vin no.????

[nnnnnnorman]

down on the frame above the left front foot peg is an oblong plate riveted and black. on this little plate in white is ZDM 906 PC
10 0144839
41 0144695
is this my vin number?

[Mc tool]

Yes nnnnnnorman Indeed , the top # is the manufacturing code # ( the #10 denotes how many times it went thru rework at quality control) and the bottom one is the vin # . Might interest you to know nnnnnnorman , that your bike is one of the last 15 or so paso 906 's made . during the manufacturing / assembly prosess some parts ( as in all factories ) dont meet quality standards and , upon discovery ( and we all know ducati , in particular were not all that good at finding such things so you gotta wonder just how bad the ones they did find were ) they chucked em all in a big room out the back of Massimo's office. there were not quite straight frames, wheels that had failed crack tests , dodgy wiring looms ( lots of them ) , leaky fuel tanks ,clutch baskets , gear sets , crankcases with over size main berring bores, lots of parts, actually about 15 of each part, ( except for the wiring looms ,there were more of them. I think that the last paso actually had 7 looms fitted ) ANYHOW towards the end of the 906 manufacturing run , things being as they were at ducat finanically , the bean counters started eyeing up the goodies ( or baddies as the case was ) in the big room out the back , and when no one was looking they banged together the last 15 paso's out of all the bits, thats why not all paso's have identical components .Most , but not all , wound up in Finland, and I think one eventually made it to pennsylvania too . See if you can find any little "x" stamped on anything .
Cheers Nnnnnnorman

[nnnnnnorman]

hey mctool that is really interesting info there! i always wanted a ducati since i was a kid. older brothers of other kids in my home town had 750 and 860 ducati that looked and sounded mean.some two and three fifty singles and even a four fifty. others had morini 3and a halves a vincent black shadow nortons triumphs bsa a weslake etc etc. i loved the ducati best but loved them all. the noise the smell the sight of them running through the town. as i got older i owned a few bikes, a 6T, an interstate mk2, and a few others but nearly always twins. the odd single came into it. the dominating factor was the was all pretty cheap when i bought them. my budget has usually been low. so the ducati always stayed outta reach but i loved them.
then one sunny day i look through the local advertiser and there it was. my dream bike. a ducati for £900! it said it was a nine o six. well as i rang the number i scanned the memory banks for an image of these bikes. couldn't recall it but arranged to go straight over and check it out. when i got there it was bitter sweet. it was a paso. now each to their own mctool. i remembered seeing a few of these around and thinking they were my least favourite ducati ever! just on looks i was not a fan of all that red plastic. i had been brought up on great big ducati engines on display and thought thats how they where meant to be.
there in front of me was an very good condition 906 in black and gold. high gloss paint and really clean etc. i liked what i saw. the owner told me his reason for sale. he loved the bike ,had had it 18 years and just didnt use it any more. he fired it up and i was in love. it sounded just right through the aftermarket exhaust. i said i wanted a test ride and gave him the £900 and off i went over the hills for twenty miles. BEAUTIFUL. JUST WHAT I WANTED. SOMETHING THAT PULLED THROUGH THE GEARS LIKE THAT. as you know im putting it through a mini restoration now. five years later. ive bought an ST2 to get by on. a great bike but not the same. im off out now to a big bike day in brighton. wish i was going on the paso.

[higgy]

I think one eventually made it to pennsylvania too

What are you trying to say here Mctool

[nnnnnnorman]

well im just back from the BRIGHTONA day in brighton. fantastic day with perfect weather. every bike under the sun was there. i saw laverda jota a moto guzzi trikeloads of radical street bikes hundreds of hogs chops dirt bikes racers quads monster drag bikes the lot. BUT NO PASO'S!

[Mc tool]

you wern't on your own with your initial thoughts on the new Paso, ducatisti stayed away in droves , and it certainly was a departure from the norm for ducati ..... you couldnt see the motor. i guess the new Triumph's and V rods had a bit of the same.I first saw one at the 1st West coast rally at Punakaiki and loved it,even tho it was almost totally enclosed in some enormously fat chicks arse ( where do they get their leathers from ??!!)

[Mc tool]

I think one eventually made it to pennsylvania too

What are you trying to say here Mctool

Oh nothing

[nnnnnnorman]

this week each evening im going to be going over the bike cleaning the frame and going over all the bits and pieces. i will look for the little x's mctool has mentioned. it intrigues me to know my bike was one of the last made and it came from the BIG ROOM OF REJECTS. ive been to the ducati factory whilst part of the back up team on the moto giro event and saw the size of the rooms full off parts and bikes in various stages of preperation. you could sense that quality control and organisation could be an issue.
could mine be the last paso906 ever to leave those rooms? i rescued a wreck of a jeep that was left parked on a cliff top for years and got it back on the road and used it for years. that turned out to be the manufacturers(NCF DIAMOND)prototype of thier cortina based kit car. i loved that car.

[nnnnnnorman]

so ignoring mctools invalueable contribution concerning vin numbers and reject rooms and little x's stamped on things the mini restoration on the 906 continues. still no pictures yet but hopefully soon. everything is cleaning up nicely and all should be ready to go back together quite soon. just gotta wait for my mate to get back from his holidays so we can start the engine investigation.

[higgy]

Hey Mctool
I just found an"X" on one of the exhaust hangers for the 907

Does that make the 907 a special

[Mc tool]

Hey Mctool
I just found an"X" on one of the exhaust hangers for the 907

Does that make the 907 a special

Ha ha no ! it makes you special for being silly enough to look
I am sorry guys I think that maybe not quite everyone realises that my reply to nnnnnnormans ? about vin #'s was a load of bullshit.Nobody's bike got made out of reject parts. Apollogies to those who took time off work to look for X's.
(nnnnnnorman have you got your PM private message thing turned on ? ,been trying to send you a PM but cant get it to make it past the outbox )

[higgy]

Apollogies to those who took time off work to look for X's.

time off from work? what's that ?


BTW( sorry Antti, thats is by the way) I looked high and low for a picture of a guy on crutches with his head up his ass, no luck
Mctool can you ask your wife to snap a picture of you for me Then I can post it here for all 2 c

[nnnnnnorman]

yes mctool pm mcthingy is on. i have mcreplied.

[Mc tool]

Mctool can you ask your wife to snap a picture of you for me Then I can post it here for all 2 c

yeah ok . Its a brilliant day here so I will have a photo shoot. I gotta admit Im a bit worried that if I can get my head up my ass it wont come out

[higgy]

I think you are way past that worry my kiwi friend