Ducati 916 (1994-1998) review and used buying guide

Fashions change, but riding a Ducati 916 remains a very special experience, whereas taking to the roads on other 1990s machinery can be a distinct disappointment.

Watch: On board with King Carl Fogarty on a Ducati 916

The focused riding position is uncomfortable at slow speed and the clutch horribly heavy, but up the pace and it all makes sense as your knees slot under the recesses in the tank, and hanging off for bends becomes second nature. The handling isn’t as razor-sharp as a modern sportsbike when it comes to initial turn-in, but get the Ducati over and it tracks beautifully and feels rock-solid mid-corner.

The lazy desmo engine delivers a wonderfully visceral riding experience and that is accompanied by the booming V-twin soundtrack that sums up motorcycling in the 1990s. Just add Termignonis for the ultimate aural accompaniment.

Watch: Ducati 916 strip and rebuild video

Ducati's of this era require careful looking after. Service every 4000 miles, replace cam belts every 10,000 miles and check for base gasket oil leaks. The dry clutch is a weak spot too.

Our Ducati 916 owners' reviews are very positive, as you'd expect from buyers of an automotive icon. The negative comments are about costly ownership and maintenance, which you'd also expect for a piece of exotica like this.

After its launch in 1994 a mystique developed around the 916. It was picked up by the high rollers and it appeared in countless music videos, movies and perfume adverts – all of which helped create an exotic aura around the bike. Sex sells, and the 916 was a two-wheeled lothario.

You can never predict if the physical attractiveness of a vehicle will be a success (as the 916’s successor, the 999 demonstrated), but with the 916 its designer Massimo Tamburini certainly had a good start. Not only had Tamburini already created some beautiful Bimota models, he based the 916 on two surefire winning themes – sex and performance. Low mileage examples now command strong prices, expect to pay over £6k for one. If you're buying an SP or SPS version make sure it is one and not a tarted up standard model.

Watch Ducati 916 vs Kawasaki ZXR750

Viewed from above the 916 has the silhouette of a voluptuous lady with a thin waist and ample other proportions, which is no coincidence, and certain other design features were used purely for aesthetic appeal.

Ducati had no plans to endurance race the 916, so the use of a single-sided swingarm was simple vanity. Where Tadao Baba refused an inverted fork on his FireBlade, Tamburini went for it. And that’s the difference between the Japanese and Italians when it comes to design – although the 916’s styling was heavily influenced by Japan.

Original Ducati 916 specifications

People always attribute the late 1990s fascination with underseat pipes to the 916, but Tamburini admitted that it was the Honda NR750 that inspired him to choose this design feature. What people often forget about Tamburini was that as well as being a gifted designer, he was also a brilliant engineer – and that’s why the 916 looks good, goes well, and is very easy to work on.

The three-spoke 916 wheels were built by Brembo, the five-spoke 996 wheels of 2000 were by Marchesini – introduced the same year that Brembo bought Marchesini. The very first production run of 916 Strada models had their lower fairings secured with rivets and not removable fasteners. Early 916 bikes were painted Cagiva red, and carried the Cagiva elephant logo on the screen and fuel filler caps – a nod to the parent company.

Ridden: Ducati 916 Senna

Originally published on 6 November 2015 by Chris Newbigging 

No matter what you do in life, your work can usually be identified somehow. Everyone works in a particular way, and leaves their signature in some form or another, even if it’s very subtle. The Castiglioni family’s work can be traced through a proliferation of limited models. From Mitos to MV Agustas, every brand they’ve owned has churned out a few lightly-tweaked ‘special’ editions. One of the most memorable series is the 916 Senna, named after F1 driver Ayrton, who lost his life in 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix. Naming a sportsbike after a late car driver is outwardly a bit odd, but you have to understand the context.

The Cagiva group is very much a touchy-feely family concern, and is a bit like motorcycling mafioso (without the crime, obviously). Once you’re on their side, you’re a friend for life. Claudio Castiglioni was known for his generous acts towards those who helped the company – Pirelli’s wet-weather Grand Prix tyre development rider was invited to the factory to receive a brand-new Elefant 900 (wrapped in a big ribbon) after his work helped Randy Mamola to Cagiva’s first podium at the wet 1988 Belgian GP.

Ayrton Senna was a personal friend of the Castiglioni family (partially, no doubt, because he was a repeat high-profile Ducati customer), and had actually personally agreed to the first run of 200 bikes named in his honour before his demise. Profits from the reps went to the Senna Foundation, to provide Brazilian kids with free sports facilities, as long as they went to school. The first run arrived in 1995 – silver with red wheels, with a Strada-spec engine (minus the posh Pankl rods) with an SP chassis (Öhlins shock, cast-iron, fully-floating Brembo discs and braided brake hoses).

To Ducati’s delight the series sold out in no time, and a second run was planned. Typical Italian production issues meant they didn’t appear until 1997. The Senna II was more or less identical to the first batch. Yet another edition was sold in 1998, and the bike here is one of those. The body colour switched to black, and a carbon mudguard and airbox were added to the already comprehensive spec sheet.

The Duke has an uncompromising reputation, and it’s true everything is geared for fast riding, ideally on a track. The riding position puts a lot of weight on your wrists, and you need the clutch lever height perfectly adjusted or the heavy hydraulic action will soon give you arm pump. It could be a real nightmare on miserable roads in town – but it’s not. In fact, adjust your riding a little and it’s a decent all-weather ride. How so? Well, that track-developed chassis still generates grip and provides detailed feedback on what’s going on underneath. The Senna digs its tired D207s into slimy tarmac and feels more secure than it has any right to be.

The cast-iron floating discs and Brembo Goldline calipers have even more feel than the stock 916’s stainless disc set-up, and it’s easy to apply as much or as little power as you think is safe. Not that you need much – knock the throttle off and the high-compression motor provides as much speed reduction as some drum brakes muster. The 916’s advantage in the dry over inline fours is the way it puts power down out of corners. Big twins are effective at laying drive down in a tyre-friendly way, and the way it punches out of bends is what makes Ducati ownership addictive.

Of course, you get all this with a standard 916 – the SP chassis just makes it a little nicer. But it's the exclusive club-within-club feel of Senna ownership – not to mention the association with the sainted driver – that lends it the nagging needfulness provoked by all special Ducatis.