I like the look of this. Are they any good? Will I fit on? Fleabay item 4591144780
Lovely bikes, but if you are like your posting name, then I reckon youd struggle - I'm 5'7" on a good day, and I fit them fine, much bigger and it may be a squeeze. As always, you've got to check them over.Anything electronic is bloody expensive to replace.The scratches and scrapes are nothing to worry about, but being as it has definitely been binned, I'd check the wheel/frame/fork alignment before buying - it'd be rather expensive to get a new frame. Alan.
Well I had a '98 916Bip for 6 years and 30k miles and now run a 998. I'm 6' and never had a problem although it is a bike you must sit on before you really know. Some people find the position impossible but I've always liked it and have spent up to 6 hours at a time on it. In terms of that bike, it might be a good buy but absolute top price is probably £2k given its history and state. That clutch is not the cheap job he suggests even as a do-it-yourself task as it will probably need inner and outer basket as well as the plates. It could well be a few hundred quid. The lack of history is a worry too. You really want to see receipts for services to know all is well. The biggest weakness area is the rockers. 16 of them on the eight valve desmo heads and £70 each if they need replacing. The good news is that by '98 they really had got all the niggles sorted. Even the (japanese) electrics were well sorted and shouldn't give a problem. Email me if you want to talk about it in more detail.
Oh aye, they look lovely. Umm, well, as a concept, I suppose, yes. They certainly go around corners. Lack of history on this particular one is a worry, mind. They're notoriously prone to needing regular (and proper) fettling to keep them happy and stop (usually expensive) things going snap, crackle or pop. Plus as Andy says elsewhere, the clutch is not an easy or cheap thing to sort. Having met you, I suspect not. Ask Bonwick, who's nowhere near as tall as you, how comfortable his 748 was.
No history is a worry, but not the end of the world. Budget £500-600 for a full service, which would include replacement belts and all the fluids and so on being done. The dealer would give it a good check over at the time as well and let you know if anything else is amiss. A new set of clutch plates is around £120 for the aluminium ones which rattle less and also wear less on the basket, and worth the extra £20 over standard plates. As for plastics ... this is where it could mount up. £100 per panel or there abouts for good-as-new stuff and it soon mounts up. Biposto seats are always cheap as people want singles, of those. Genuine Ducati is nice thick plastic, but they do break easily. It wouldn't be worth repairing those panels with the big holes in, then getting them painted - just replace them off ebay. Budget £160 for a pair of tyres and then you want to get the suspension sorted or you'll hate it. Budget another £100 for that. So, add up the figures and see what you think with the total. They're not expensive to insure or maintain, but they do need looking after. Have a look at the DSC website for more help and advice http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/
Thanks for the replies, I reckon I'll leave well alone with the lack of history etc, I'll find one to have a go on though, I like bikes that go well round bends.
Just spotted this today: --- FOR SALE 996 BIPOSTA - BARGAIN PRICE ! VERY NICE 996 BIPOSTA IN YELLOW, DATATOOL ALARM, DATATAGGED, TAXED, 10 MONTHS MOT, NEW PIRELLI'S POLISHED PIPES, SERVICE HISTORY, ONLY 16,400 MILES, ONLY SELLING AS BIKE WAS ACCEPTED IN PART EX FOR MY 999 ! VERY, VERY NICE CONDITION STANDARD BIKE. WINTER BARGAIN FOR QUICK SALE £3900 (I NEED THE SPACE) BIKE IN VERWOOD DORSET
And what about the bike? I don't find it a problem *if* you go fast enough to get a bit of wind on your chest to take the weight off your wrists. If I ride around town for a while then they do start to ache but after a while you get the muscles in the right place to deal with it. You can also remove the locating pins out of the bars and rotate the levers round slightly, as this helps get the wrists in a better line to stop the ache.
I'd only ever describe the 748 as "a nice bike but..". The older 916/748 Ducatis are still probably the best looking bike I've seen on the road out of the crate and in the right hands they handle as well as most of the top line Japanese sports bikes but where they fall down is price and lack of horsepower. When I spent loads of hard earned on the 748 I didn't like any of the 600cc bikes around at the time and I paid a lot less for it than I would have paid for a new 9R or a Fireblade. Given the fact that you can now buy a K5 gixxer thou or a 10R brand new for less than you'd pay for a similar 749 I wouldn't be making the same decision.
Horsepower yes, but in the right hands they can be just as quick as any inline four out on a track/road. It's not how much power they make but the way in which they make their power that keeps them competitive. The price is an issue, but they come with top kit all round - Showa or Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes and Marchesini wheels. This is the kind of kit that Japanese bike owners upgrade their kit to. True, but since when has anyone bought a bike purely on a financial decision? ;-)
The fact that I could get one on interest free credit and at a substantially reduced price was the final factor in the choice between a 10R and a K5. Every other bike was rejected as either too expensive or not suitable. Not suitable meaning in this case underpowered.
