Cheap Duc on Craigslist

Not mine, dont know what type of service you will be looking at, but its a cheap 748... $2500

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/mcy/1290601833.html

JIMP

Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and yourself on a cheap ducati are racing towards a $20 bill laying on the ground. Who gets there first?

NO ONE! Because they're all figments of your imagination.

(I stole that joke from Clerks by Kevin Smith)

No title, impounded and slathered with 'performance' parts means you can rest assured it has been beaten like a rented mule. It's just about due for a major service, i.e.: valve adjustment and timing belt swap, among other things. Big money at a dealership, complicated the first time you do it yourself.

Still, it may be the best looking bike ever. And that sound...

Is it wrong that the idea of owning the cheapest, most clapped out ducati I can find really appeals to me? It would be the perfect counterpoint to my no-maintenance Nighthawk. Half the reason I want a Ducati is that they are known to be temperamental and ownership is not for everyone. I think I would thoroughly enjoy tearing the bike apart and seeing how things were designed on a regular basis. Just like if I owned any italian supercar I would find it tough to resist taking everything apart so I can get a look at the machined art inside.

I've got a Ducati dealer not to far from my house that I haven't been to. Now I think I'm going to have to go by and look at (drool over) the bikes.

It's no 748, but my friend just picked up a Monster 620 Dark in perfect running order for $2900. Needs new tires, but seemed like a good deal to me. If only my dog hadn't eaten that bag of advil and racked up a $2200 vet bill . . . sigh. (he should be ok btw)

If my nighthawk really is sold, I'll be picking up my "Cheap Duc" weekend after next. :)

I can't wait! I'm going to be the coolest guy I know.

Hang onto those quotation marks. You're gonna need 'em.

Who am I to talk anyway? With prices going this direction, it looks like I'll fix my TL this winter and pick up my own 'cheap duc' during the off-season, too.

Josh wrote: Is it wrong that the idea of owning the cheapest, most clapped out ducati I can find really appeals to me? It would be the perfect counterpoint to my no-maintenance Nighthawk. Half the reason I want a Ducati is that they are known to be temperamental and ownership is not for everyone. I think I would thoroughly enjoy tearing the bike apart and seeing how things were designed on a regular basis. Just like if I owned any italian supercar I would find it tough to resist taking everything apart so I can get a look at the machined art inside.

Nothing much of interest to be seen outside of the valvetrain, and that is better looked at in a cutaway drawing anyway. One problem with Ducati is that you need the dealer computer to do a lot of the tuning. I can't get my ducati to idle without going to the dealership, and then from what I have read, they can't guarantee the fix will work. Also, ducati's hardware is of the lowest quality. I have owned 2, and the nuts, bolts, lower fork legs and engine parts corrode immediately – I have had Hondas with 5 times the miles look better. They do sound awesome and the torque is addicting. I will continue to buy them despite the problems, but I would not buy a beater ducati.

my dads old Monster M900 used to "whine", sounded like a cat meowing, just sitting in the garage... we had no idea why...

Former Ducati owner and manager of Ducati parts department and seller of new units speaking:

That is not a cheap Ducati.

Early 748s all peeled the plating off the valve rockers. Ducati NA is long past goodwill warranty on that stuff. Crashed, beaten on, unloved, rattle canned are all descriptors which are incompatible with "race bred, stringent service intervals, 4-valve desmo, timing belts....

I had a cheap Ducati. A gently lowsided '94 900SS that had been traded in at the dealership. I bought it for $3500 in 2000 and had already picked the necessary parts off of other totalled bikes. Still, I had the bike on one side of the garage, engine, swing arm and rear wheel on the other with both heads and barrels off to replace the cylinder studs 2 weeks later. Then the voltage regulator, then the whatever, then the what-what ever....

It sounded fantastic, went like stink and had SO much charisma, but at the end of the day it was the overbearing drunk baritone opera singer who'd crashed your party: amusing at first, but you really can't wait for them to leave.

So what do you recommend on the "cheap duc" side? Do you buy new and hope you get 10k miles before the pain begins, or just pick something up knowing that it's going to be that psycho girlfriend and live with it?

Motomoron is right. I had forgotten about the flaking rockers, which were/are indeed a problem.

Brust, I'd suggest the latest-model two valve air cooled bike you can find. Maybe in a Monster. I prefer carbs over FI for non-proprietary tuning purposes. Buy the nicest you can afford, and pay extra for service documents.

But, yeah, your last statement is about right. You gotta know what you're getting into and be prepared to either love it unconditionally or you'll hate it with a passion.

Find an RC51, or an SV1000, or a 900/1000SS, possibly even an Aprilia Mille. There's lots of good V twin sport bikes that won't ruin your life.

Hell, save up and buy my KTM 950 Supermoto. It's plenty fast, not a turd and all the weird euro idiosyncracies have been rectified already.

Moto, you make a good point. There is a dealer near me that sells all sorts of coolio bikes. They have the KTM and one of the Aprilias there (it's done up to look like a Spanish rider's race bike). Those are great-looking bikes. I like the Aprilia more than the Ducatis.

Don't forget about Buell!

I second the aprilia. Here is my old Mille - I painted it in my garage.

Post deleted on CL. I have my eye on a M696 in the spring if the neon doesn't die.