Around the turn of the century, Pierre Terblanche started designing for Ducati. One of his first designs was the divisive 1999 Supersport 900. It may have been hard to believe at that time that he would go on to help design one of the arguably best looking and iconic Ducati bikes of the last 20 years.
The Paul Smart 1000 LE was built to commemorate legendary Ducati racer of the same name. He won the 1972 Imola in 1972 on the Ducati 750 Desmo race bike. In 1974 Ducati produced the 750 Super Sport street bike fashioned after Smart’s race bike. This bike is what cemented Ducati into the legendary sport bike manufacturer that they are today. In 2005 Terblanche was at the helm of the design team when Ducati launched their “Sport Classic” line. This included the Sport 1000, the GT 1000, and the limited run Paul Smart 1000 LE. The Paul Smart bike was inspired by the 1974 750 SS. Released in 2006, the Paul Smart took the 1974 bike and just breathed a little modern design into the iconic original bike, but underneath that stunning aqua green colored frame is a modern machine. The bike is powered by the desmodromic, air cooled, fuel injected engine. The valves are belt driven instead of the complex, but beautiful bevel drive of the 70’s bike. There’s really not much to be said about this bike that has not been said before. It both belongs in the middle of your living room to endlessly stare at, and on the street for you to enjoy ripping around on.
This Paul Smart is a one owner bike bought new in 2007. It currently has 6,286 miles on it and has had the 6,000-mile maintenance. It has a fairly long list of modifications including a Scorpio alarm system, quickshifter, LED tail tidy, Termignoni Mono Paul Smart LE full exhaust system, bar end mirrors, and other small mods that do not take away from the original design. This bike is a masterpiece, in my most humble opinion.
Find this 2006 Ducati Paul Smart 1000LE in Garden Grove California for $22,500 here on Craigslist.