Movie Star – 2000 Ducati 996

In Italy, Sport by Tim HuberLeave a Comment

A Ducati featured in a big-budget Hollywood movie focused on motorcycles has gone up for sale again. Unfortunately that movie was 2003’s ‘Bike Boyz’ (not a typo) and though I haven’t seen it a quick google-search revealed reviews to be less than stellar. The movie did have a $24M-budget and somehow they spent more than $215K for every one of the movie’s 111-minute-runtime which convinces me that producers dropped a lot of money on the bikes they featured in the 03′ flop. This custom-painted ’00 example has additional non-cosmetic upgrades and the owner(s) since filming wrapped up has/have kept the custom paint done up for the film movie.

While on the subject, the painting and performance mods on this bike together kind of baffle me. Did the film’s production pay for the bike’s magnesium Marvic wheels? (which are lighter than the stock Marchesini rims that came on the 00′ 996), or did the following owner buy high-end rims intentionally (or unintentionally) matching the flamboyant paint-scheme? Same goes for its upgraded aluminum clutch assembly, titanium mono-shock spring, AFAM quick-change sprocket, Corbin seat and carbon chain-cover along with whatever other unlisted mods there are. Either way less than a thousand miles a year (on average) have been put on this Ducati in the past decade and a half making this a great deal at under $4k if you don’t mind paying for a paint job of living with (or maybe even enjoying, who knows? It’s subjective) the bike’s paint in its current state.

Here’s a scene from the movie where the bike was used:

I’ve only ever had the pleasure of riding a 916 and though it does feel a little long in the tooth in some areas coming off my more modern sport-machine, the 916-998 bikes are fantastic motorcycles that are decked out with many of the quintessential Ducati features. Though the 996 wouldn’t get stock Öhlins suspension until the 2001 year model, the 2000 996 still came stock with Ducati’s distinct-sounding dry clutch and V-twin, Showa suspension, a single-sided swing-arm, Brembo brakes, all wrapped in the company’s famously-stylish Italian bodywork.

The seller claims the bike is in excellent condition with 15,000 on the odo and a clean/current title and registration for $3,900 in the Bay Area here on Craigslist.