The auction block is a wonderful arbiter of the value of a storied object and the intrigue it creates is often better than fiction. The Ducati 851 won Ducati's first World Superbike Championship in 1990 but it has not sold well at auction by comparison to Ducati's long roster of special models created since. This auction may well alert the world to a growing collectible juggernaut.
The Ducati 851 is a valuable motorcycle by most standards with high sales of $42,932, $42,456, $40,250 and $40,250 ... but other Ducati models that have won the World Superbike Championship sell for more – the Ducati 888 price record is $75,564, the Ducati 916 record is $91,044, and the Ducati 996 price record is $75,600 ... BUT ... this bike is very special.
It was owned by John Surtees, the only person to win the world championship on both two and four wheels. It is one of a batch of 20 851 F90 Corsa Ducatis produced by the factory specifically for homologation purposes for the 1990 World Superbike season. Its landmark new technologies include being the first desmodromic v-twin with liquid cooling, 4 valves per cylinder and electronic fuel injection.
One of the other bikes in the litter of 20 took the 1990 World Superbike Championship in the hands of Frenchman Raymond Roche, beginning a Ducati domination of world superbike racing that exists to this day.
Race bikes are a lot like Grandpa's axe – by the time they've done a few seasons, there's not much left that remains of the original. Everything has been improved, resurfaced (intentionally or otherwise) or replaced. This bike is absolutely original because it is still new – as it would have been delivered to the teams, before they began changing everything chasing an extra millisecond in lap times.
The bike has never been started. Authenticity is key to collectible car and motorcycle value and this is as authentic and unmolested as a race bike can get, and it's rare and significant with great provenance ... and there is no reserve price.
Hence it will be sold, come what may. It's unlikely not to set a model record given the venue – Italy's annual Concorso D'Elegenza Villa D'Este is one of the key global events on the collectible car calendar and it has an accompanying auction at Villa Erba (next door) each year. The 851's remarkably full hand of auction attractiveness will not be overlooked in its home country.
If it doesn't set a record, someone got a bargain and here's why.
The Surtees Provenance
The provenance of Surtees is immense. His feats rate equal billing to those of Fangio.
Only one person has ever won the world championship for both cars and motorcycles and it is unlikely to ever happen again. John Surtees won the World 500cc Motorcycle Racing Championship (now MotoGP) in 1956, 1958, 1959 & 1960 riding for MV Agusta. In 1960, he had his first F1 start at the Monaco Grand Prix between his commitments to MV Agusta as its lead rider.
In a world where it is now difficult to swap between racing series due to the different riding and power characteristics of the bikes, Surtees won the 1958, 1959 and 1960 World 500cc Championship AND the 1960 World 350cc Championship riding in both classes at every Grand Prix.
In the same year (1960), Surtees managed to fit four Formula One starts into his crowded schedule. At his second start (the 1960 British Grand Prix), he finished second behind Jack Brabham, and his third start was the Portuguese Grand Prix where he put his Cooper Climax on pole ahead of Gurney, Brabham, Moss, Hill, McLaren and Jim Clark.
Not surprisingly, by the beginning of 1961, he was a full-time Formula One driver and by the beginning of 1963 he was driving for Scuderia Ferrari, winning the Formula One championship for Ferrari in 1964.
Surtees' 851 has quite potent provenance, but it serves to highlight the immense wealth of limited-edition Ducatis that have been slowly working their way up auction price lists for the last few decades.
The looming Ducati Auction Juggernaut
Ducati has produced so many coveted collectible motorcycles over the last 50 years, it's sometimes hard to keep track of the marque's continual presence at auction, but an analysis of the rising auction prices for a host of Ducati's legacy models suggests that Ducati is on track to ultimately dominate motorcycle auction prices in the same way Ferrari has dominated the collectible car marketplace.
Continued Relevance
Ducati is not a name that relies on the history books for its credibility.
Ducati currently dominates both Superbike and MotoGP racing – it generates priceless publicity most weekends by winning the world's most watched races, infusing the marque with ever-greater recognition and enhanced reputation. Sometimes it generates global publicity several times in one weekend, winning MotoGP sprints, and WSBK heats. In 2024 there were 20 Grands Prix that comprised the championship – that's 60 podium positions available of which Ducati took 56 of them. So far in 2025, Ducati has taken 14 of the 15 MotoGP podiums available.
It's extremely rare that a sportsperson comes along that is nigh on unbeatable in one of the world's most visible and hotly contested sports. Hiring Marc Marquez might turn out to be as significant an event for the Ducatisti as the 1972 Imola 200 Race or Mike Hailwood's post-retirement world championship ride at the Isle of Man.
Ducati's winning record in World Superbike Championships is already top of the list and in the most important racing series, the 500cc/MotoGP World Championship, Ducati and Marquez can surpass everyone in history – Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi included – over the next few years.
Ducati is already nurturing the Ducatisti by enrolling former champions such as Carl Fogarty, Troy Bayliss, Casey Stoner, Regis Laconi, Troy Corser ad infinitum as tribal elders to promote the brand to new generations, and Ducati's mastery of technology includes a growing digital connection with its user base that appears to be next-generation savvy.
Ducati was following the same trajectory as Ferrari on the auction block before Marquez arrived. If Marquez starts relentlessly winning again, (which seems likely – the bookies currently have him at 1.25 odds to take the 2025 title), the marque will reap untold rewards from the synergetic partnership.
Thanks to a never ending supply of desirable limited production models (many of which won modern day World Championships), it has created dozens of collectible marketplaces for individual models which combine to form an auction juggernaut-in-waiting as these markets are all maturing and climbing above the radar.
In 2024, Casey Stoner's 2007 Championship-winning Ducati Desmosedici race bike sold for $532,004 (£402,500) to move into 14th place in the all-time highest motorcycle prices. The highest priced Brough Superior in history fetched just a tad more at $542,500. The Desmosedici is now the only motorcycle produced this century in the top 50 motorcycle prices of all time, and one of only three produced subsequent to 1960 – the others being the customized 1990 Harley-Davidson Softail Heritage 1340 ($520,024) of French rock-n-roll legend Johnny Hallyday, and the 1991 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy ($512,000) used by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
In April 2024, one of the original Ducati 750 Imola racers that launched the brand into international consciousness in 1972 reached $600,000 on the auction block but the reserve price (the price at which the vendor sells) was not reached. Had the bid been accepted, Ducati's imminent climb to the summit of auction rankings might already be common knowledge.
The Ducati 750 SS was Ducati's roadgoing replica of the famous Smart-Spaggiari bikes that finished 1-2 at the Imola 200 race in 1972. The previous time one of the original eight Ducati Imola race bikes sold at auction (Sotheby’s in September 2001), it set a world record price of $121,250 for a motorcycle at auction and the sale prompted Cycle World Editor Phil Schilling to write an article entitled simply $100,000 Ducati.
Phil Schilling's "$100,000 Ducati" article in CycleWorld from May, 2002 is still available online.
$100,000 seemed like a ridiculous amount of money for anyone to pay for a motorcycle at that time, but with a quarter century of hindsight, we can now say that 20 of the original batch of 1973/1974 Ducati 750SS roadgoing replicas have now sold in excess of the price of Spaggiari's history-making Ducati desmo v-twin race bike – the replicas sold for more than the real bike. The record for a "replica" round-case 1972 Ducati 750 SS is now $247,500, with sales of $201,600, $198,000, $198,000, $197,288 and $189,000 to back it up.
As the SS has been relentlessly climbing in value, the 1972 non-desmo Yellow Sport 750 has followed it up the leaderboard. The record price for a 1972 750S is now $74,800, backed by other sales of $55,000, $47,300, $45,100, $43,000, $43,000 and another at $41,000.
The GT version of the Ducati 750 was already on the market by the time the 1972 Imola 200 win took place, but a rising tide floats all boats, and it is now also following its more celebrated brethren, with a record price of $48,733 (€38,025), and other high sales of $37,400, $36,300 and $35,500. British motorcycle broker Paul Jayson has a round-case GT currently on sale for £35,000 (US$46,718).
One of the fascinations for us while doing this research was what seemed to be a very wide price spread for Ducati models. Not all bikes are equal once they've been cared for by different humans for 50 years, particularly motorcycles built to racing tolerances. Performance motorcycles are not appliances that will relentlessly perform their task without meticulous maintenance and we think that's why prices for the same Ducati model often vary more wildly than with other brands, and often the high price for a model is more so of an outlier.
The trends suggest that if you are prepared to invest in your Ducati for the longer term, it should provide a handsome return, even if you ride it. That's value beyond numbers in a spreadsheet!
After an intensive preparation for this article, sorting through thousands of auction listings, it appears quite obvious that it's still possible to pick up an original model in excellent shape for a lot less than the museum quality bikes that set the price records.
The Hailwood Legend
High on the awareness scale of every motorcycling enthusiast is the 1978 return to racing of the legendary seven-time World Champion "Mike the Bike" Hailwood. Hailwood had not raced for more than a decade when he was coaxed out of retirement, and his feat in returning to the ultra-dangerous Isle of Man circuit at 38-years-of-age and giving Ducati its first world title is integral to the Ducati legend.
Hailwood's fairy tale triumph made global news and for a decade, it seemed every motorcycle workshop and man cave in the world was decorated with one of the many posters honoring his win. Not surprisingly, a replica of the Hailwood bike emerged and Ian Falloon's history of the Mike Hailwood Replica is as meticulously detailed as usual, while Alan Cathcart's backgrounder on the story is equally enlightening.
The Hailwood Replica comes in several different guises, but just sticking to the none-Evoluzione models, the highest price in our records is $56,175, followed by $48,285, $42,156, $38,801 and then a drop to $31,216, $30,800 and $30,750, and a plethora of sales in the $25,000 to $30,000 bracket.
The 1,500-unit limited edition Desmosedici RR race replica produced by Ducati in 2008 seemingly defied logic with its astronomical price of $72,000 (£40,000), but 17 years down the track, those who managed to procure one at that price now have a collectible motorcycle worth more than the original buy price, and from here onwards, it can be reasonably expected to appreciate in value far better than bank interest or pork belly futures.
The record price for a Desmosedici RR is $91,057, though there are rumors of much higher prices having been paid at auction that we cannot verify with a link or a media report. We calculate the total buy price, including buyers premium and we convert prices to USD at the prevailing exchange rates on the next trading day. Many auction houses do not list the full price (recording the hammer price but failing to add the Buyer's Premium) which is why the price we quote in this and many other articles is often different to the prices you will find on the auction site – just read their fine print about their Buyers Premium. If we can reasonably verify that a sale occurred, we list it. If anyone can help add to the database with a link to a sale not listed here, we'll add it to this article and we'll all be better informed.
Desmosedici RR prices for spectacular specimens now comfortably exceed the initial buy price, with recent high prices of $90,528, $84,000, $78,750, $78,355, $74,445 and $73,028.
The single-cylinder Ducati 550cc Supermono racing motorcycle was produced in limited quantities between 1993 and 1995. Just 67 Supermonos were built, using much of the technology Pierre Terblanche had already developed for the twin-cylinder 916. The single-cylinder, 4-valve, water-cooled 550cc engine produced 75 hp and the technical manager who turned Terblanche's design into reality was a young engineer who joined Ducati in 1991 immediately upon graduating in mechanical engineering from the University of Bologna. Claudio Domenicali is now the CEO of Ducati after holding positions such as Director of Product R&D, and General Manager of Operations and Product Development. He became CEO of Ducati Motor Holding in 2013. The Ducati ethos looks sound from any angle!
Mauro Lucchiari won the European Supermono Championship on the Supermono as intended, and Ducati won the Manufacturers' title, and the Supermono is now a hugely coveted model.
Thanks to the extensive use of composite materials such as carbon fiber and magnesium alloy, the Supermono weighed only 100 kg, and to say Ducati vastly underestimated demand is an understatement. The highest price of $165,760 appears to be an outlier, with the second highest price at $115,000, and the third highest at $97,000. We don't think it is, and there are private sales for the bike tor higher figures that we can't verify. Ducati honors the Supermono's unique history with its own web page.
The Ducati 888 was manufactured between 1991 and 1994 with 7,594 bikes produced. The 851 had introduced liquid cooling, computerized fuel injection and four-valve heads and for 1991 the engine capacity was increased to 888 cc. The 1990 World Superbike title was won by the 851, and the 888 took the title for Ducati in both 1991 and 1992, both years piloted by American Doug Polen. In 1991, Polen rode the Fast by Ferracci Ducati 888 and in 1992, he rode the Team Police Ducati.
In terms of sale prices, the highest price we record for the model is $75,564, but the highest prices quickly drop away: $65,515, $63,969, $44,000, $43,050 and $42,456.
The Ducati 916 was made from 1994 to 1998, winning four of the five World Superbike titles it contested (three to Carl Fogarty, one to Troy Corser). Beyond its competitiveness, it is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made. It was one of the 100 motorcycles chosen for the famous 1998 Guggenheim "Art of the Motorcycle" Exhibition (along with the 750 SS, Ducati Monster and Bimota Tesi ID) but ... judge for yourself. The links to these high priced bikes will take you to the auction descriptions, where the world's best motorcycle photographers have captured them from all angles.
With an exceptionally long production run, there were 18,006 Ducati 916 specimens produced, but the prices they fetch bely that large number. The Ducati 916 is by far the most desirable of the lineage with the highest prices of $91,044 and $85,707 falling away to ... $79,385, $71,528, $66,618, $63,000, $60,812, $58,154, $55,000 and $54,863.
Until the beginning of 2024, the record price for a Ducati 996 was the $48,825 paid on BringaTrailer for a 2001 Ducati 996R with seven miles on the odometer. It's now at $75,600 which was the price paid for the bike above – with one mile on the clock. The third highest price of $44,988 (€43,200) was paid for a bike with 6,000 km on the clock, and below that there are a dozen 996 that have sold in the $30,000 to $40,000 bracket.
The 996's biggest moment in its three year reign, was not its two World Superbike titles (one to Fogarty, one to Bayliss), but as one of the stars of the movie, Matrix Reloaded.
The movie and the stunts performed, made the 996 look like the chariot of the gods. The movie further enhanced the growing Ducati reputation and is no doubt an influence on 996 prices, but Ducati's subsequent 998 Matrix Replica is a bike we think will do exceedingly well at auction as time goes by.
The Ducati 998 was produced from 2002 to 2004. It was the successor to the Ducati 996 and the final variation on the Ducati 916. The new Testastretta engine shared many similarities with the previous Desmoquattro engine in the 996, although it was completely new from the crankshaft up. Testastretta means narrow head and refers to a complete redesign of the cylinder heads. The highest prices in our database are currently $56,700, $51,450, $40,950, $35,583 and $32,207
The Ducati 999 represented a complete styling departure from its forebears, a completely new trellis frame and further exploitation of the power potential of the new engine.
Between 2003 and 2007, the 999 won three World Superbike Riders Championships and three Constructors' Championships. Even though the 999 represents a modern motorcycle with production taking place between 2002 and 2006, prices are already on the rise, with sales beyond the top seller indicating that near perfection is required to enter the top bracket of $47,866, $47,501, $46,880 and $42,356, with a step down to $32,550 and $30,800 and then a host of sales in the $20,000 to $30,000 bracket.
Four of the top five prices fetched by the Ducati 1098 at auction were achieved by Troy Bayliss replicas, with the highest price fetched in Italy by RM Sotheby's at $47,172, followed by four sales in Australia at $43,817, $41,149, $35,960 and $32,381.
There are so many bikes we could and will add to this list to decipher the high prices, as time permits. In particular, the 1970s 750/900 Super Sport market, Darmah, Pantah, the MH900E Evoluzione and the Monster are on our list, but if you have a particular bike you'd like first, use the comments and we'll oblige.
The punchline
Not convinced about the Ducati auction juggernaut theory yet?
Around 75% of the world's 1,000 most valuable motorcycles are v-twins.
Less than 1% of all the motorcycles ever sold have been v-twins, so we're not expecting the top of the auction leaderboard to primarily comprise anything but v-twins in 10, 20 or 30 years from now.
Harley-Davidson and Ducati have been the major suppliers of newer v-twins to the auction block for decades, and Ducati's hit parade is now maturing, with all the boxes ticked, plus ongoing world dominance in a major spectator sport.
There are myriad Ducati models that have formed the basis of World Superbike Championships – the global premier category for production-based bikes. In 2023, the total number of Ducati World Superbike race wins surpassed 400, the number of podiums surpassed 1,000 (a result never achieved by any manufacturer in any motorcycle racing discipline) and five generations of Ducati super sport v-twins have contributed to writing the history of modern-day motorcycle racing culture.
Top-of-mind name recognition counts for a lot on the auction block, and although the Ducatis winning everything at the racetrack are now V4s, all significant Ducatis can all be considered gilt-edged long term investments because Ducati is still winning and gives every indication it will continue to do so.
Every time a Ducati greets the checkered flag first, these heritage bikes are building long-term foundations to become valuable keepsakes.
