Cant make my mind up....

I thought he wanted a sports bike?

 

I thought he never knew what he wanted

 

I'd have had Donald's, but my cashflow and the fact it ended up in the
side of a van conspired against me

Paul.

 

This is the first ST4S you've seen for sale or the first ST4S with ABS
you've seen for sale?

ST4S' don't seem that rare

 

This is the last model ST4S, like my yellow one, not like the red one that
ended up with Donald. The earlier model are common enough but are getting
longer in the teeth.
www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/ducati/ducati_st4s_abs 03.htm
These late bikes are about as rare as modern bikes come. But spares at any
main dealer are no problem.
www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/ducati/ducati_st4s_abs. 05.htm

It's the same frame and engine (996) but updated bodywork and electronics.
If they still have it you should get down there and take a look. You should
be able to ride it. Being a uniquely good sports touring bike it won't be
there long. Having said that it's £500ish over priced so they need to
negotiate.

 

I'm still looking at Tiger TBH [1], though I did notice 130479634322 on
ebay (early ST4S); the later ones do look more handsome if nothing else.

[1] Though today i have sat on an R1200ST (no!) and a 700 Transalp (mebbie)

 

Oh and I went to look at a F6C at the weekend.

I told some mates at work and then sniggered. "Come on chaps!" I said
and they said that was most likely.

I told the owner that the lack of hard luggage fittings put me off and
he suggested "throwovers, like a cowboy". That didn't help either.

 

V twins have a certain je ne sais quoi - no?

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Oh certainly, but it's just as much that off-road style bikes give me
the right upright riding position, and there aren't that many of them
with >2 cylinders (though there's a Triumph Tiger with a 1200 4-cylinder
Trophy engine in it on ebay)

 

Remind me of the budget (excluding significant other sweeteners). Is the
"upright" a question of leg length and bend or inclined upper body to
reach the bars?

A pity Motini have gone bust. I can see you on a Gran Passo.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Looking at a maximum of 7k, but happy (very happy) to pay a lot lot
less, though as i would prefer something less than 2-3 years old.

A combination of old age and a car crash means that leaning forward and
looking up for a long period of time isn't good. The busa is brilliant
for a while but i couldn't keep it up for long (fnaar). Of course the
Fisheresque leg length doesn't work with most sitty up bikes which is a
right pain.

I was surprised how high even the F6C was. The Transalp was a nice fit.
The seating position on the DL650 is great but it's a bit high

Ah, pity, as I'd have loved a Motini

 

Ha. A little known make. Moto Morinis aren't bad either. You could
probably get a 1200 Corsaro for that budget but I found the seat height
too tall for me.

Sit on a Shiver. They even go round Windy corner OK (with the right tyre
pressures) apparently. A bit lacking in power perhaps until the 1200
version arrives, but is it far behind the 700 Transalp?


--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Life's too complicated for sonething like that; I need something that I
can get on and ride and not worry where the next left handed
frogglegromet's coming from

<snigger>

Hate to admit it, but that looks rather nice. Yes there are screens
available but not much in the luggage department. If I wasn't thinking
of the Grand Tour, that would definitely be worthy of closer inspection

 

True. The fact that it isn't huge, tall, wide and heavy was part of the
attraction for me. My Bagster Tecra looks as if it will work OK perched
on the tank cover, though you can't then see the ignition key and have
to do a reach around to twiddle it (ooh er missus). Still there's a
handlebar kill switch. If it feels a bit odd under way I will swap it
for a recent Bagster design listed specifically as suitable for the
Shiver. Quite a few luggage manufacturers do panniers and tail packs,
but the high level pipes (particularly with Akrapovics) do limit the
possibilities. The lad has declared the pillion seat good and likes the
way it makes progress. Whether we would be happy to do eek miles a day
on it is another matter. The French run will tell me more about longish
distance capability.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

With all due respect you fat ****, lack of hard luggage is a shit
reason to rule a bike out, especially when Ventura do a rack for it. SW
Motech make some fantastic huge capacity soft luggage[1], & if you
really absolutely have to have hard panniers, it wouldn't take much to
attach something like Givi wingracks to the Ventura siderails. And a
Givi topbox plate can be molished to a Ventura rack (I'll be doing this
on the Raptor[2] in the near future).


[1] e.g. http://www.sounddistribution.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=3533

[2] Which of course I'll recommend, what with them having an upright
seating position, low seat height & many options for aftermarket
screens. Pillion seat's shit though which probably rules them out for
you.

 

For SW Motech stuff, I cannot recommend Motohaus highly enough. I've
used them on a few occasions and they have always been excellent. One
of the few companies where they know what Customer Service is.
http://www.motohaus.com/

 

Hmm, that's rather smart, not that I need one, but if I did...

 

I've seen one in the flesh & they are superb.

 

Where would Horse sit?

 

It is rather. I'll get the measuring tape out but I can see the
Akropovics being a bit proximate. It doesn't mention heat resistant
materials on the vulnerable areas.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+