Lucky Duck

LUCKY DUCK

Life is good when your mom hits the jackpot

THERE ARE BOSTROM Replica Ducatis, and then there are Bostrom Replica Ducatis. This one is both-an official Ducati 998 Bostrom as sold by the factory, but repainted to replicate the Superbike that Brother Ben raced in the 2002 world championship.

In this case, however, the L&M sponsor logos on the fairing should stand for “Lucky Mother,” because two years ago, owner Mark Schubert’s mom hit it big in the California State Lottery-on Mother’s Day, no less! Not that that has anything to do with him owning this bike.

“My mom did not buy me this bike!” he exclaims, bristling, when asked the obvious question. She just, urn, facilitated him purchasing some of the tricker parts on it.

You might not believe him, but I do. I’ve known Mark since our club roadracing days in the late ’80s, when he was a frontrunner on a Yamaha two-stroke in the Formula 2 class. But it was only while interviewing him for this story that I learned we were born on the same day: September 16, 1961. Or, to give us credibility amongst Ducatis ti, 9/16.

Schubert nods when I point this out and says, “I wanted a 916 bad when they first came out in 1994, but I didn’t have the money. I almost bought a 996, but then I heard they were coming out with a 998, and that there was going to be a Bostrom Replica, so I had to wait even longer.”

With all the Bostroms destined for California sold out in advance, Schubert eventually located #41 in Nevada. But his quest still wasn’t over: “I put down a deposit before I knew they were coming with a flamed paint job,” he laments. “It took me another year to get the bike I wanted.’

Which is to say the bike shown here. From the beginning, Schubert was irked by the stock paint job, which more closely resembled Bostrom’s Suomy helmet than the bike he raced. And so he set out to rectify that.

He ordered a decal kit from a seller on eBay, but it wasn’t complete, and some of the stickers were sized wrong. So he took those to a local sticker maker and had them replicated in the right size, then had ColorZone Design in Huntington Beach paint the bodywork, which includes an actual Ben Bostrom autograph atop the fuel tank.

Not wanting his bike to be all show and no go, Schubert delivered it to GP Motorcycles in San Diego, where mechanics installed a full Ducati Performance 998R race kit. One of just five imported into the U.S., this included a computer, a set of camshafts and a full Termignoni exhaust system that together boost output to 132 horsepower. A set of 1-inch-taller Heli-bars and a pair of blue-painted 10spoke Marchesini forgedmagnesium wheels completed the project.

With the work behind him, Schubert is again enjoying riding his 998, which he admits he does with great verve. One unfortunate riding buddy has wrecked both an ST2 and a Bayliss Replica 998 trying to keep up!

Astride his tricked-out 998 in his matching redwhite-and-blue helmet and leathers, Schubert is stylin’-and knows it. He laughs and says, “I told my mom, ‘You might be worth a million, but I look like a million.’” -Brian Catterson