Original Ss
Original SS
Back home again from Indiana
BRIAN DIETZ BOUGHT A NEW MOTOR cycle last year, a 1974 desmod romic Ducati 750 Super Sport. His "new" 750SS is one of two, perhaps three, examples in the United States.
There's a catch. Great motorcycles are special because they work in extraordinary ways, but individual examples of great motorcycles have exceptional value if they haven't been used. Dietz would reduce the value of his new bike simply by riding it. Rather than one of two or three, his bike would become one of several original, unrestored, unmolested round-case 750 Super Sports with low mileage.
In the collection game, near-perfect originals-which haven't degenerated to a point requiring restoration-are the most highly prized. There is no such thing as "restored to original state and condition." To be sure, there are huge differences in the quality and accuracy of individual restorations. But, in the end, there is "original" and there is "restored." A vehicle is gen uinely "original" one time only.
About two years ago, Dietz began a patient pursuit of Ducati 750 Super Sports. Though he would quickly learn much about the bikes, he began knowing very little. He was, after all, a teenager when the 750 Ducati Super Sport debuted. Hardly a novice collec tor, Dietz had a very nice set of classic Britbikes in his Southern California garage, and a Cad-Allard car under restoration in Oklahoma City.
Experience had taught Dietz the importance of a studied approach and clearly focused objectives. He wanted an original, unmolested, unrestored Super Sport with correct engine and frame numbers, and complete docu mentation without any gaps or unknowns. Paperwork would have to demonstrate that engine and chassis had been joined at the factory. Every owner needed to be documented. The bike's authenticity and originality had to be beyond question.
Dietz's requirements simplified his search. Perhaps a dozen Super Sports in the United States fit his guidelines. When owners sell such bikes, they go to friends. It's an insider's game. With some effort he finally got to the inside and sat down.
Dietz waited. He seriously consid ered two bikes. The first was stun ning, but it had a replacement engine. A genuine 750SS engine, yes, but a replacement. Close, very close. He decided to pass.
Dietz then put himself first in line on a second Super Sport: "When you decide to sell it," he told the owner, "I'll buy it." Months passed, trying Dietz's patience. The buying time appeared to be sometime in the next millennium.
Dietz was still waiting when he learned about a third bike, a new one, with 33 kilometers showing on the odometer.
This desmo 750 already had a his tory. In 1994 it surfaced at an estate dispersal in Southern California. The deceased owner had bought the bike from a dealer years earlier and stored it. Never titled, the motorcy cle came with its original Manu facturer's Statement of Origin. After a lively bidding contest, the 33-km Ducati had gone off to the Midwest in 1995. By all appearances, the bike's new home was permanent. It seemed unlikely that this Super Sport would be for sale again in the foreseeable future.
Then the unexpected occurred in November of 1997. The bike came back in play, priced to sell quickly and fairly. That fair price could have bought a matching set of his-and-her Ducati 916s.
Now an insider, Dietz jumped on an airplane for a speedy Saturday's excursion to Indiana. There he saw the bike in exactly the same condition as it had left California. He had found his Super Sport.
Will he ride his new Ducati? Well, for the moment Dietz is content to let the 750SS sit and enjoy his dilemma. Meanwhile, he's bought a near-perfect 1981 Mike Hailwood Replica to ride.
Phil Schilling
