1984 Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica 900 – $42,000
Ducati MHR 900 for sale
SELLER SAYS: This bike is an Australian-compliant and plated 1984 Mike Hailwood Replica, last of the kick-start 900cc version. The bike has had a full repaint and new Staintune pipes installed. I have owned the bike for 15 years and maintained club registration to ride on club days. The bike runs exceptionally well and looks fantastic. Contact Ian on 0407 356 614 (Woodville, NSW).
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: It’s difficult to think of a more beautiful or recognisable sports bike in motorcycle history than Ducati’s wonderful Mike Hailwood Replica. Even non-bike people, and certainly non-Ducati bike people, recognise the MHR in an instant. That big swooping race fairing, combined with the memorable Castrol colour scheme, ensure it stands out in any crowd. Of course, most bike people know the back-story. In 1978, old-fashioned has-been rider Mike Hailwood threw his leg over old-fashioned has-been race bike Ducati 900SS and dared challenge the world’s top-gun riders on their new-fangled top-gun Jap bikes at the Isle of Man – and beat them all. Has-beens indeed! Hardly anyone could believe what had happened. The marketing team at Ducati knew that Mike The Bike had given them an incredibly high-value gift, and they cashed in by releasing the limited-edition Mike Hailwood Replica in 1979. The bike was basically a 900SS, tarted up with the red-and-green paint and extra fibreglass to look like Mike’s bike, and fitted out with bigger carbs and louder exhausts. And boy, people sure liked it! That limited single-year run of 200 (some say 300) bikes to celebrate the race kept rolling into 1980, and ’81 and … by 1986 the engine had grown an electric start, shed the SS frame, was out to 1000cc, and had sold more than 7,000 units. The MHR story is more than just nostalgia though. The MHR and it’s 900SS twin were wonderful machines. A joy to ride at speed, they sounded magnificent and were plenty fast for human beings on twisty real-world roads. This bike of Ian’s looks like a marvellous survivor, and very rare in terms of its specifications. Ducati started phasing out the kickstart version in 1983, and by 1984 almost all were fitted with electric start and the Darmah frame to accommodate it. Definitely a bike to cherish, but also one to unleash at every opportunity. Just beautiful.
