We’d often admired the Ducati 851/888 which the late Kevin Grant would bring South to the occasional race meeting. With news that the bike may be for sale, we asked if it was available.
“No, but there is a yellow 748. Needs a bit of work” was the reply.
The grainy cell phone pics showed it wasn’t just any old 748.
It was the original New Zealand new Ducati 748SP which Dave Cole ran in 95/ 96.
With support from Don O’Connor of Eurobike back in the day, the bike got magnesium triple clamps, magnesium swingarm, carbon fuel tank and plenty of loving.
Dave Cole went on to take a NZ Formula 2 title with the bike and raced it in the final Australian TT race too. Plenty of shiny trophies.
Here’s Dave’s Summary in his own words:
The 748SP I purchased new in 95 via Bob Haldane Motorcycles and Eurobike Wholesale.
Rode it for a weekend on the road before stripping it for race prep.
Engine work was just balancing, gearbox shimming, set the squish, cut valve seats, dial cams. All the usual stuff that needs attention ex factory.
Chassis parts sponsored by Eurobike included magnesium swingarm, magnesium yolks, Marchesini magnesium wheels.
Duane Mitchell Fuel Injected Motorcycles eprom.
VB carbon (Maarty Van Booma) fairings and tank.
Suspension was standard Showa forks and Ohlins shock
That was about it, real simple back then.
Won NZ Formula 2 Championship 95/96 season.
Flew the bike to Australia for the 96 Australian TT held at Port Kembla. Took the tank as hand luggage on the plane.
Finished 2nd Formula 1 TT race.
Fast Forward…
Like so many race bikes, the Yellow 748 became less competitive over time. The shiny bits got sold off and it went into that downward spiral of cheap track bike > uncompetitive cheap track bike > unloved and unwanted old race bike needing maintenance.
Various owners were less interested in bills, with maintenance costs outweighing various owners level of commitment.
Kevin Grant’s story of it reappearing again after more than 20 years:
Greg, a mate of his had brought a cheap old 748 track day hack off Trade Me. It was found in the back of a damp garage with a flat battery and even flatter tires.
Kevin volunteered Dave Cole to service it, as “Dave used to race one of those ya know”.
Once the bike was on the bench, Dave spotted that it was his original race bike - the carbon fibre tank and the polished cam gear giving it away.
So, Kevin decided that the old bike should be kept in the family, and Dave could ride it.
Just like the old days. Sorry Greg.
We then saw the yellow 748 at the Southern Classic Race meet at Levels around 2019. It had been dragged from the shed and thrown in the van for a run around, as Kevin was displaying the Britten and other bikes.
The 748 was running a front slick from 12 years ago which was too big for the front guard, so the guard was removed before the race. With gearing at least 6 teeth too few on the rear sprocket, I figured the bike might be a mid-field runner. At best.
On the first lap Dave is leading the entire field!
Braking hard into Bus Stop, the front brake lines - no longer out of the way by the front guard - caught on the tire, and the “BANG” we heard from the track edge was the brake lines being ripped out of the front calipers. Dave cruises to a stop off the track, and that’s the weekend.
The bike was retired to the back of the shed, and I guess other projects took over, the 748 not getting the restoration it needed.
“There’s a yellow 748 for sale. Needs a bit of work”, they said.
Biketranz were booked to transport the bike from the Other Island to the South lands.
While the bike’s in transit, I get a phone call from a bloke in Christchurch wanting to buy it.
Enter Jordan Leslie.
“It’s not for sale but, I would quite like to see it on the track” I said.
Over a phone, with a bloke I hadn’t met, we decided that the bike we’d never seen, could get back to the track, he’d ride it, and we’d see how that went.
Simple.
What We Found
By now we should know that grainy cell phone pics of bikes aren’t big on detail. They must use the same cell phone when taking pics of Russian Brides, someone noted.
Like those Russian brides who look great in the pics, we gloss over the warts, the wooden leg and the future angry mother-in-law in the background…
It was exactly as described though, and there were plenty of things to sort on the yellow 748.
One carbon muffler with a hold burned through it, worn brake discs, ignition system that was sparking at the wrong times. Chinese levers (thrown straight in the scrap bin). A leaky carbon fuel tank, worn discs, 28-year-old master cylinders, leaky suspension. Everything seemed broken, corroded or just worn out. Like this TPS connection. Should be three wires in there. And these collets. They stop the valves from becoming expensive scrap. Thye are meant to be in one piece.
If it was a Russian Bride, you’d have wanted your money back.
The Strip Down
Nothing makes a project look big like a spreadsheet and a stripped-down motorcycle:
Who’s doing what?
Jordan had offered to rebuild a motor, and reassemble the bike how he wanted. I would supply the bits needed, the running gear, brakes, parts and consumables from Ducatispares stocks.
Simple.
Parts Accumulation, Rebuild and Repaint
I took the yellow bits and had them repainted OEM colour, along with the frame and wheels which were painted black by Gary The Painter.
The light as a feather carbon tank had a small weep from the rear, so that got hung on the wall as a conversation piece till we located someone who could repair it.
So, no fuel tank. Apparently, they are important, and Sods Law applies.
When you want to find one, there are none in the world for less than $1000. That had us stumped for a while.
A month later I’m talking to a bloke in rural Southland who had a 916 in his spare bedroom and a spare fuel tank in his cupboard. He agreed to donate it to the project.
The Race Gods were smiling!
South Island Couriers were very busy shuttling parts up and back for refurb/ fitting.
Dodzo did some vapour blasting, making old crusty bits look shiny:
Jordan’s Summary:
The motor was suffering from years of no coolant/glycol and had lots of worn out bits.
Engine received a full overhaul and with new bearings everywhere, ATHENA gaskets & seals, MBP Collets, EXACTFIT cam belts and some NEWFREN clutch plates and basket.
Gearshafts and crank were shimmed, squish set, cams dialled, valve clearances set, some cylinder cooling mods thanks to suggestions from Glyn @ Sports Motorcycles, and our own cylinder oil feed mods and clutch modifications. In the interests of reliability and not killing the visa card, just OEM valves, cams, pistons and rods all went back in.
The freshly painted or vapour blasted chassis components were assembled with new bearings, refreshed and valved suspension from Tim at Technical Racing, some new slightly longer clip-ons for better leverage, and rearsets with grippy pegs fitted.
Domino throttle housing & Tommaselli grips replaced the OEM set up. Looks identical.
With support from the good buggers at Eurobike, the NZ Brembo importer, we went to town on the brakes.
New BREMBO full monty race discs, race pads, new front and rear brake master cylinders and Brembo race brake fluid all got added. If you've ever wondered how Superbike riders can brake sooo late, thats the recipe.
The faulty ignition was fixed with adjustable IGNITECH ecu and quick shifter.
The heavy original sprocket and carrier got ditched for JT alloy sprockets and a lightweight quick change sprocket carrier. Can change rear sprockets in 2 minutes now.
Freshly painted race bodywork, beautifully sign written by Bruce @ Creative Addiction.
Plus some period magnesium yokes and carbon fibre detailing because IT LOOKS FAST.
And that’s important.
Dyno
Time and money was well spent with Dan on MEGA motorcycles dyno.
The ECU is infinitely adjustable, allowing the fueling and ignition tables to be tuned perfectly to the engine, exhaust, airbox setup. We ended up with good horsepower figures and super smooth.
Tyler Lincoln rode the yellow 748 and a red 748 back-to-back. His comparison between the Ignitech and the stock Ducati ECU was “This new set up feels digital. The old ECU and setup feel analogue”.
Result: Faster. Easier.
Suspension Fixing
The bouncy bits are important. We’d had a little prior experience with a red 748, so sent the forks and shock off to Tim at Technical Racing. “Make it happy and less bouncy”.
748 chassis is adjustable in areas most other bikes of the era aren't. Adjustable steering head angle, rear ride height, wheelbase etc. So again, a lot of time and effort spent in making the very most of the 748s amazing base.
Track Success and Shiny Trophies
Jordan continues his summary here:
The Greymouth Street Race
If you haven't been, you should. It’s a downtown street fight, complete with elbow bashing.
My first ever street race and with no pre-95 post classic class. It’s out with the latest & greatest in BEARS OPEN and FORMULA 2.
Awesome day mixing it with 20-25 year newer/faster bikes. We got best of 5th in F2 & 5th in BEARS, also qualifying for FORMULA GREY.
The Southern Classic
My second time here and another great CAMS meeting. Qualified 3rd and finished 3rd in every race behind flying Tyler Lincoln & kiwi legend Jock Woodley on the very fast weed whacker (tz250 4dp).
A one day turn around then straight in the van and on tour with Jon Rawcliffe.
Off to the ferry we go, for...
The Suzuki International Series
RD1 TAUPO. The Ducati 748SP entered in pre-95 junior and Jon Rawcliffe entered in pre-95 senior on his former UK commuter/tourer/fast road bike Kawasaki ZX9.
Managed to put the 748 on the front row, led a couple of laps and even managed to put it on the podium twice. 3x race wins in class and new class lap record. Same great results for Jon in his class.
RD2 MANFIELD New shock valving setup to try and it’s amazing! Thanks Tim.
Qualified on the front row again, 2 wins in class & a 2nd place, with another class lap record.
Jon Rawcliffe managed a clean sweep again and another lap record in his class. Excellent.
RD3 CEMETARY CIRCUIT Wanganui Street Race on Boxing Day.
My first time at Wanganui, just bumped off the front row by local Perry Lett who kindly put Lydia and myself up at very short notice after our accommodation was cancelled.
Result: 2x wins in class taking the Cemetery Circuit pre-95 junior title and Suzuki International Series Pre-95 Championship, and Jon cleaned up his class with his old UK Commuter ZX9.
NZCMRR Classic Festival - Manfield
A pregnant Mrs. Leslie meant I was on the tools for this one with Tyler Lincoln the hired gun. A very productive test day getting the rider comfy and happy and fine-tuning setup.
A very wet qualifying went well with Tyler going fast enough to be P2 on the grid...but forgetting to swap his transponder over from his other bike.
He got to start from the back of the grid for race 1. Much ribbing in the pits.
Race 1 was in intermediate conditions, so we sent Tyler out on intermediate tyres. An incredible first lap saw Tyler go from dead last, passing 33 bikes, to first by the end of lap 1.
It was going so well until Tyler reached the aptly named “splash” (turn 3) and tucked the front and rider & yellow ducati slid gracefully…out of the action.
No real damage done and the bike was repaired and ready to go in a dry race 2.
Race 2 trophy race. A much more tentative start and built to finish second on track but win in class, with the fastest lap and the BIG shiny trophy. Sweet!
Race 3 was in beautiful conditions, and everyone was treated to a display of awesome riding from Tyler and Nathan Jane on the Sports Motorcycles Cobas 750. Tyler winning the race and setting a new Pre-95 F2 lap record at 1.11.98
Another win in race 4 capping an excellent weekend.
The Sound Of Thunder
For BEARS club events, the 748 falls into a bit of a no man’s land. It has 4 valves per cylinder, fuel injection and water cooling, but that lumps it in with 1200cc Superbikes.
Tyler again as the rider out in FORMULA 1 & MOTOEURO against the latest and greatest 200hp superbikes.
Tyler most likely upsetting a lot of these guys by regularly finishing in the top 10 with a best lap of 1.37.5 around Ruapuna. That’s on a 30 year old bike with half the horsepower of the bikes he was racing against. A testament to how good this little 748 is and how good a rider Tyler is.
It Takes A Village:
There are a HUGE number of people who each added a little to the project, with stories and photos of the bike over the years.
People like the bloke who saw the bike in action at Manfield, was so chuffed he donated a spare motor he had sitting around.
SJ @ EASTWELD for accom in Taupo, track advice at Manfield and putting Jon, Jordan, Lydia up on Xmas day.
Jon Rawcliffe @ JRL Tuning, providing sensible advice, laughs, the transport - the Jansit. He was Tour Leader for the Suzuki Series.
Johan for joining the dots, letting us get the bike back on track, just like Kevin Grant would have wanted.
Rodney @ Eurobike for great gear. Don O'Connor @ Eurobike for the memories and explaining just how grumpy he was with Dave holding the throttle wide open and through the red line, rather than changing up a gear.
South Island Couriers for shuttling bikes and parts up and down the country.
Tim @ Technical Racing for bouncy bits that work better.
Newfren for the clutch. One set of plates did almost all of the above meetings.
Ducatispares for all the parts, shiny bits and spares.
MC Mega for dyno time.
Gary the Painter for the OEM yellow paint.
Jordan & Lydia for loving the history of the bike and taking a leap of faith in rebuilding the bike to be the best it can be.
And most importantly, our ever-supportive Partners.
So, What Next?
Tackling an old race bike is a reasonably big job.
Making it back into a title winning bike is a huge challenge.
All credit to Jordan for setting the bar high on the preparation, set up and riding.
We’d be keen to get Dave Cole back on the bike and get his verdict and feedback on the finished project.
Meanwhile, the yellow 748 will continue to get a run out at Classic Race meetings over the Summer.
We hope to see you there.