1981 Ducati 900 SSD Darmah
1 of just 100 UK supplied examples

Registration No: UPP 154W
Frame No: 950487
MOT: Exempt

• One of 100 900 SSDs supplied new to Britain and twenty-two known 'Dual Seat' survivors on British roads
• Third place finisher at the 2010 Fleet Lions Classic Motorcycle Concours
• Single ownership since 1998

Introduced in 1978, the 900 SSD blended elements of Ducati’s accomplished Darmah 900 SD road bike with its uncompromising 900 SS road racer. Thus, it featured a Darmah frame, rear sets, clip-ons, stainless steel mudguards and Marzocchi shock absorbers, plus a 900 SS-inspired fairing, dual seat and streamlined tail piece. Shared with the ‘Super Sports’, the newcomer’s V-twin engine sported desmo heads and 40mm Dell’Orto carburettors. Typically finished in Silver and Blue, the 900 SSD was an extremely good-looking and fast motorcycle. Less comfortable than Japanese rivals (or even the more pedestrian Darmah 900 SD), a mere 1,440 or so were completed during its four-year lifespan. No wonder that Ian Falloon’s Catalog of Ducati Motorcycles 1946-2005 comments: ‘the SSD is one of the rarest bevel-drive twins’.

One of only 100 supplied new to Britain, frame number 950487 is accompanied by a Ducati Owners’ Club Motorcycle Age Certificate which confirms that it was built during the 1980 model year and first road-registered in March, 1981. Entering the current ownership some seventeen years later, it is understood to be among just twenty-two Darmah 900 SSD ‘Dual Seat’ versions still extant on these shores. Upgraded in 2004 with a hydraulic clutch actuation system sourced from Karl Engellenor Motorcycle Machining Specialists (the original mechanism being notoriously heavy), the brake level and fluid reservoir were replaced too. However, the factory levers come with the bike should someone wish to reinstate them, as do the Marzocchi dampers which have been supplanted by Koni-style units. Correct-type Dell’Orto 40mm PHM40AD/PHM40AS carburettors, FPS wheels and Conti silencers remain in place and are numbered accordingly. Awarded third in the 2010 Fleet Lions Classic Motorcycle Concours, ‘UPP 154W’ has been off the road for the past eleven years. It was kept on its centre stand with the brake calliper mounting bolts loosened to keep the pads out of contact with the discs, and the engine has been periodically started and the gears engaged. Displaying a credible 30,322 miles, this decidedly rare Ducati is offered for sale with its V5C, history file (old MOTs, tax discs, purchase receipts, etc.) and spares (clutch components, brake callipers etc.).

For more information, please contact:
Mike Davis
mike.davis@handh.co.uk
07718 584217