How early is it!!

[Karl_h]

Anyone give me any clues as to how early my monster really is? It was first registered about 8 days after the L registration came in. But I can't find the actual 1993 release date of the monster. Anyone got any clues? I've got the original bill of sale etc.

[Darkness]

That has to be pretty early, though there are a few K Reg ones about.
The date of registration doesn't say how long it was waiting in the dealers before being put on the road though, so ???????????

[Karl_h]

I'm guessing it must have been part of the first shipment?? Does anyone know anything about decoding the frame number?

[Dukedesmo]

I'm guessing it must have been part of the first shipment?? Does anyone know anything about decoding the frame number?

Contact Ducati with the frame number and they will get back to you with production dates etc.

[Karl_h]

Ducati UK or Italy??

Cheers for the help!!

[Pedro]

Contact Ducati with the frame number and they will get back to you with production dates etc.

I wouldn't hold too much hope of getting a meaningful answer on this. My 900 is number 1015, registered August the 11th 1993. When I spoke to Marco Rimaldi at Ducati he said he had number 415 or similar but it wasn't built until February 1994. Seems frame numbers don't necessarily tally with build dates. Crust on here has a 500 frame number but it was registered about 4 months after mine. Marco was pretty sure no decent records are available from early builds

I'm guessing it must have been part of the first shipment?? Does anyone know anything about decoding the frame number?

The last few digits on the frame number giving the details. As above mine is 1015. With the frame number reading ......0001015 at the end

Ped

[Karl_h]

Mine reads 2247 so not that early then, delivery date of August 27 1993.

[slob]

As Pedro says: Marco (Rimondi?) reckons the frame numbers were not entirely sequential, so not neccessarily a good indication of relative production date on early M900s.
According to Falloon's Monster Bible: '93 bikes had a yellow suspension hoop, '94 models had a bronze hoop that matches the frame but still had black wheels. Some late '94 bikes also came with the chamfered silencers that gave a little more ground clearance on the '95 models.
In '95 the frame was gold rather than bronze, with matching wheels. Also in '95 the choke knob was moved from the left side of the frame to the headstock and grey belt and sprocket covers were fitted, not black. Horn was painted black instead of silver. Sidestand and carb breather pods went grey rather than the earlier black.

[DrD]

my (00 has a similar 22XX frame number, first registered Auguyst 1993.
I thought the fhe frame hoop was black on the first models, and were offered only in red. Which mine was originally.

[Darkness]

I thought the fhe frame hoop was black on the first models, and were offered only in red. Which mine was originally.

I've been looking at various pages on the Interweb at "Ducati Monster production figures".

There are several charts for these and a lot of broken links, but one suggests that in the 1993 calendar year Ducati built 2122 '93 model m900s plus a further 2192 '94 model m900s. Red and black are listed separately for the '94 models with 689 of them black, mostly going to America. There's no split for '93, so that may mean they were all red, or that no one cared enough to write it down.

I don't recall seeing a black suspension hoop on an early bike, just yellow or bronze, though of course anything's possible with a Cagiva era Ducati....

Do you know of any other differences between '93 and '94 models other than hoop colour Rob? I suppose I should buy a copy of the Falloon book.

[slob]

Falloon reckons black only became an option in '94. Also the steering head angle was reduced from 24deg to 23deg.

[banditloon]

I think the frame colour changed as well with the early build M900s as mine has the silver frame and yellow hoop, where as I've seen some '93 Monsters with bronze frames and yellow hoops. But then again, Ducati didn't know my bike existed 6 years ago :confused:

[DrD]

I suppose I could have a 1994 model a year early!
Cagiva production lines were known to be be inconsistent!

More likely is it is yellow "underneath" on the hoop and resprayed black by previous owner prior to it arriving with me 10 years ago. It is not that colour now tho!

[Karl_h]

Could the frame numbers of the 93's be a bit of a red herring as weren't the initial frames straight off the 851/888 or whatever it was? Meaning that it wouldn't start from zero for the monster frames. This is only a guess with no real information to back it up???

[slob]

Based on 851/888. The superbike frame is quite a bit different, with a seperate rear subframe for the seat etc.

http://swingpad.com/db/888LTD/888-Frame.jpg

[Dukedesmo]

Ducati UK or Italy??

Cheers for the help!!

I contacted Ducati Italy by email and was pleasantly surprised when they called me 10 minutes later.

[Karl_h]

Based on 851/888. The superbike frame is quite a bit different, with a seperate rear subframe for the seat etc.

http://swingpad.com/db/888LTD/888-Frame.jpg

Ahhh I always thought that was the reason for the Tea tray being so big. I thought that was what held up the rear fairings. Guess not.