As a seasoned (ok im 35 so not that old) racer I never thought that I would be sat here typing a blog that would show to the world what it is like to buy a cheap Ducati 748SP and on a budget turn it into a competitive race bike!. I certainly thought id be writing a blog at some point but not about a Ducati!.
Having raced since 1998 it has always been mainly Japanese makes only, primarily Suzuki’s. My husband Steve Jordan owns and runs a Suzuki dealership, Steve Jordan Motorcycles, meaning the Suzuki connection so far has played a major part in what bikes I have owned and raced.
So why a Ducati?. After some long and very hard thinking I decided recently to return back to true grass roots club racing. For the past 3 years I have raced a Suzuki GSXR600 at MRO and some British Supersport events. This has cost me a fortune that I dont have and put me under alot of pressure to perform to the best of my ability every time I sat on a bike. Ok, so everyone strives to do this when they go racing but with the 2011 being the 7th season in a row that I have raced constantly a little bit of that spark was starting to dim and the thought of another season draining the non existant money pot didnt exactly fill me with joy.
So the decision was made, my new Suzuki GSXR1000K9 (great bike!) was sold and for the first time I had spare funds in my bank account and a whole world of choices.
Bemsee (BMCRC.NET) run the very popular Thunderbike UK (http://www.thunderbike.org.uk/) race series which I raced in during 2005-2006 – yes thats me on number 73 on the home page!. Steve won the Championship in 2010 so we have some good memories of this class. Steve and I discussed that I look at going back to Thunderbikes for this season and just buy something that I can have fun riding with no pressure and hopefully not have to spend as much money on tyres etc. Dont get me wrong here though Thunderbikes is a pretty tough class that attracts very experienced racers right through to novice racers on a very tight budget. So I dont expect the racing to be easy!.
Why a Ducati?. Ok so if you read the rules only certain makes, models and years of bike are allowed and then you have to run within the power to weight rule. I didnt want to go back to an SV650 and neither did I fancy a GSXR750 1990 model or anything else as old. I did consider a CBR600 steel framed bike but that did get that spark to glow. The next best option was to try and source a Ducati. 748-749 (upto and including 04 models) and the pre 1997 916 are allowed. Business wise this makes sense as now Steve can show what he can do with a Ducati and personally I think they look pretty (im female so thats allowed!).
Anyways, less rattling on..ive ended up buying a 1998 748SP. The bike arrived with us today in road trim but also arrived with various boxes, race fairings, spare wheels and more boxes!. The plans are over the next few months to take the bike apart completely, engine out and complete rebuild, clean, polish and hopefully with the addition of a few nice little tweaks end up with a shiny and very competitive bike.
So I have started this blog to let people know what im doing, list the pitfalls, tantrums, crying and hopefully a few happy moments of a Ducati 748 on a budget racebike!. Oh and hopefully prove the odd sceptic wrong that a 748 will last more than one race without leaving a trail of oil all over the racing line!
