Ducati was in dire financial straights in the late 1970s, but a surprise comeback at the 1978 Isle of Man TT would reverse the company’s fortunes and become known as its “miracle year.” Through a series of fortuitous events, Mike “The Bike” Hailwood was coaxed out of an 11-year retirement for the sum of £1,000, and the cost of a then-new 900SS. Few gave him much of a chance against the hugely powerful Japanese bikes that had come to dominate all classes of the TT from 1973 onwards, but through a magical blend of talent and engineering, Hailwood took the outright win in the highly competitive Formula I class.
If you’re interested in vintage motorcycle racing or weekend track day competition, you’ll likely want to take a closer look at the bike’s listing on eBay. With six days left in the auction, bidding is just under $10,000—although it likely won’t stay that way for long.
Fight for Survival
The win at the Isle of Man was a major PR coup for Ducati and contributed significantly to the marque selling enough motorcycles to stay in business. The company was facing an unprecedented onslaught from the four large Japanese motorcycle manufacturers who were turning out cheaper, simpler, and more reliable motorcycles than the formerly dominant European marques.
One area where the Italians and Brits still reigned supreme was handling. Decades of hard fought racing on tracks, from the Isle of Man to Mount Panorama, had resulted in motorcycles with finely tuned frames and suspension—but the lack of funds to develop new engines made it difficult to challenge the Japanese makers.
Rather than creating entirely new engines from a blank sheet of drafting paper, Ducati often preferred to take pre-existing engine designs and further develop them—a kind of better the devil you know approach to engineering.
Lots of Tweaks
The L-twin used in the 900SS started life as the engine used in the Ducati 750 GT, the bore was increased to 864cc and there were a series of incremental changes made to the model and its engine over the course of its 1975 to 1981 production run.
Collectors tend to prefer the 1978 model, but not merely because of its iconic association with Mike Hailwood. It was also the year that a number of improvements were made to the model that made it a lot easier to live with, not to mention more reliable.
Internally, some changes were made to stop the rare but significant issue of cranks breaking. The electronic systems were also improved and ignition timing was tweaked to make the bikes slightly more efficient. The gear shifter was redesigned from scratch and it would be the last generation of the 900SS to come with classic spoked wheels as standard.
The ’78 900 Super Sport you see in the eBay listing has an engine prepared by Ducati icon and collector Lauro Micozzi—with racing pistons, Carrillo connecting rods, a dry clutch, Nimonic valves, an electronic ignition, twin Dellorto 41 carburetors, a titanium muffler, aluminum wheels and adjustable racing shock absorbers.
It was developed from a road bike to match or surpass the capabilities of even the factory racers from the same pivotal year.
