Every once in a while, I have the pleasure of sharing a motorcycle for sale that raced in MotoGP, the top tier of street racing. But so far, they’ve always been been CRT (Claiming Rule Team) bikes, a weird minor league of sorts that was established in 2011. Typically when the factory bikes sell, it’s done privately through strong connections. here’s an incredibly rare opportunity where an ex-MotoGP bike is being offered up to the public through eBay. 2002 brought out several dramatic changes in the highest level of GP racing – the premier class was renamed to MotoGP and they introduced new regulations which allowed 990cc four-stroke bikes to race alongside the 500cc two-strokes of the previous year. That motivated Ducati to join the following year, and they brought out the GP3 with Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss. According to the seller, this is the latter’s bike, and it’s “ready to parade” thanks to a “complete overhaul.”
Troy ended up finishing sixth in the MotoGP championship that year. When combined with Loris’ fourth place finish, Ducati finished second overall in the manufacturers championship that year. There’s only so much I can say about this bike – it’s the beginning of Ducati’s history in modern GP racing, and it’s said to be Troy’s #1 bike. It’s pretty much as good as it gets for a Ducati collector – good enough that I’m willing to break my rule about not featuring bikes without asking prices. The seller (a dealership in Italy) lists an asking price of $999,999 but they openly admit in the listing description that “of course it’s not the price listed” and they want to privately negotiate with potential buyers. I hate featuring bikes without a specific asking price, but something like this deserves an exception. Good luck!
Find this piece of Ducati history for sale in Alcheda, Italy (though the eBay listing says the “bike can be inspected in the UK” here on eBay. Even if you’re not interested in buying it, you might as well check out the listing to see some photos of a proper MotoGP bike. It may give you chills.
