This is a Ducati Sport Classic 1000 Monoposto from 2006, it’s been given a series of tasteful upgrades, and as a result it’s a little more powerful than it was when it first left the factory.
The Sport Classic line of Ducatis debuted in the 2000s and immediately became cult classics, they didn’t sell in particularly high numbers, but they did have a significant impact on the market. Today there are countless retro classic-style motorcycles in production, and many of them owe their existence to the Pierre Terblanche-designed Sport Classics from Italy.
This is a Ducati Sport Classic 1000 Monoposto from 2006, it’s been given a series of tasteful upgrades, and it’s a little more powerful than it was when it left the factory as a result.
History Speedrun: The Ducati Sport Classic Series
Ducati unveiled three retro concept bikes at the Tokyo Motor Show in October of 2003, whether they intended to actually put them into production or not is up for debate, and company president Federico Minoli told the press at the time that they were one-off show machines and intended not for sale. Two years later, however, the Paul Smart 1000 LE and Sport 1000 were in production in Bologna, Italy as the SportClassic family, and the GT1000 followed them into production in 2006.
Pierre Terblanche, Ducati’s design chief at the time, styled all of them. He said at the time that his inspiration was his own Ducati MH900e, a 2,000 unit tribute bike to Mike Hailwood’s wildly popular 1978 Isle of Man TT comeback win. In early-2004, Ducati said the public response to the Tokyo show bikes had persuaded it to put all three into full-scale production. Dealers took reservations at introductory prices between March and September of 2004, and the Paul Smart entered production in September of 2005, followed by the Sport 1000 in October that same year.
Every SportClassic used the twin-spark 1000 DS engine, an air-cooled 90º V-twin with a single overhead camshaft per cylinder head and two desmodromic valves per cylinder. In a desmodromic system, cams close each valve as well as opening it, so the engine doesn’t rely on valve springs. It was developed to offer more reliable valve control at higher-rpms, and it became a hallmark feature of countless Ducati engines.
The twin-spark 1000 DS displaced 992cc from a 94 mm bore and 71.5 mm stroke, it ran a 10:1 compression ratio and Marelli fuel injection through 45 mm throttle bodies, and it made a claimed 91 bhp at 8,000 rpm and 67 lb ft of torque at 6,000 rpm. A 6-speed gearbox with straight-cut primary gears powered the rear wheel via a traditional chain final drive.
The tubular steel trellis frame had 24º of rake, up front sat a 43 mm upside-down fork and twin 320 mm semi-floating Brembo discs with two-piston floating calipers. The rear had a 245 mm disc, and the wheels were 17-inch wire-spoked items. The first two models had a monoshock on the left side of the swingarm, which left the right side free for a pair of stacked silencers.
The Ducati Paul Smart 1000 LE
The Ducati Paul Smart 1000 LE was developed to commemorate an iconic race win, on April the 23rd, 1972 (his birthday), Paul Smart won the first Imola 200 on a Ducati 750 Imola Desmo. His teammate Bruno Spaggiari was leading the final lap when he ran short of fuel, and he finished second. It was a 1-2 finish that helped save Ducati, and some have called it the most significant race win in the Italian company’s history.
The modern Paul Smart tribute bike took its Metallic Silver fairing and Sea Green frame from the 1974 750 Super Sport, the road bike the Imola racer had inspired. It added fully-adjustable Öhlins suspension at both ends, a dry clutch, black stacked silencers, and a swingarm with an elliptical right leg. The bike weighed 181 kgs (399 lbs) dry and listed at $14,995 in the US in 2006. Ducati announced a run of 2,000 when production began in 2005, up from the 1,000 it had planned in early 2004. Its heritage department now records a total of 2,250 built.
The Sport Classic line of Ducatis debuted in the 2000s and immediately became cult classics, they didn’t sell in particularly high numbers, but they did have a significant impact on the market. Today there are countless retro classic-style motorcycles in production, and many of them owe their existence to the Pierre Terblanche-designed Sport Classics.
The Ducati Sport 1000
The Ducati Sport 1000 was an unfaired cafe racer, styled after the 1973 Ducati 750 Sport. It had a solo seat, low clip-on bars, a single round headlight and bar-end mirrors. Buyers could choose Burnt Yellow, Ducati Red, or Ducati Black, each with a contrasting stripe over a black frame. A Marzocchi fork and an adjustable Sachs monoshock provided springing duties, the Sport weighed 179 kgs (395 lbs) dry, and listed at $11,495.
Ducati added the Sport 1000 Biposto for 2007, it had a dual seat under a removable cowl, raised clip-ons, the GT1000’s twin-shock swingarm with Sachs shocks, and a wet clutch in place of the dry unit. The Sport 1000 S, also new for 2007, put a Paul Smart-style half fairing with a central round headlamp on that twin-shock chassis. The single-seat Sport was gone by 2008, and the range that year was the Biposto, the 1000 S and the GT1000.
The Ducati GT1000
The Ducati GT1000, built for more for comfort and touring, referred back to the 1971 Ducati 750 GT, Ducati’s first 90º V-twin. It had a wet clutch from the start, high swept-back bars, a dual seat, one silencer per side and twin Sachs shocks. Its chromed steel rims added nearly 10 lbs of unsprung weight compared with the aluminum rims on the other models. At $9,995 it was the cheapest SportClassic, a GT1000 Touring followed, with chrome fenders, a small luggage rack, taller bars and a windscreen.
The GT1000 outlasted the rest – it was the only SportClassic in Ducati’s 2010 range and was missing from the 2011 lineup. Disney’s Tron: Legacy, released in 2010, put its hero on a black Sport 1000 Biposto, a model Ducati had already stopped building. Paul Smarts now sell for more than they cost new, and all of the original Sport Classic Ducatis remain in high demand – it’s a market Ducati doesn’t really cater to any longer.
The 2006 Ducati Sport Classic 1000 Monoposto Shown Here
The motorcycle you see here is a 2006 Ducati SportClassic Sport 1000 Monoposto, finished in Ducati Yellow with white tank lettering and a customized black seat with yellow stitching. As you would expect, it’s powered by an air-cooled twin-spark 1000 DS engine with a 6-speed transmission. The engine has been fitted with a Corse Dynamics high-performance intake kit, a Termignoni race exhaust, and a remapped ECU with a custom dyno tune, reportedly producing approximately 93 bhp at 7,800 rpm.
It has received a series of mechanical and cosmetic upgrades, including Andreani Misano Evo 2 fork cartridges, an Öhlins steering damper, ASV brake and clutch levers, a Ducati Performance clutch, and Ducabike open clutch and timing belt covers. Other additions include bar-end mirrors, LED indicators and taillight, a MOSFET voltage regulator, and protective crash knobs. It rides on cross-spoke wheels shod with Pirelli Diablo Rosso III tires.
The motorcycle you see here is a 2006 Ducati SportClassic Sport 1000 Monoposto, finished in Ducati Yellow with white tank lettering and a customized black seat with yellow stitching. As you would expect, it’s powered by an air-cooled twin-spark 1000 DS engine with a 6-speed transmission.
The most recent service was completed in February of 2025 by Wayne Paterson’s Bunbury Ducati, with work including replacement of the timing belts, spark plugs, fuel hoses and O-rings, fluids, brake components, and tires.
It’s now being offered for sale, accompanied by its owner’s manual, service records, two sets of keys, a motorcycle stand, and a CTEK battery charger. If you’d like to read more or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
