Online Find Panjo Edition - 2002 Ducati MH900e

This week, I decided to do a little window shopping in other windows besides eBay. What I found a nice example of a rare retro modern Ducati, at a good price, over on the Panjo/RideApart marketplace.

The 2002 Ducati MH900e is so amazing it's hard to grasp by looking at it that there are about 1999 other exactly like it. Everything on this bike looks hand made or custom, except for the stuff like the Ohlins shock and Brembo brakes, which are all high dollar parts. Many builders of cafe racer restomods with upside down front ends and monoshock conversions are actually emulating this bike—whether they realize it or not.

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But, don't call it a Mike Hailwood replica as Ducati originally did, or you may get sued by his estate. Yes, Mike "the Bike" Hailwood raced Ducati's back in the day, and famously came back after an 11 year retirement in 1978 to win an Isle of Man TT on a Ducati 900SS.

Part of the reason Ducatis have such a sporty image is because of that win, which had all the elements of the final act of a Hollywood blockbuster. And there was a Hailwood replica to tie into that win back in the day, but it had nothing to do with this one. Ducati got sued in 2001 and settled with his widow over the unauthorized use of his name, so no need to think you are taking advantage of a dead legend.

The modern Ducati MH900e is pure mechanical porn. Of course it was designed by Pierre Terblanche, as all their sexiest bikes were. The exhaust of this bike poking out of the tail section has been described as looking like the legs of a woman in a short skirt. The rest of the bike is a voluptuous as any other Italian sex symbol you could mention too.