As I have just been promoted to moderator on this fine site I thought I would post up some of the moments I've had with this fantastic bike and introduce myself to some of the newer members. I remember when I joined this forum and it was full of some great characters, many of whom have now disappeared, but it was the originals like Jehad Joe, Plipton, Motoronin, Twisted Jester, Ducati Pete and Colonel Klink who's combined humour and knowledge and enthusiasm made it a welcome place for newbies like myself and showed me how to get the most out of Superduke ownership.

This is what started it all for me. A brand new 2007 SD bought from Gear4 at a slashed price of a little under seven grand with Akras and a remap done before I picked it up. I'd previously been riding a tuned KTM 640 Supermoto round London for commuting and fun at the weekends but it was ultimately too slow and vibey on A roads although my license was always at 9 points because of speeding fines. Incessant stoppies, wheelies and generally riding irresponsibly were becoming habitual - I was heading for a ban so thought I'd see if swapping to a 990 would help.


More or less as soon as I got the SD I was booking track days. I was only 40 minutes from Brands Hatch and soon realised that if I wanted to see the limits of this bike I had to get off public roads. I'd had a few 2 valve, air-cooled Ducatis before this but I was blown away by the handling and power of this KTM. It was brilliant and made me learn a lot about riding on tracks. Even on the first outing I realised that the SD could out corner a lot of Japanese sports bikes and do them on the brakes. OK, they blew you away on the long straits but then held you up in all the subsequent twisty bits. I'm not that fast a rider on tracks, I'm too old and my knees are shot. I just sign on to the intermediate group and have fun.


I also crashed a lot in those first few years when I still tried to go fast and push things. When you crash at Brands Hatch you usually end up in the gravel. It's orange and abrasive and gets into every bit of your kit and pits and scratches all the surfaces of your bike whether that is carbon bodywork, beautifully anodised billet parts, titanium silencers or Arai helmets. But the SD is made to crash and just get up and go on. After 10 years riding Ducatis I just couldn't believe the resilience of an SD to crash damage. They're built like tanks! Me less so. As I get older I crash less well and have ended up in hospital a few times.Worst crash was a high-side at Clearways.



I already had three children but when my twins were born I had even less time to mess about with bikes. My life is always a struggle between family, work, house renovation and bikes!


There was a bit of a golden era for me and Superdukes. About 2008/9 there was a lot of activity on this forum about modding bikes for the better and meeting up for ride-outs. There were a few members who used to meet up and hoon about the Essex back roads, Colonel Klink, Shade the Changing Man and Jules who I got to know well over all these years. I guess we'll know each other for a long time as we are bound together by Superduke memories and experiences. Kinky has gone on to become a respected No Limits instructor and amateur racer, Jules still does track days but on a Ducati Pani and Shade was going to kill himself so reverted to doing extreme mountain biking activities!


Fitting the Motohooligan airbox was the start of something that I can only describe as obsessional and all the fault of this forum. Once I got reading about all the mods people were doing to improve performance I was hooked and spent every spare bit of cash and time to change things for the better. Bodywork, exhaust systems, dyno runs, slipper clutches, quick-shifters, handlebars, single seat conversions, suspension, indicators, control levers…very little was left as it came out of the factory. I once started to add up the cost and stopped because it got too scary.


There was so much chat on the forum about the Motohooligan box and how to fit it and what other mods you had to do I sat down and photographed the whole lot and put together the instruction manual that you can download from Aaron's website. I'd like to think that it helped hundreds of people do this conversion and get their jerky fuelling sorted.


For those of you that don't know, I'm a bit of a sucker for carbon weave composite. Just always have been. I'm a product designer by trade so materials and what they can do has always fascinated me and led me to the aesthetic choices I make. Those early season photos of GP bikes out for testing without their advertising colours, all recessive in their black, stealth look always did it for me. Form follows function is how the saying goes. Which is why I despise gratuitous bling and rim tape in all it's guises! I've replaced most of my SD's bodywork with carbon parts and even took apart the Akras and rebuilt them with carbon sleeves.



I'm lucky to have pretty extensive outbuildings and workshop where I live. I spend a lot of time out with my bikes, stripping them down and messing about with them. If ever I get the chance you'll find me out in the workshop with the radio on, a bottle of wine and some mission to clean, repair or replace some part that needs fixing. I also spend quite a bit of time on the internet finding bits and pieces because I hardly ever buy things new and like to find a bargain. But I also spend quite a lot of time just looking at my bikes and appreciating them for what they are.


I’m not much into electronic gadgets for bikes but I always wanted to get rid of the mirrors and couldn’t understand why no one had developed a rear view camera so I designed and built one myself. It worked fine but was really hard to make waterproof at high speeds and I kept frying the PCB in really bad weather. In retrospect it was a daft idea, that’s why no manufacturer has made one.


I got to know Viking through this forum and sponsored his first seasons racing a Superduke in the British Thundersport championship. Back then I ran a design company called Echo and we ran a totally gaudy colour scheme that provoked a lot of piss taking in the paddock but was loved by the camera crews so he got a lot of TV coverage. It helped that he was fast and was consistently on the podium and was a great experience for me to be involved.


I do quite a lot of long distance riding all over the country and I ride all year round, through rain, cold and anything the shitty British weather can throw at me. Last year, after over thirty years of riding, I finally bought a heated jacket and gloves and they made me realise that I was a dick for not having done it years ago. There’s nothing cool about having frozen fingers and spending hours in motorway toilets at the hand dryer.


I grew up in Lancashire and the roads I love are fast, smooth A and B roads where you can see round the corners. Problem is there aren't many and so I spent most of my youth on bad surfaces with high hedges and tractors, cow shit and wild sheep round every corner. The SD doesn't really like the roads I grew up on, the track suspension is too harsh and it's too fast. Supermotos are better. I spend all my time looking for great roads to ride round Surrey but they are getting rarer and there is a lot of other traffic.


My Superduke has been pretty much finished for years now, there’s nothing I can do to make it better and apart form maintaining it and putting on tyres there’s nothing to mess about with. I was starting to get bored so I searched for another bike that would keep me busy and leave the SD to just get ridden. I grew up on two stroke triples but could never afford a 750 when I was 18. This one is a 1975 H2c and takes quite a bit of time and effort to keep on the road but I just love it. But I'll always keep my Superduke, it's the best bike I ever owned by a long shot.

concrates on being a mod that was fantastic article cheers

Great post Bic.

You should have been a mod years ago.

Few of us left flying the 990 flag and I hope to see you at cadwell in the summer but this time wobbling round with me on the track.

Amazing to read, congrats! Still going strong on my 990!

Great news you are a mod Bic. A true 990 SD man. Keep the flag flying for the 990's.

Great post Bic and a great read .... Congrats

Awesome read Bic.You will be a great moderator I'm sure.

Nice write up! It reminded me that a few years ago I used the installation instructions you wrote for the MH airbox, and I want to say thank you. They are well written, nicely laid out, and very helpful.

You'll be a great moderator!

Nice story. Thanks. The pics of the kids are great.

Nice write up!

Excellent Write up!!!