996SPS vs 996RS

[woodmanr]

As my signature states, i have a 996RS engine, detuned to make it survive the street. I hate to admit it, but i really don't know much about what the RS is. From my understanding, the RS were basically Factory bikes.

A friend of a friend of mine has a 996SPS, and was say that was the greatest of the 996's.

So, we got into a little debate, and i realized i should probably figure out exactly what the hell i own.

The end result i got out of our little discussion was the SPS was the cream of the crop of the "everyday ducati's" That you could walk into a show room and buy one, while the RS you need to be a full fledged WSBK team basically

If anyone could clarify this for me, that would be great. I feel like a douche having this engine, and not knowing anything about the pedigree of the bike. Sure, i know the sand casted, hand made by the corse department, super aggressive cams etc. But i don't know where they lay in the ducati hierarchy.

[Ben710]

The RS bikes were Ducati Corse customer bikes, which were kind of freely available to anyone in racing. You could buy them with all the goodies, a complete bike that was meant to be tuned to your rider´s needs.

They´re just a level below the "F" bikes, them being the full factory bikes. As far as I know, Ducati started introducing the labelling F in 2002 with the Testastretta engine.

The older 916 race bikes were named 916R, which basically resembles an RS. The RS stamp was introduced with the 996RS race bikes in the late 1990s. I think 1999, but it could have been 98, too


So, in the end to make this simple:

A 996RS could have been raced by a team like Vance and Hines, GSE Racing, HM Plant. An "F" bike is only raced by the factory team -> Ducati Corse. The later F bikes (998 F02, 999 F04,05,06 and so on) will become an RS in the following year. If you look at Althea Ducati this year in WSBK, they´re racing a 2009 1198 F09. But since it is not raced and tuned by Ducati Corse anymore, it is an RS now.


Hope that helped.



P.S.: Oh and that 996 SPS engine is basically a simple 996 street engine with ti conrods, different cams and a lighter crankshaft. Nothing against a 996RS. I wonder why the hell would anyone run an RS engine on the street, but then there seem to be a couple of very, very, very disturbed minds on this forum anyway!

[woodmanr]

We bought this RS engine from a person in florida, who did the street conversion (i think SPS cams and such). It it still stupid to run on the street, i don't shift out of first gear around town.

[riffraff]

Originally Posted by woodmanr

...i have a 996RS engine, detuned to make it survive the street.

I'm curious, what steps did you take to "detune" it?

[Ben710]

Usually reduce compression, swap out the extreme camshafts and heavily reduce revs. So in the end all the fun stuff is taken away and it´s "just" a very built street engine.

[webman]

I don't see how you could run an RS engine on the street. On mine,first gear is so tall, because of the close ratio gearbox, you had to slip the clutch in first to at least 40-45 mph. You would be burning up clutch plates on the street.

[drthompson65]

I love these history lessons...

[woodmanr]

Well, like i said. When we bought it, it had already been detuned. I have the list somewhere, but like what ben710 said, reduced compression, cams, etc.

It is very hard to ride in traffic, since it can't really go below 20mph.

[hailwood]

you would have to drastically modify a RS engine to run on a street bike. First of all the LH side cover of a RS motor used completely different wiring than a 996, the SPS is close but not the same either. They were also made to run on 4 or 6 injectors with 60mm throttle bodies. The street computer, throttle body and other bits would not be able to get the bike enough fuel.

You should easily be able to tell your RS motor because every cover on it would be magnesium.. valve covers, cam end covers, clutch housing, alternator cover ect it would also have the billet belt adjusters and oversized pulleys.

The motor would usually have deep sump cases as well, which would bolt on to the bottom of the motor and hang down well below the motor.

What you have is probably a SPS motor or a street motor built to race spec and tuned well below a RS motor. not a bad thing but probably reality.

The internals of the RS motor would have a roller shift detent, alumnium shift drum, roller style shift forks, I beam Pankl Ti rods, HC high dome pistons usually Omega, kick ass cams and a whole bunch of other stuff like a slipper clutch, Corsa Breather ect.

These motors need a 2 or 3 layer radiator to maintain temp and not explode.

The other tell tale is the serial number or lack of. Usually these RS motor will have stampings on them too. Like for instance if it was Troy Bayliss's motor it would have TB folloew by a number on lots of different parts like the case halves, heads, intakes ect. If it was Foggy's motor it would have CF, TC for corser ect. there were a lot of non factory riders out there as well but it should be easy to trace back to authenticate it.

[chris steedman]

Dont reduce the compression . Just swap out the long exhaust cam for a shorter one , get rid of the 80mph first gear , add a 50mm exhaust system from a 996sps and a really nice bike will result after mapping

[sps]

I like this thread. I've often wondered about a RS on the street. Any pics of this bike would be appreciated. Thanks

[woodmanr]

I kind of like the 80mph first gear just because it's that outrageous. I have my old 748 (what the bike originally was) full 50mm termi's on it and some 53mm TBs on it. Has an Ultimap ECU programmed from Silverback Performance SilverBack-HomePage out of minnesota (great guy i talked to there). Just need to get it onto a dyno for some fine tuning

[sps]

Pics Please! ( update..... ) I saw pics of the bike and it is SWEET. I love it. I would love to have a street bike with a RS motor. Here in Austin we have SO many open roads out in the hill country that you can ride all day without getting into traffic or even riding through a town. This bike would be a blast out here. Props to Wood for getting this bike done.

[woodmanr]

I'll have to get good pictures of the engine some day. Been working on another project right now using my old 853 engine.

And thanks for the comments on the bike. The blue panels are old race panels i had. A SUV destroyed the original red panels, along with the front instruments and headlight. So i bought a small Hella Micro SD HID driving lamp, drilled a hole into my race panels and installed that. The rear is just a set of LED brake lights. It's basically a track bike with a lights (that are using quick disconnects so in 5 minutes it's track ready)

[dbenson]

This motor was a GSE Racing unit and on the street it is overwhelmingly insane. This motor has a basic left side cover to allow for a charging system to support the street needs (lights et-la). The detune process was simple, Pistal 13:1 pistons and Stainless Valves with rechromed rockers. The hardest thing about this bike on the street is the length of first gear (95MPH with street gearing, Needs to be changed) once at that speed, the ratios of the gears is amazing as you have 3 times the options of turn in/out gear choices. As you mentioned, people on this board are not quite well, woodman and family should be included in my opinion.

In this Case, SPS means, "I have the money and want people to know it." RS means, I am not well and you should probably not associate with me!

//db





More updated images when the snow melts.

[webman]

That RS engine looks familar Hope its running strong.

[dbenson]

It is impressive Webman. And thanks.

[sps]

Is webby jealous much? What do you ride?

[webman]

Originally Posted by sps

Is webby jealous much? What do you ride?

I did ride this with that engine(before I sold it)

[webman]

I now ride this