Please Note: the bike is currently with John Hackett of JHP Ducati Coventry for a full service including belts. A post-service running video will be provided to the winning bidder depending on timing – the seller expects the bike to be ready for pick up in mid-March.
Here it is – one of the holy grails of motorcycling. In the majestic history of the Italian firm, the Ducati Supermono is one of the greats. Arguably one of the most collectable Ducatis ever produced, just 67 Supermonos were built exclusively for racing in the “Sound of Singles” Championship (a support event for the World Superbike Championship), this incredible bike weighs just 267 pounds!
To help with the inherent vibrations of a single, Ducati engineers had a fake con rod that acted like a second piston. Weight was a huge priority, so there was carbon fiber everywhere – the bodywork, subframe, fuel tank, airbox, rear sets, fenders, dash, gas cap, and more. Ohlins suspension and Termignoni exhaust were complemented with Marchesini magnesium wheels – you also got magnesium on the case covers and triple clamps.
Penned by Pierre Terblanche, the Supermono design was highly influential in the instant-classic 916. Development was led by Claudio Domenicali, an engineer who had recently joined Ducati and is now the CEO. The Supermono was instantly successful in racing – in the bike’s debut year of 1993, Mauro Lucchiari won the European Supermono Championship and Ducati won the Manufacturer’s Championship. Famously, the bike also won the 1995 Isle of Man Singles TT with Robert Holden. As Roland Brown notes in this excellent piece on Hagerty, Ducati planned on making two street versions of the Supermono – a race-rep with fuel-injection and liquid cooling and a cheaper model with different bodywork, an air-cooled motor, and a carb. Obviously neither panned out, which means if you want to experience the magic that Ducati created, you’ll have to do it on a track with an example like this one!
This example is VIN: ZDM550R000035, Engine #: ZDM550W4*000040*. It is production number 35. The seller acquired it 19 years ago from Pro Twins in Surrey, United Kingdom.
There is no odometer, true mileage is unknown. The seller notes that it has zero miles on it since a restoration that will be detailed below.
“This Ducati Supermono is bike number 35, Ian Cobby’s 1995 British Championship winning bike, sponsored by then Ducati Dealer Chris Clarke Motorcycles of Norfolk, UK.
This bike is a late numbered version of the original 550cc machines. It was subject to a major rebuild in 1999 by world leading Supermono expert, Neil Spalding of Sigma Performance in the UK.
The motorcycle was bought in 1994 through the UK Ducati concessionaire, Moto Cinelli. Although sponsored by Chris Clarke Motorcycles, the bike itself was maintained during its racing life by leading Ducati expert, Tony Brancato of Brancato Engineering. Tony very helpfully took pictures of the bike during its removal from the crate after receipt from the factory in 1994, meaning the provenance of this bike is known from the point of it exiting the crate in 1994 until the present day. I talked at length with Tony at the Stafford Classic Show about 10 years ago and he remembered the bike fondly and also confirmed a few tales about how hard it was to get even basic parts to race it in the early days such as the seat unit.
In 1995, the Ducati Supermono was practically unbeatable in the Sound of the Singles class and Ian Cobby led the UK championship for most of the season in 1995, being finally crowned champion with 124 points at the Thruxton circuit on 1st October 1995.
Ian Cobby also ran it in a round of the European Supermono championships at Assen in August 1995. Previously he had problems passing the sound meter test at Assen so was taking no chances and sported a prototype exhaust twin silencer setup to ensure the noise was within limits. This is a one of a kind silencer setup on a Ducati Supermono and is included in the sale of the bike as it is uniquely tied to this machine’s history. Ducati fans will notice how it looks very similar to but predates the Monster S2R by some time.
For 1996, Ian Cobby moved on and joined the Hudson Tigcraft team to race a BMW powered machine in the European Supermono championship. The machine along with other Ducati Supermonos was placed for sale in the UK in an off-season major biking show in the UK between the 1995 and 96 seasons, (if I recall correctly at the Alexandra Palace). It was advertised for sale at the princely sum of £18,000, when brand new Supermonos were advertised at £26,000. Oh, to have bought all three bikes at that price back then…
The bike was bought by a clubman racer, Mark Fox. Mark ran the bike for the 1996, 1997 and 1998 single championship season, although by the end of 1997 was contemplating selling the bike as he was not getting the results he had hoped for and believed he was not doing it justice. He persevered through the 1998 season; with both his and Ian Cobby’s exploits being catalogued in the “Supermono” magazine that chronicled the rise and eventual decline of single cylinder racing in the UK. These magazines are all included in the sale to confirm provenance.
Thankfully Mark held on to the bike for some time so when I had a tip off that a Supermono was for sale (I had been looking for one since 1996), I got in touch with him. We agreed to meet at Mallory Park in the summer of 2002 so I could test it on track. Photos of the bike are included in the history file from this day. Already being a Ducati owner of an 888 SP5, I enlisted the help of my great friend Phil Worth who owned Italia Motorcycles in Lincoln and looked after my 888. Phil knows these bikes inside out so he agreed to come to Mallory to inspect the Supermono as a bit of expert protection for my purchase. Mark talked at the time of using the money from the sale to convert a Suzuki TLR1000 twin to a supermono as a project. I don’t know what became of that idea but he was clearly a singles man. I did 6 laps of Mallory Park on the bike, a track I had raced at many times over the previous 4 years. It was just a stunning machine to ride, it pulled in a completely linear fashion from low revs to the redline, I’d never ridden anything with such predictable linear power in my life and I’ve ridden a lot of special machines. It was ridiculously light too; you could feel how light it was just wheeling it around the paddock and it changed course almost as soon as you started thinking about the direction you wanted to go in. I can see why these bikes were so dominant in the 1990s, the handling, weight and power were a unique combination and could even surprise inline 4-cylinder 600cc racers on the shorter tracks like Mallory. It remains one of my top three bikes ridden to this day. Back in the paddock, Phil and I had a good look over the machine from a wear and tear perspective. It was obviously a race bike. It looked tired, the fairings were stone chipped, as were the wheels and the engine was dirty. After discussing with Phil, I did one of the hardest things of my life up to that point, I thanked Mark for the opportunity to view and ride the bike and walked away.
Mark was keen to sell though, and only a few weeks later the bike appeared in the classified section of the UK mainstream weekly biking paper, Motorcycle News, probably one of the best bikes they have ever sold! This is where the hand of fate intervened. The advert was seen and the bike was bought by Ducati specialist dealer Pro Twins in the south of England. Recognising its potential, they set about a nut and bolt restoration and rebuild. Over a period of a few years the bike was stripped, serviced and restored to a condition that was equivalent to, if not better than that when it left the factory 10 years previously. Such is the attention to detail of Brett, Rob and Pete at Pro Twins on their many restoration projects, they even sourced a pair of new old stock Michelin slick tyres that were the identical type found on the bike from new. These tyres are still on the bike today.
Having finished the restoration to concours standard the bike was displayed at Pro Twins on the mezzanine floor outside of dealer principal Brett’s office. In the interim since 2002 I was still looking for my Supermono fix. Knowing this, a friend who had been to Pro Twins and seen the Supermono on display, told me about it and suggested that Brett was a good businessman and everything has its price. I called Brett up and decided to go down and see the bike in July 2007. Coincidentally July 2007 was a significant birthday for me, so I could justify raiding my life savings and buying something nice for myself, despite the protests of my wife questioning my sanity in spending so much money! And so, it came to be, two days after my big birthday, I bought the exact same Supermono I’d ridden almost 5 years earlier to the day, Ian Cobby’s 1995 Championship winning machine.
The bike has been with me ever since. While I have never ridden it since 2002, it has been looked after, serviced every two years approximately and run during the servicing process before being returned dry to me once again. This has been done exclusively at JHP Ducati Coventry and legendary Ducati tuner John Hackett himself has done almost all of the work over the years. After nearly 19 years of ownership, I am downsizing my biking involvement and am ready to perform one last service on it and let it go to a new custodian who will preserve the history of this machine and watch over probably the most beautiful and single purposed Ducati ever made. I cannot lie, it’s a massive tug at my heart strings and I know I will be sorry to see it go. It’s the longest I have owned any individual bike, but those years of racing in the late 1990s early 2000s, or more accurately, the crashes during racing, have taken their toll. The mind is willing, but the body no longer bends to fit the jewel like Supermono so it’s time…”
Maintenance:
“Full restoration in 2002-2007, 0 miles since. Serviced approximately every 2-3 years, some invoices missing but I have 2010, 2015, 2016. It will have a full service completed on it by John Hackett of JHP Ducati Coventry before it leaves my ownership.”
Modifications:
The seller states that it is “‘Standard’ as the day it left the Ducati Corse Race department.”
Inside of the tank:
It is riding on original-spec Michelin Pilot slicks for display use only.
“The bike comes with its original factory rear paddock stand, various bits of servicing receipts and paperwork to show its history, wearing freshly re-restored magnesium wheels, a brand new clutch basket a spare pair of raced side fairings and a fresh full service with a new belt. It will have a small collection of spares with it, mostly used, and the Assen prototype exhaust, plus the tuned silencer that Ian Cobby used for the remainder of the season after blowing up standard silencers. With parts for these machines being made for the equivalent of only approx. 67 bikes manufactured, even used race spares are worth their weight in gold.”
Cosmetic Blemishes: please see the album in the “Photos” tab for all known cosmetic blemishes. Here is a selection:
“Paint bubble next to filler cap from petrol fumes, right Mivi grip is heavily worn, a brand new pair of rare Mivi grips will come with the sale, magnesium Marchesini wheels have recently been restored and dichromated, some magnesium surface aging marks are visible under the new dichromate, some superficial marks on the swingarm.”
Currently located in Central England, this Ducati is offered on a Bill of Sale only. Have any Supermono stories or questions about this listing? Let us know in the “Comments” tab!
