Ducati Mike Hailwood replicas are some of the most coveted motorcycles in the last half-century. Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood is an objective legend, with 10 world championship titles, 76 GP championship races, and 14 TT wins, all in a career that spanned roughly two decades. A little over a decade after he passed away, Sport Rider magazine called him “ the greatest motorcycle racer who ever lived,” in their February ’94 issue.
Almost everything Hailwood swung a leg over and piloted in competition became iconic, but the machine most associated with the Oxfordshire-born racer is undoubtedly was a Ducati, and it led to the Mike Hailwood Replica – or MHR, which was first released in ’79. They’ve become increasingly sought after and clean full-faired examples go for around $20K..
In reality, Mike Hailwood’s actual race bike was built near Ducati at Nepoti and Caracchi Racing Shop – a little company you may know as NCR – and the MHR 900 was more of a sales opportunity, capitalizing on Hailwood’s triumphant return to the ’78 TT after more than a decade-long hiatus. His NCR bike was a modified 900SS that was provided by Steve Wynne of Manchester-based Sports Motor Cycles.
Wynne not only had to cough up the cash to purchase the SS from Ducati, but he also had to foot the bill for all the race prep that the endeavor necessitated which was a collectively a decent chunk of change. Hailwood’s racer was powered by a modified engine fitted with a dry clutch and special sand-cast alloy cases with strengthened heads that had been reworked to decrease the valve included angle from 80 to 60 degrees. All of it was wrapped in what looked like a standard Verlicchi frame, though it actually had thinner walls and lighter tubing.
I always saw this next part as a little personally insulting as Ducati would then turn around and cosmetically replicate a production version of Hailwood’s racer – the racer Steve Wynne paid for after Ducati wouldn’t – that would fly off showroom floors. The MHR didn’t actual boast any performance upgrades aside from whatever benefit the full bodywork may have possibly provided – bodywork that was wearing Sport Motor Cycles Colors! That’s why the red and green aren’t in the traditional Italian shades.
In addition to the full fairing – a feature that was seldom-seen on production street bikes at that point – the MHR also had a tank and tail-section that were modeled after the one-piece unit the NCR Hailwood racer wore. The front suspension, powerplant and frame were all stock 900SS units and the Nippon Denso instrumentation and switches were thrown out in favor of the Veglia clusters. Despite this, the MHR had become the largest selling model that the Bologna-based manufacturer produced at the time.
A few minor changes were made to the MHR over the years, all of which were pretty subtle. In ’80, the design added a pillion seat under the removable cowl. That same year Ducati also utilized a slightly more sensible three-piece fairing set-up – that wore big Ducati decals on each side – and the front wheel and fairing didn’t have to be removed to change the oil anymore. For some reason Ducati also opted to remove the sidecovers, leaving the electronics and battery exposed.
In ’81, Silentium silencers were utilized, replacing the Conti units previously found on the MHR. In ’82 Ducati then decided to throw the sidecovers back on again. In late ’83 models the MHR’s bodywork got a facelift when its bodywork was updated and new side panels were introduced. The red fender was swapped out for a black fender and the chrome chain guard was replaced by a black one. The electronics were updated with new signals on stalks taking the place of the previous fairing-mounted units while the instrumentation got an update and an electric-starter was added.
Less than a decade after Ducati pulled the plug on the MHR, the model had already achieved classic status. The MHR (and MHR Mille) are some of the best big-twins of that era and are a pleasure to corner with. The price continues to increase on examples and next year will be Hailwood’s 40th Anniversary which should only give MHR’s more attention and value. Even though thousands were made, these are objectively really special motorcycles. With that said, not all MHR’s are equal.
Today an example went up for sale from 1983, it is unrestored and 100% stock. Oh, and it has zero miles, has never been run or even had fluids through it. Amazing. This kind of find is wildly rare. Everything on this example is immaculate, it has been well stored, no sun damage or sign of the ravages of time. It’s perfect. This is an incredibly special example of an already incredibly special model. Legions of today’s riders grew up idolizing Hailwood and watching him race. This has given these machines a unique sentimental value to hordes of two-wheel enthusiasts. I often ask fellow-riders what their all-time favorite scoot is and I’ve been surprised by how many have responded with “Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica”.
You can find this zero-mileage, never-run, pristine, unused, 1983 Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica for sale here on TheBikeShed in London, UK, with a price of $46,900 (or £35,000).