Motorcycle of the Week: 1994 Triple 8 Ducati

Tag : carving belt


The Buford was her husband's and although she dug the wheels, herpreference was two, not four.

Editorial liberty and all that, I decided to throw a B.O.W. (Bikeof the Week) at readers instead of a C.O.W.

Dani, as she prefers to be called, is a faithful Car of the Weekreader and claimed she'd thought of submitting her collectibleDucati. Hey if it's got wheels and isn't right off the shelf, giveus a call, you may see it here.

I'm no stranger to motorcycling with 25 years of various makes andmodels under my ever-expanding belt. I am well aware of the nimble,canyon carving, G-pulling acceleration and stop on a dimeperformance of the legendary Italian Ducati. But collectible andspecial? Dani is incredibly knowledgeable about her bike and hasowned three Ducati's including this one. She also owns a road raceHonda CBR 600 and has been riding for six years.

When her daughter left the nest, Dani pursued her dream to ride.After looking at several makes of bikes her very supportive husbandKeith suggested they look at a "Duke." I don't know who rode thatfirst Duke "Monster 750" (that's really its name) home but after atime she moved up to a Ducati 749, factory blacked-out like astealth fighter.

Next, enter the "Desmoquattro" 888 you see here. If you think you're looking at another common bottle rocket, you're not. At 482pounds, a 10.8-second quarter mile time and a 160 mph top end, thisis a Bengal tiger in a butcher shop. A solo seat machine that'sracetrack bred yet street legal.

The engine is mated to a six-speed trans to go fast. Thetwin-drilled disc brakes and anti-dive front-end turns the "gofast" into "stop fast." This 888cc super bike blazes, oftenoutperforming cycles with more cubic-cylinder-volume.

Dani proceeded to tell me she autobahn's the bike at the Joliettrack. Huh? Mild-mannered mom becomes racetrack pilot? Subtle andhumble Dani replies, "It's just time laps." Yea, right.

She further explained the bike's engineering, going into NASA-likedetail about the "Desmodromic" four-valve heads that were firstengineered by Mercedes in 1957 and later adopted by Ducati.

Back to that collectible thing. This Triple 8, and I love sayingthat, was only made four years. Dani's 1994 was the last year made,one of only 100.