Yeah I see that but it's nowhere near the condition or mileage of the one you found...

Austin has year-round riding as long as you can tolerate the heat. I would think the time when demand is lowest will be in about August. I can't imagine anyone selling a motorcycle on a day like today (gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky, no wind, low 50F and high 75F).

I hear you, it's not every day you find a near mint Ducati.

The more I look at it the more I'm like "I can't pass this up."  I'll never see another Duck like that outside of a museum or collector's garage.

If you don't do it, I'll fly to Phoenix or Tucson or wherever it is and ride the thing home myself.

I guess that'd add 1/3 more miles on the bike

We got the time and the place all set, now it's just the waiting game.

Revzilla is spying on you, Watcher:

https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/why-some-riders-are-downsizing-to-smaller-motorcycles

Lol, it would appear so 

I got it!

I'm hesitant to say the factory seat sucks, spending 6 hours in the saddle, ANY saddle, would make your bum ache.  I'm tired...

Initial impression is more or less what I expected, it's a 3/4 scale of my Buell.  Not only volumetrically smaller, but it feels a bunch lighter and I can flat-foot it with some knee bend. While the Buell wasn't tip-toe, it did keep my heels off the ground.
Not as torquey, but still carries me over 100mph no problem.
Needs a downshift to get in that powerband, it's not as capable of the lazy roll-on to go fast.  It still will pull you, it has torque, but to really open it up you need to mix in that trans.  Perfect, that's exactly what I was looking for!

Mikuni CV carbs, so it's territory I'm somewhat familiar with.
The mirrors he put on there aren't Puig, and they SUCK to use because they're tiny, but they look pretty sharp and they're reasonably sturdy and well made.  I'll fiddle with them a bit and if I can't use them I have the giant round factory mirrors I can toss on.
It's nimble AF, feels lighter than it is, feels like it so dearly wants to carve corners, even more so than the Buell did.  I'm gonna have a LOT of fun on this bike.

Need an exhaust.  It has this essence of a grunty engine but it's tragically silenced.  At least it's not waking up the neighbors, for now...

Congrats dude! I'm glad to hear you like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got it all cleaned up today, wiped it down good, cleaned up the headers with some Scotch Brite as best I could without removing them, and checked everything like tire pressure and such.
Played with the adjustment of all the controls, and set it to GP shift because why the hell not?

The rear brake was glazed from the PO and would vibrate and squeal an unsettling amount under hard braking, so I took the pads out and sanded them down to new material, then scuffed the rotor up some.  I have to rebed them, and hopefully that cured the issue, haven't gone on a serious test ride since I haven't registered or transferred the title yet.  First thing tomorrow, then I'm going up the mountain for a photo shoot!

The factory wind-screen is ugly as hell.  I won't use it.  I'm glad I have it since it's a factory part, but it's like some odd mini batwing, and installing it requires me to remount the turn signals.  No thanks.
I also can't store my disk-lock anywhere on the bike.  Rather than having an under seat storage tray like every other bike I've ever owned, under the seat is a fuse panel, some wiring for the rear lights, and the plastic cover that finishes the bodywork. The tool kit is actually mounted to the seat, there's a compartment with a lid you open up.  Its roomy enough that I fit my SOG multitool, a metric bicycle tool (basically an Allen multitool), and my Rok straps in it in addition to the factory tool kit, but the dimensions are too small to fit my lock even by itself.
Other than some kind of tool box/pouch I can mount elsewhere on the bike I wonder if I can find a lower-profile lock...

Anyway, here it is.  A picture of it at home after I got done detailing it, and a shot of the odometer reading 4k (I was able to exit off the interstate just to get that picture, it was good timing!  Otherwise I would have had to pull over onto the shoulder and that wouldn't have been safe so I might have just kept going and not gotten the picture.)  Also the view from Lake Pleasant in Phoenix shortly after making the deal.  Detoured specifically for it to complete the picture game challenge for the FaceBook group.





That's my buddy's RC390, riding that around a parking lot is what got me thinking of owning a small sport bike in the first place.
I still would like a little R3 or something, maybe now a CBR300R won't be out of the running since I'll have the Duck to pull me along at highway speeds.



LOL, I joined a Ducati forum and it forces you to make one of those stupid "new member" posts in the section specifically for new member posts.  I said I was considering "trading down" from a 2006 XB12SS to a 2000 Monster 750 and the first response was something like "You have an odd way of making friends, coming to a Ducati forum and saying you're trading DOWN to one."

There's that Ducati elitism I've heard so much about...
Dude, it's a 1203cc to a 750cc trade, it's not trading up, across, sideways, into the 5th dimension, it's a DOWNsize!

Don't worry, I'm still a GSer at heart, even if I conform to the Desmo lifestyle, start making coffee-shop runs, start wearing Dianese, and learn to speak Italian so I can read the factory service manual, I won't ever claim my Ducati is some pinnacle of engineering and the standard to which all others should be compared.  I know better.
It's a nice bike, it's freaking cool, and wasn't cheap back when it was new.  But it's hardly some god-status machine...

Quote from: Watcher on April 09, 2017, 11:00:50 PM
... even if I conform to the Desmo lifestyle, start making coffee-shop runs, start wearing Dianese, and learn to speak Italian so I can read the factory service manual, I won't ever claim my Ducati is some pinnacle of engineering and the standard to which all others should be compared.  I know better.
It's a nice bike, it's freaking cool, and wasn't cheap back when it was new.  But it's hardly some god-status machine...

That's what they all say. Sooner or later, you'll end up talking like this:



jk, obviously lol

Gotta go get my Ducati Biscotti!

Looks great Watcher!!! I love your description of the stock windscreen lol and that vid cracked me up

Went up the mountain, holy HELL is this thing flickable!  Buell was supposed to be a pinnacle of handling because of the weight centering and such, but the Duc feels like it's about 100 pounds lighter, but the reality is it's only 10 pounds lighter!

Accidentally did a burnout, that hydraulic clutch doesn't take much to go from nothing, to friction zone, to full bite.  I'll get used to it soon enough.
GP shift is interesting, too.  Didn't take me as long to get used to it as I would have though.  It'll still take time to train my emergency reactions but for normal riding it's become habitual in just a few hours.

The Buell was easy to go fast on, but THIS is the bike that will get me in trouble!  It's so easy to be aggressive on, it begs to tear up the streets!

More pictures!  Went up the mountain to the same spot I got my Buell avatar, there was a bicyclist who was kind enough to offer to take a picture of me with it, so that's legit.
Also got the Facebook picture game out of the way.

(Gonna show a bit of my girly side here for a minute) but it makes my heart happy to know that bike will now be getting out and ridden... it gets to shine in the sun and have a blast going all over the place

Quote from: ShowBizWolf on April 10, 2017, 03:31:10 PM
(Gonna show a bit of my girly side here for a minute) but it makes my heart happy to know that bike will now be getting out and ridden... it gets to shine in the sun and have a blast going all over the place

The same goes for me.  Motorcycles are made to be ridden, not be a conversation piece (but maybe they can be both?).

The Japanese believe that everything has its own kokoro (heart), and with it a sense of purpose and belonging.  Much in that way, it would make the motorcycle happy to be ridden, l as it makes me happy to ride.
No other relationship between man and machine is as intimate as the motorcycle (maybe a jetpack), and having ridden so many bikes over such a relatively short period of time it's interesting to note that each bike has its own character and way it wants to be ridden, even withing the same make/model.
This Ducati seems really eager, like a caged falcon ready to take to the sky, it wants to Go Go Go and not hold back!  It would make sense, it's finally being allowed to do what it was made for.

I haven't responded in this thread until now as I am fully aware of how biased my response would've been.

Glad to see you out enjoying your new Duc. Just don't get too wrapped up in the whole "Ducati" world where everything about Ducatis is the absolute pinnacle of design and engineering (it sounds like you aren't). I must admit I'm a bit sad to see you leave the Buell behind as I absolutely love them. No doubt the guy you swapped it to is happy as they never seem to change hands that often.

Enjoy the new bike mate.

Quote from: 1018cc on April 11, 2017, 02:03:14 AM
...
Just don't get too wrapped up in the whole "Ducati" world where everything about Ducatis is the absolute pinnacle of design and engineering (it sounds like you aren't).
...

The just have a unique feel bro. So much... character. You wouldn't understand. *bites Ducati biscotti*

The Monster is just so much more...  Exclusive.

The Buells are rarer, but that's not the same thing.





I posted a farewell (but not goodbye) on my Buell page and was surprised at the amount of support I got.  A lot of the Buell owners were like "Yeah, man, it was between a Duc and a Buell but I ended up with a Buell.  Hope you like it!" or "The wife has a Duc since a Firebolt was too tall for her, it's a good bike." or "You're dead to me..." or "I have one of each!  You'll like it!" or "Have fun!  Ducs are more problematic than Buells are!"


I never understood a vehicle that, for the most part isn't really all that expensive compared to other options, comes with a "lifestyle".
I mean, the 2017 Ducati Monster 797 is like $9k.  That's about as much as a Yamaha FZ09...  So it's not even really a "rich blood" situation, anyone who financed a middle-level Japanese bike can finance a Ducati...

I don't get caught up in all that BS, I just ride.  It doesn't really matter what I ride, so long as I continue to.


But to all of you tuning in here, if you DO see me starting to head down the path to the Desmo side, please slap me 

Quote from: Watcher on April 11, 2017, 07:27:35 AM
...
I mean, the 2017 Ducati Monster 797 is like $9k.  That's about as much as a Yamaha FZ09...  So it's not even really a "rich blood" situation, anyone who financed a middle-level Japanese bike can finance a Ducati...
...

Maybe sportbikes are a different situation but a base Panigale is like $9K more than GSX-R1000R. I think this is where Ducati gets the reputation for being more expensive. You could buy a a GSX-R1000R AND a Monster for the same price as a Panigale lol.

Ducati Panigale 1299 S: $25,795.00 (The Panigale R is even more)

Suzuki GSX-R1000R: $16,999.000

I see what you're saying.  But the Panigale is also a premium level superbike more akin to the R1M, which is over $20k.
But I think it's best compared to a ZX14R or Hayabusa based on engine size and both of those bikes are...  Only $15k really?

Ducati also has a SuperSport series in the current lineup which is more alike to the 1000 sport bikes, that is hovering around $10-15k.
And the Multistrata isn't far off from the BMW and KTM adventure offerings.

Ducati on average IS more expensive, but for the most part it's not like Ferrari is to Chevrolet...