NCR, the little Bologna-based outfit so tightly connected with Ducati, knows the value of that company’s great racers—the men who scored important victories and kept the storied bike-maker’s name aloft through the low times. First, NCR doctored a Ducati Sport 1000 SportClassic to create the lovely “New Blue,” homage to the 1977 Daytona-winning “Old Blue” Ducati 900SS built by Phil Schilling and ridden by Cook Neilson. Now, Michele Poggipolini and his men have gone for the most fascinating of all possible replicas: the Mike Hailwood 1978 Isle of Man TT-winning Ducati 900SS.
Named the Mike Hailwood Isle of Man TT Replica, with full authorization and approval by the Hailwood family and the Isle of Man, this new creation goes way past anything NCR has ever done before. The technology, refinement, component quality and attention to detail that NCR poured into this project are incredible. As with New Blue, NCR used the Sport 1000 as the starting point.
All engine internals were replaced by NCR-developed, -fabricated and -machined components. The long-stroke crankshaft (73mm) is machined from a forged billet of ultra-high-tensile steel alloy and is 40 percent lighter than the stock crank. It is teamed with titanium con-rods (same 124mm center-to-center as stock) made, of course, by Poggipolini Titanium. Cylinders were bored to 98mm, and special high-compression pistons travel inside the Cermetal-plated bores. Heads were ported and fitted with titanium valves (47mm intake, 40mm exhaust) that are desmodromically actuated by NCR camshafts sporting 13.1mm of lift and 68 degrees of overlap.
Now displacing 1120cc, the NCR Twin is fueled by the Sport 1000′s Marelli fuel-injection system and breathes through the same 45mm throttle bodies to produce a claimed 130 horsepower at 8700 rpm and 97.6 foot-pounds of torque at 7000 rpm. A larger-than-standard oil radiator is fitted, all the transmission gears are lightened and polished, and a lightweight APTC-NCR slipper clutch is installed. The exhaust system is hand-fabricated from titanium and welded by Zard.
The frame is fabricated from 32 x 2mm-gauge titanium tubing, beautifully laser-welded. The chassis is patterned after the SportClassic, with wheelbase spanning 56.1 inches, 24 degrees of steering-head angle and a 32.4-inch seat height. NCR put the same obsessive care into the rolling gear. To complement the superb Ti frame, NCR adopted a MotoGP-spec Öhlins FGR900 fork, teamed with Öhlins shocks. Disc brakes up front are a mix of 300mm Braking rotors pinched by Brembo Monoblocs. At the rear, a 200mm Braking rotor and Brembo two-piston caliper are fitted. Wheels are carbon-fiber by South African specialist BST. All body components are also c-f.
Color scheme is exactly the same as that of the 900 SS that Hailwood rode to his final TT victory. That bike had been tuned in the old NCR shop on behalf of Ducati, and this legacy means a lot to this project. To paint the bike, NCR resorted to Formula One-grade lacquers, six layers of which are lighter than a single coat of regular paint. The NCR Mike Hailwood Isle of Man TT Replica tips the scales at 300 pounds in road-legal trim. Only 12 will be made, all adorned by Hailwood’s number 12, and individually priced at 100,000 euros ($126,000).
