The Ducati F1 750 is a machine of historical significance as it’s widely considered to be the last “true Ducati” prior to Cagiva taking over. The F1 was a street-legal updated version of the mid-’80’s TT1. From ’86 to ’88 Ducati would release a trio of special edition F1’s in celebration of the machine’s various successes around the world – the Montjuich, Santa Monica, and Laguna Seca. The Laguna Seca spec commemorated Marco “Lucky” Lucchinelli winning the 1986 “Battle of the Twins” at the iconic, technical Northern-California circuit . In addition to wearing a Lucky Lucchinelli livery, the F1 Laguna Seca also boasts (a decal of) Lucchinelli’s signature on the tank of the limited edition Ducati.
The Laguna Seca’s improvements over the F1 base-model included an upgraded engine and exhaust, wider Oscam rims, and Brembo gold-series brakes. The Laguna model is very similar to the Montjuich, aside from minor changes such as different cylinder heads, a plastic rear fender, some difference in clutch mechanism, a newer muffler, and some cost cutting measures like a steel tank, instead of the Montjuich’s alloy unit. Supposedly only 200 Laguna Seca examples were produced – and like all Pantah-powered Ducati race replicas – the Laguna F1 has seen its value steadily increase over the years.
Though it’s obviously pretty dated at this point, the F1 Laguna Seca – and the Santa Monica and Montjuich – represented the pinnacle of the factory Pantah-based race machines of the late 1980’s. All three special edition F1’s were hand-built and sported features heavily derived from the F1 racers. The trio used a fork very similar to the works F1’s – a 40mm Forcella Italia unit – as well as two open-throat 36mm PH 40N Dell’Orto carburetors, bigger valves, 10:1 compression pistons, and a less restrictive exhaust system. Instead of helical primary drive gears, the Laguna (and Montjuich and Santa Monica) had a transmission utilizing straight-cut primary drive gears.
Like the other two special F1 models, the Laguna’s frame was Ducati’s characteristic trellis unit which was designed by Verlicchi. Inside the trellis frame was a 748cc version of Ducati’s air/oil-cooled, four-stroke, SOHC, Desmodromic 90-degree L twin engine that reportedly made a cool 95hp (some claim 76hp) at 10,000rpm and 52.1ft-lbs of torque at 7,000rpm. The bike’s appearance was heavily inspired by the successful TT1 race bikes of the period. The Italian machine’s relatively light weight along with 16” (front) and 18” (rear) three-arm magnesium wheels gave gave the bike some seriously agile cornering abilities. The race-inspired Laguna Seca was also fitted with a Verlicchi aluminum swing-arm and solo seat, though dual-seat versions did exist.
The Laguna Seca’s power-plant could propel the Laguna F1’s 385 lbs dry weight of speeds up to 136mph, and could do a standing quarter-mile in 11.8-seconds with a speed of 114mph. The Laguna Seca F1 also came standard with a Kokusan electronic ignition, five-speed wet multiplate clutch. For its time, the Laguna Seca was a very advanced machine. While it did share a few parts with the lesser impressive Paso, it also had areas that were inspired by some very competent race machines.
This particular example (VIN: ZDM750LS-750139) is in fantastic shape both mechanically and cosmetically, and has only 1,800 miles on it three-decade-old odometer. Another very clean ’87 Laguna F1 example sold at a 2014 Las Vegas Bonhams auction for just shy of $35,000, making this example’s price-tag seem pretty reasonable by comparison.
You can find this 1987 Ducati F1 Laguna Seca example for sale here on Craigslist in Seattle, Washington with a price of $19,500.