A mate is selling this divine 1700 mile Ducati 996r - on the basis with it's super low mileage and loads of other bikes he owns - he is not keen to put the miles on it.

This bike, number 46 of 56 units built until 29th January 2001 for the UK market, was delivered by ProTwins on 24th July 2001.

All 350 customer versions of the 996R sold out within six hours on launch day via the internet at a common worldwide price of 26,000 Euros.

The first of the homologation specials with the legendary Testastretta engine - I have ridden this bike for a short journey - and it's just sublime.

I have got two other Ducatis of this era for track use - in the background of this photo - and I am seriously tempted by this - and part of me hopes he does not sell it soon so that at the end of the year I can via some convoluted man-maths justify buying it!

One thing is for sure - the 996r is not going to depreciate!

We have built a mini-site for the bike on the link below - with loads of pics and more information - including the price:

Click here for the Ducati 996r web site - designed and built by Racecar