we're interested - start with posting pics of the damage, then the rebuild and parts you obtain, leading up to the finished bike.
Mark.

[Ghost]

What a bloody good read that has been for me, I know bugger all about the models and numbers I just have a 749, its great to read about some real history. Absolutely excellent.


Phil