Ducati? or not to Ducati?

deecom

Want to know peoples views on Ducati's, Monsters in particular. what do you think of them? Are they realiable(ie. do they start when you ask them, or do you need a letter from the pope!) Any bad experences? And what are Ducati Dublin like to deal with? Any sugessions? Thanks...

bugs

Drove behind one on my way home one day, exhaust fumes smell like smokey bacon crisps....which is a good thing

dahamsta

The problem with anything unusual is that if anything /does/ go wrong with them, it costs a bloody fortune to fix. For eg, I had a Cagiva a while back and dropped the bloody thing and rather than pay the outrageous prices the dealer wanted for an indicator, I spent a week trimming down the other one! The guy that bought it off me crashed it and it cost an absolute fortune to put back together. You're going to get the same thing with a Ducati, only worse.

That being said, it's all about weighing up risk. I'd give my left testicle for an '01 996 in mint condition, as long as a few quid for insurance was thrown in too. (I reserve the right testicle for a two-for-one offer on a Lamborghini Diablo Jota. Any colour please, as long as it's black.)

adam

Sparks

Yes, well, just remember the most important piece of kit with your Ducati...



:ninja:

rymus

like dahamsta said (yes Im just repeating for the sake of it) if you drop it, scratch it or treat it unkindly the repairs will cost you dearly.

Then again if youre thinking of getting a ducati, money is obviously nothing to you. Probably the ultimate poser bike, if youre into that kind of thing... You could take that wad of ducati cash and spend it on something a little more understated that wont cost as much to maintain/repair. You'd probably even have enough left over to insure yourself on the other bike for lets say.... the rest of your life.

batman_oh

what monster ae u lookin at man? 6 or 9?
monster will cost very little to fix unless u destroy it, it has no fairings and stuff and brake levers and things dont cost a lot
ducatis are probably a little more prone to **** up than japo bikes, but its not gonna be unreliable, just less if u treat it like crap

deecom

I m looking at a 600 which seems to make some logic, but i would be using it every day so it does need to start with reasonble frequency! My other prob red or black?

batman_oh

black!
black is the greatest colour for a bike, u never need to wash it!
and yeah it shoudl start every time, as long as u dont wreck it

deecom

Thanks Sparks you've really made me feel good about myself! My girlfriend thinks s**t anyway thanks you've made my week great! ta......

Sparks

Originally posted by deecom
Thanks Sparks you've really made me feel good about myself! My girlfriend thinks s**t anyway thanks you've made my week great! ta......

Why think nothing of it deecom... :ninja:

milltown

If you can find one for a reasonable price I would not hesitate to buy a 600 monster so long as it's not more than around 4/5 years old. Ducati's reputation for unreliable bikes was largely gained from 600/750ss bikes and earlier. Obviously, buy as new as you can as with all things italian electrics are an afterthought. Black or that sexy charcoal grey are the only colours for monsters! It's very simple, red for faired Dukes and black for unfaired.
Dukes do seem to suffer from Alfa Romeo syndrome though. Dealers keep used prices artificially high. Do your research and buy privately or go north and import one for warranty's sake.
I would spend an afternoon coating all electrical connectors in vaseline or at least WD40 as it's bound to see rain in this country. But I do that with all bikes anyway!
If you need to travel great distances on a daily basis I would still think twice and probably buy a Bandit or a Fazer if you fancy an unfaired bike or a VFR otherwise.
If you do buy one, enjoy it and try to post a .wav of that glorious V twin!

rander00

How much are Ducatis these days. Theres a lot of `97 to 99 916 models around lately.

Tourist

Sorry but Monster didn't do it for me . There is nothing to say about the bike except it has Ducati badge. You talking main dealer only when comes to parts, non of the could be seen in breakers yard( rare bike). Maybe has magic V2 engine but would not come near Honda bros 650 when comes to reliability.

Gmodified

There is not that many Ducati's around. Even at road races Skeries/Kells I have seen 5 Ducati's in total which is nothing in comparison to number of other bikes visiting the races.

Monster wouldn't be my choice.

MojoMaker

Monster 600 makes about 38hp at the rear wheel which means every Tom, Dick, and Harry on a CB500 is going to be leaving you for dead. Big scam uncovered in the UK a couple of years back where Ducati were claiming 60hp from their Monster, unfortunately not true. Very limp and weedy engine which will piss you off within minutes.

Other than the S4 Monsters are a complete waste of money, you don't even get pose value from riding them. Not only that you can forget taking a bird on the back of your Monster as well. All in all a bad decision, stay well away.

What's your budget, how old are you, and what's your insurance background? I'm sure we can come up with some better alternatives that you will enjoy.

DaithiSurfer

i know a guy who had one.
He loved it but had to get rid of it because every time he needed a part or repair it cost him a fortune.
He nearly cried when he had to sell it, but it was easier on his pocket and he's not exactly lacking in the cash department either.
That said, i'ld love one of them.

batman_oh

the 600 has a weak engine alright, the 750 is where they start to get a bit more power, the 900 and 1000 are very quick things
id be well more interested in a suzuki sv650 than a 600 monster, great resale value, ideal first big bike, 120+mph true top, quick off the line and thumpy vtwin aswell

Krusty_Clown

To echo some of the sentiments already delivered above, the monster 600 is a little under-powered for the price...

I'll be riding one in about a week or two, so i'll be able to give you some 'on-seat' feedback...

Have you considered other twins, such as the SV650s? Just as good-looking (if you ask me), although no nice trellis frame, and a decent bit more powerful.. Available in both nekkid and semi faired (I added a lower fairing to my old SV650s to make it fully-faired).. What you wont get, of course, is the Ducati badge...

In my opinion though, if you're going to get a Ducati, get the real deal.. The '600 will only leave you pining for more... Also, it's nakedness will require alot of preening, in this wonderful climate of ours...

I'm riding an SV1000s at the moment, and for my kind of travelling, it's ideal (commuting to work, inter-city travel, hoons at the weekend, that kind of thing).. Until I start doing those regular track--days, I wont even consider a big Ducati.. But until then, I need a little more oommpphhh..

What ya riding at the moment?

rymus

Originally posted by batman_oh
black!
black is the greatest colour for a bike, u never need to wash it!

I hope that was an attempt at sarcasm... to keep a black bike clean you'd need to wash it every time you bring it out in rain/drizzle, if you drive for more than 20 seconds behind a truck, if you drive on gravel, if you drive through road works, if you breathe heavily on it or you could just wash it every day and hope none of the above situations occur on Irish roads.

And yes, my bike is black before you say "what do you know anyway?"

batman_oh

i own two black bikes and drive them every day in pissin rain and **** and in 2 years have never washed either, they still look fine
black doesnt get anywhere near as dirty as any other colour because its black, simple concept, the dirt doesnt show as much as it does on white/red/yellow etc