Limited-edition Ducati 1098 S Tricolore superbike worth Rs 35+ lakhs ABANDONED in India

The superbike culture has grown by quite a lot in India in recent years. Every weekend, superbikes racing through the city roads have become a common sight. Since the superbikes cost a lot of money, there are many who get them to the country through illegal routes or by forging the documents to pay minimal taxes. The customs office keeps a close eye on such imports and often take action against them. In most cases, the illegal vehicles are seized and the owners are asked to pay the fines and taxes, which can be worth lakhs of rupees. Here is a rare Ducati 1098 S Tricolore, which is rusting away in Kochi customs as reported by T-BHP.

Images Exotics&ImportedKerala via Tharique Mohammed

This is a rare Ducati as only 1,013 units were ever manufactured. The bike was launched in 2007 and it was popular because of the colours of the Italian national flag were all over the bike. 1098 was an all-new bike and was built around a tubular steel trellis frame. The Tricolore limited edition bikes have been a part of the Ducati line-up since 1985 when the first 750 F1 was introduced in the markets.

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Even the frame of the wheels of the Tricolore came with racing gold colours, making it even more desirable. It was a true track monster and came with Termignoni race exhaust kit and even the ECU was tuned to match the system. The 1099cc, L-Twin engine generates a maximum power of 160 Bhp at 9,750 rpm and 123 Nm at 8,000 rpm. A 6-speed transmission is standard with the bike. When the bike was launched in 2007, it offered the highest torque-to-weight ratio in any production sports bike ever, which made it a hoot to ride, especially on the racing tracks.

The bike also gets a fully adjustable suspension system. There are 43mm Ohlins fork and Ohlins 46PRC monoshock. With the single-sided swingarm, it did get a second look every time.

The Tricolore was based on the S variant of 1098, which stands for lightweight performance. This variant came with lightweight components like tyres, brakes and even the alloy wheels. The forged alloy wheels were 1.9 kg lighter than the regular version. Further, the bike came with carbon fibre fender in the front.

Since it was a track-focused bike, Ducati offered the Ducati Data Analyzer system as standard. It allowed the riders to retrieve the data from the previous sessions and compare them with the present ones.

We are not sure since when this bike is parked at the open parking but it seems quite damaged and we do hope that the owner makes arrangements to save this limited-edition bike. Most of the times, parts from such expensive vehicles are stolen over time.

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