OT Ducati ownership costs

[jim rozen]

All good comments. I've not priced a brand new duc and of course the cost
depends on 'new' or 'used.' But the number will be above 10K if new I assure you.

My specific comments about tires are spot on though.

I did NOT say anything about tire wear. I said he will wind up putting about 500 bucks
into the bike for tires alone and that number is based on one or two changes per year. His
tire wear is a direct fuction of tire type and hp of the bike.

I change out tires when they are 50 percent worn. If one wants to drive around on
clapped out rubber, one can save a lot of money in the short term. But in my book
tires are one of those things you can't screw around with. Most owners do not
do their own rubber repairs so you can add dealer cost for labor to the number as well.

Note that in my case with the KLR the cost of the rubber I've put on it over the
years FAR exceeds the initial cost of the vehicle. Money well spent. Last thing
you need to worry about when driving down the parkway is, 'are those things OK?'



Ducati has recently entered the touring market.

Again I can only give you my personal observations - before spring, and once
the leaves have left the trees, or at night at any time during the year, you will
find precious few ducatis out there touring around.

Go out on a chilly, damp day and see what bikes are out there. You will see
the real hard core HD drivers, typically with the full batwing fairings, beanie
helmets, and bandanas tired around their faces. You will see gold wing drivers,
often two-up, looking quite happy. You will see bmw drivers motoring along,
typically wearing aerostich suits of some flavor.

Won't be any ducatis though. Bank on that.

Sterotypes? None advanced. But go to a track session at Lime Rock or
Watkins Glenn. Tell me that more than over half the bikes out there, are
ducatis. There's a reason for that. Taglioni builds a bike that is not the
absolute best in any one aspect. BUT the bikes are, for lack of a better term,
'systems integrated.' All the sub-systems function in concert to produce
a machine that, overall, crosses the line first.

Jim

 

[dakeddie]

If it's a 998 model, that's a one-year-only classic!

As for maintenance costs, the major cost differential of a Ducati over a Japanese 4 cylinder superbike is the 6,000 mile valve adjustment intervals. This is something you can do yourself as long as you've watched it being done once before.

The desmodronic valve train doesn't use shims

(as the 4's do), so you don''t need parts other than perhaps some gaskets. The newer air-cooled V-twins of the Sport Classic line has the interval out to 12,000 miles, and it's a little easier to do the 3-valve motors than the liquid-cooled 4-valve heads. I don't know the exact cost of having the valve service done by a competent tech, but figure on rarely leaving a Ducati dealer with a receipt of less than $600.

Up here in New England, BCM Ducati in Laconia New Hampshire has workshops during the off-season for various Ducati services. Among the sessions are the ones for suspension, brakes, and valves. It's well-worth the trip to take in one or more of those classes.

The beautiful design of Ducati is the initial attraction. Beyond that, the handling and braking is what gets you hooked. Like H-D, there's a strong culture of owners to go with the bikes. There's 2 basic types of Ducati owner. One is the status symbol buyer who can neither ride it nor service it. Then there's the sport-minded riders who really appreciate the fine performance and know how to use it. You have to learn to live with the noisy air-cooled dry clutch, but once underway, it's nirvana. Most Ducati dealers sponsor track days, and I can tell you from being at many of them that it's a load of fun!

Myself, I prefer the melding of the torque that a twin offers with the top-end rush of a four...I ride the Triumph triples. Stone reliable, great all-around bikes.

Oh yes they do!! Two per valve and you may need to use dimond emery cloth to sand the closing shims!

 

[Jeff]

Mebfab, ya might consider a Buell. They DID make some decent bikes.

 

[paul39]

Ducati Site

History, sales, trader, etc.

Ducati History - DucatiTrader.com - Ducati Motorcycle Classifieds

Paul

 

[Mike C.]

"It has the same fun value as a Yamaha RZ350 but plays in a completely different power regime."

Johann nailed it. A friend has a GT 1000. It is the most intuitive, comfortable, blindingly quick and fast thing I have ever jumped on. I had an RZ350 and that's the handling and feel (a super light, flippable little pocket rocket) with a V-twin that makes the fire breathing super tweaked RZ I had seem puny by comparison.

First ride, I eased the GT up into third gear before pounding the throttle at about 3000rpm. It STILL nearly riped my arms out of socket, instantaneously. There is no wait for rpms to build. You hit the throttle, it goes NOW, at ANY rpm. No waiting for it to come onto the pipes, or ports, or cams, or whatever.... it simply doesn't matter where you pop the throttle, it tried to pull the bars out of your hands and peels your eyelids back, from idle to redline. I want one REAL bad.

 

[BWS]

Just a note for anyone with or considering....oh how you say?Race replicas.....I would strongly suggest bringing your new bike into shop and removing every bit of stock bodywork.You can buy two sets of "decent",made to wreck,super flexxy race bodywork for what your OEM plastic is worth.Just sayin.BW

 

[RickWG]

The fact that so many are for sale with less than 10K miles on them speaks volumes...

 

[Mebfab]

Paul interesting story. Went to the Duck Dealer. Some guy walked out of the back room smoking a cig. Looked at me. Walked back into the back. I called my buddy the scooter guy. "yeah, thats how the treat people. They had the piaggo? dealership pulled because of complaints" I wlked out. There was a salesman talking to homeless looking guy.

I drove across town to the Buell shop. Clearance due to Harley stepping on their pecker closing down Buell. Walked in. Some kid with bleach white teeth that could be seen from space fell over himself to help. Test ride? Sure!, make an offer? Sure.

Took home a 2010 firebolt

 

[Newman109]

Paul interesting story. Went to the Duck Dealer. Some guy walked out of the back room smoking a cig. Looked at me. Walked back into the back. I called my buddy the scooter guy. "yeah, thats how the treat people. They had the piaggo? dealership pulled because of complaints" I wlked out. There was a salesman talking to homeless looking guy.

I drove across town to the Buell shop. Clearance due to Harley stepping on their pecker closing down Buell. Walked in. Some kid with bleach white teeth that could be seen from space fell over himself to help. Test ride? Sure!, make an offer? Sure.

Took home a 2010 firebolt

I've had the same experiences in BMW and Ducati dealers over the years. When you come in to look at the motorcycles and have to stand there for 15 minutes without being noticed, their attitude hits you.

Apparently they don't care whether you buy one or not.

 

[Mebfab]

Well, it worked out for them then.

Thing is, before the clearance on buells, the harley/buell dealer treated me the same way.

 

[ARB]

Took home a 2010 firebolt

Great!

Enjoy your bike. No matter what it is. As long as it makes you grin you have the right bike. If not get another.

Or just start collecting them.

 

[Greg Menke]

I have 2 HD dealers nearby. One is brisk and civilized- you walk in and somebody sidles up right away to see if they can help, No- they head off and you can do your thing. Yes, and they unfold the products for you. No music & many bikes to look at. Ride in on your bike (HD or not), you get a wave & a nod.

The other one you might as well be invisible- top-40 "country" music on loud. Very few bikes, lots of costume stuff. I guess if you're in the "locals" club you will know where to go if you want to buy something there- but whatever.

I've been to 3 import bike dealers (Japanese & BMW), all of them have been like the 1st HD dealer, but I'm sure that varies too.

Greg

 

[jim rozen]

"When you come in to look at the motorcycles and have to stand there for 15 minutes without being noticed, their attitude hits you."

Honestly dealers have a tough time. Unless you have cash oozing out of your
pockets they have better things to do, bigger fish to fry. It's a shame but a
simple fact of life. This cuts across all marques I would say. Not to excuse
poor customer relations but the owners have a slim margin and there's always
a fire to put out somewhere, so they get short-tempered and cranky.

My favorite story, a local dealer used to be right down the road from my workplace.
I would go there at lunchtime to get the bikes inspected. It was always 'wait wait
wait' no matter what time. Before I realized it was good to call ahead, sometimes
they were 'out of stickers' after the hour wait.

So one fine spring day, I announced my desire to get the scooter stickered, and
the usual 'when we get around to it' was the response. OK, I've been to the
rodeo before. The owner had a hot customer (japanese guy) who was just about
to drop some cash on a bike, so the there was a HUGe amount of schmoozing
going on.

Then the owner gets called in the back for a vital phone call. He tells the
hot customer, be right back, don't go ANYWHERE please.

So we're both in the holding pattern. The japanese guy comes over to me, and
starts getting real interested in the 1959 R50 bmw that I'm trying to get inspected.
Where did it come from, what's it like to ride, how hard are parts to get, and so on.
He was genuinely intriqued that somebody could use a bike like that for transportation.

This goes on for a half hour or so, I'm enjoying the conversation because it makes
the wait go faster.

The owner comes out of the shop looking frantically for the hot customer. He
realizes I've been 'sharing a moment' with the man and can't slap a sticker on my
bike fast enough, the 'get outta here' is totally implied.

Bike shop owners have a tough time. You may *think* they're giving you the
brushoff. They're not. They're fighting with the company, they're hollering at
suppliers. They're busy chewing out the employees who screwed up. They're
trying to make the rent.

LOL.