The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

IIRC, CrazyJeeper has had good luck with uShip. It usually ends up being half the price as well.
 
Yeah, he's had good luck with them. I've not used them or really been involved in anything that used them so I can't say from personal experience.
 
IIRC, CrazyJeeper has had good luck with uShip. It usually ends up being half the price as well.

I'll see what uShip costs.
 
Ah, how did I miss the 696 convo? Yeah, I love mine because of the passion (said with an emphasis of the fists). :lol: I mean, how many times a day can a rider think, "It is time to check the valves yet?"

I must admit that the best part about being stablemates with Blind and his Hondas is that I'm better at playing Maintenance Bingo and can jump on the Hondas whenever I want... especially to a Ducati meet. It's fun showing up on a bright yellow Honda to a Ducati ride. Muahaha!

Nah, just playin' - I keep up on the maintenance, and lil' monstah treats me well. I'm personally amazed at how well the new Ducs are performing. It's not for everyone, but for me, it's awesome.
 
Ah, how did I miss the 696 convo? Yeah, I love mine because of the passion (said with an emphasis of the fists). :lol: I mean, how many times a day can a rider think, "It is time to check the valves yet?"

Never had to think about that on the 700. It's an engine with a 10750rpm redline that has hydraulic lifters. No adjustment needed, ever. :D Change oil, keep rolling.

Nah, just playin' - I keep up on the maintenance, and lil' monstah treats me well. I'm personally amazed at how well the new Ducs are performing. It's not for everyone, but for me, it's awesome.

I should probably clarify my previous statements - it's not that the current Monsters are a horribly *bad* bike per se. It's just that in my opinion they're not really all that impressive and are a model with a well-earned dubious track record of reliability from a brand with a dubious track record of reliability. The market seems to agree with that, and that's why Monsters don't have very good resale value - to go back to the original question.
 
Spectre, you of all people should know the dangers of painting a company with a broad brush. You own a Ford and a Jaguar, both companies have a history of dubious reliability, yet, you have found two models that are reliable. Is it not fair to say that Ducati, despite a history of poor reliability and maintenance schedules that border on the abusive, may have turned a corner?

No one is trying to take anything away from the Nighthawk, but there is room in the pantheon of bikes for both it and the Monster. No one is asking for you to like the Monster, but it is a solid machine with great riding and handling characteristics that lots of people love. What started out as a design exercise has become Ducati's single best selling bike. Honestly, if the ST1300 was run over by a steam roller tomorrow, the first bike I would look at would be a Ducati.
 
Spectre, you of all people should know the dangers of painting a company with a broad brush. You own a Ford and a Jaguar, both companies have a history of dubious reliability, yet, you have found two models that are reliable. Is it not fair to say that Ducati, despite a history of poor reliability and maintenance schedules that border on the abusive, may have turned a corner?

No, not when I see post after post after post after post from people who own new ones (defined as 'made in last three years') on various forums indicating "bike died and won't restart", "blew up", "got huge repair bill" "won't start."

One local Ducati dealer has a MONTH backlog of dead and sick in-warranty Ducatis that they're working through. Not a small dealership either. This in a season where even the most backed up Honda dealer can get you in and out in two days at the most (as opposed to spring when everyone is backed up for weeks because of people pulling bikes out of storage.)

Der Stig went on a Ducati demo day this year. One of the specially fettled, always getting mechanic attention demo bikes had blown up, IIRC. Another one he rode had problems (see his ride report). These are the bikes that are always maintained in top condition to make the best impression on potential customers!

No one is trying to take anything away from the Nighthawk, but there is room in the pantheon of bikes for both it and the Monster. No one is asking for you to like the Monster, but it is a solid machine with great riding and handling characteristics that lots of people love. What started out as a design exercise has become Ducati's single best selling bike. Honestly, if the ST1300 was run over by a steam roller tomorrow, the first bike I would look at would be a Ducati.

Hope you like your local Ducati dealer, then, because you've got a very good chance that you'd get to know him *real* well.

Maybe someday Ducati will consistently make reliable bikes. That day is not today. Tomorrow's not looking good either.
 
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It's interesting, most the people I ride with are on Ducatis. They do long sport-touring trips every year and none of them have complained or even mentioned reliability issues with any of their Ducatis. They spend more time cleaning them than they do wrenching on them - from Monsters to Multistradas.

Demo bikes get ridden like they were stolen, so it's not surprising that they will have problems, even with maintenance. I also wonder how much of that backlog at the dealer is for things like oil changes, some owners don't like getting dirty and will take their bike in for even the most minor maintenance plan. There are more, and much larger Honda dealers around my area - that means more mechanics and techs, more lifts, and more places to take the strain. There is *one* Ducati dealer in town and one independent shop with the know-how and tools to do Ducati service.

I guess we are just not seeing these major mechanical issues that you do. I've ridden a number of Ducatis and I really like them. The Multistrada is especially good, very comfortable, upright, and confidence-inspiring. The power is fantastic and the variable riding modes really make it the only bike you need. I stand by my statement, that I would love to have one in the garage.
 
Funny you should mention the Multistrada.

[video=youtube;0uhGjjt-cXQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uhGjjt-cXQ[/video]

Only had 1500 miles. Needed new heads per the poster.

You may also want to read this thread. http://www.ducati.ms/forums/44-multistrada/276841-mts-1200-engine-failures.html

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It's interesting, most the people I ride with are on Ducatis. They do long sport-touring trips every year and none of them have complained or even mentioned reliability issues with any of their Ducatis. They spend more time cleaning them than they do wrenching on them - from Monsters to Multistradas.

Demo bikes get ridden like they were stolen, so it's not surprising that they will have problems, even with maintenance. I also wonder how much of that backlog at the dealer is for things like oil changes, some owners don't like getting dirty and will take their bike in for even the most minor maintenance plan. There are more, and much larger Honda dealers around my area - that means more mechanics and techs, more lifts, and more places to take the strain. There is *one* Ducati dealer in town and one independent shop with the know-how and tools to do Ducati service.

At least five Ducati dealerships in the area that I can think of off the top of my head, some with much larger service areas than the Honda dealers'. One of the Honda dealers recently retired and sold his license to a Ducati shop so you can go in and compare. Long line of 'catis waiting, many waiting for parts, some waiting for space to be worked on, almost no Hondas in.

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Yes, the Ducati is a bit more expensive, but not by a ton. MSRP for the Ducati 696 is about $9,200 while the Yamaha is right around $7,000 - a bike geared towards first-time riders.



Also, regarding my Ford and reliability? I'd note that I bought the International/Navistar motor and the Ford came along for the ride. My Ford does not have a Ford motor.
 
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I'm sure I can find forum posts and videos of broken Hondas and Yamahas too. With any marquee there are going to be defects, that is why these very expensive and complicated machines have warranties.
 
I'm sure I can find forum posts and videos of broken Hondas and Yamahas too. With any marquee there are going to be defects, that is why these very expensive and complicated machines have warranties.

Yup, but the Ducati problems are almost as commonly reported as the BMW quality rot problems they've been having. Seriously, go read that last thread I linked - the damn things are sometimes not even making it out of the break-in period before exploding. The last maker I heard of that had problems that way was *Harley*.

Go over to ADVrider and check out the problem reports. I believe that despite the numbers sold (and on the forum) they're still waiting for the first Super Ten to blow up while plenty of BMW GS and Duc Multis have gone kaboom.

At this point, the Italian Quality Spectrum as seen in the US is (from best to worst): Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and then trailing quite a ways behind - Ducati. Pretty sad because they do look great and it'd be nice to have a reliable one that didn't try to eat me out of house and home.
 
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I envy your Ruckus. It reminds me of the Honda Mini-Trail we had as kids.
 
Ruckuseses are amazing.

....

Also, heres the random Monster. Linky

It?s versatile and reliable, though it will require expensive cam belt changes every two years or 12,000 miles , which means a bill of around ?700 a time.

:blink:
 
Also, heres the random Monster. Linky



:blink:

No surprise. As mentioned before, that's part of why their resale is crap.

No, that's not normal for motorcycles. Here's a more normal maintenance worksheet - the initial 600 mile service is not repeated, it's just for break-in.







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Stop being a baby, and be a man. Go buy a bike. Tell the wife to go make a sandwich.

The time for that was, sadly, before you have kids.
 
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The time for that was, sadly, before you have kids.

Glad I did it now then because my time is coming in the next few years.

So the 919 doesnt need valve adjustments? Or are you taking about the CB1100?
 
That's if you get it done at a dealer. Belt changes on a monster are incredibly easy to do on the Monster, hell, even a nugget like me can manage it. With just a few basic hand tools you can do this at home in under an hour. Hell, I knew guys in San Francisco that would do this themselves at the curb in front of their building.
 
Glad I did it now then because my time is coming in the next few years.

So the 919 doesnt need valve adjustments? Or are you taking about the CB1100?

No, my 700 doesn't need valve adjustments and revs to 10750. My 919 has the retuned CBR900RR motor which sadly does require valve lash adjustments. However, most of them it's just a check and not an actual adjustment. It's not a heavily stressed motor.

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That's if you get it done at a dealer. Belt changes on a monster are incredibly easy to do on the Monster, hell, even a nugget like me can manage it. With just a few basic hand tools you can do this at home in under an hour. Hell, I knew guys in San Francisco that would do this themselves at the curb in front of their building.

A better question: Why would you ride a motorcycle that requires a cam belt change every 12K and desmodromic valve adjustments (two rockers per valve) every 6000-7500 when just about every one of the competing bikes don't have cam belts to change and have twice as long between valve inspections? More wrenching = less riding.
 
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