Ducati 888 Raymond Roche Replica
DUCATI 888 RAYMOND ROCHE REPLICA
RACE WATCH
A SUPERBIKE YOU CAN BUY
Cutting a few exploratory laps aboard a current factory racebike like the Vance & Hines Yamaha OW01 ranks at the top of the wish list for many sportbike enthusiasts and privateer roadracers. Unfortunately, landing a full-time ride on a bonafide works racer can be as difficult as hitching a lift aboard the Space Shuttle.
This may no longer be the case for riders with deep pockets or major financial backing. If it's true that championships can be bought, then your local Ducati dealership is the placeto start spending. Rather than sinking loads of money and man-hours into devel oping a streetbike for racing, $55,000 will purchase an accurate replica of the works Ducati 888 that Frenchman Raymond Roche rode to the 1990 World Superbike Championship. The red Italian ma chine is currently the closest thing to a Superbike that money can buy.
888 is based on the production liquid-cooled, eight-valve 851, which costs $12,500. But the Roche Replica boasts engine and chassis specifications that are only a whisker off those of the works bike. The 888’s 1990 performance was no fluke either, as Texan Doug Polen proved by retaining Ducati’s title with a landslide victory in the 1991 World Championship. While
55 grand is a heavy price to pay for any motorcycle, the 888, without the extraneous Mick weight of street accessories such as lights, charging system or electric starter, and with an abundance of feathery bits made of magnesium and carbon fiber, is the extremely light, tipping the CW scales at 380 pounds with an empty fuel tank.
That lightness, aided by a healthy boot from the breathed-on V-Twin, translates into performance. Even with its tall roadrace gearing, the 888 posted a 10.31second/139.3-mph pass through the Carlsbad Raceway timing lights, quicker and faster than any production bike Cycle World has ever dragstrip tested. Riding the Super Duck on the nine-turn road course at Willow Springs proved even more impressive, as our staff test pilot lapped the circuit just off his best Open-class race times-all
the while maintaining a reasonable margin for error on the borrowed, high-dollar piece.
Thoroughbred racebikes capable of delivering such a high level of performance can be very uncompromising and demanding to ride. You can forget all of that with the 888. So civilized is the bike, we immediately felt right at home in the saddle, whether cruising through the pits or running hard in top gear through ultra-fast Turn Eight. With a wonderfully broad spread of power, a slick-shifting, close-ratio, six-speed gearbox, faultless electronic fuel injection
and brakes to match, this Ducati’s only shortcoming is its lack of a headlight and license plate.
Although a quartz-halogen isn’t included, an extensive spares kit is. Among the items are extra bodywork, valves, pistons, rings, shims, a half-dozen rear sprockets and one countershaft sprocket, sparkplugs, levers, footpegs, clutch plates, mufflers, six EFI chips, five gallons of Agip oil, plus a shop manual, various tools and a rear stand. All you’ll need to make the starting grid is a helmet and a set of leathers.
A series of Doug Polen riding lessons wouldn’t hurt, either.
—Don Canet
