Told you so

A few months ago ISTR saying, in the usual place, and I think also here,
that I couldn't see how Ducati could maintain its UK dealer network on
the small volume of sales it was producing.

This week Ducati South London (and the North London shop) went into
liquidation. This was Ducati's largest and top-selling UK dealership,
incidentally.

Because of what I've heard concerning the reasons for this, I shall be
very interested to see what happens to Ducati UK.....

 

The Older Gentleman says...

I think I know the reasons, a certain Blackbird rider and his semi-
celebrity mate had something to do with it, if I'm correct.

 

Ah. No, that doesn't ring any bells.

 

The Older Gentleman says...

<emailed>

 

The Older Gentleman scribbled on the back of a napkin:

They probably heard that I had bought one and decided to pull out
before the brand would be Lancia'd.

To be honest, they probably sold all the 916s they'd ever sell, the 999
doesn't seem to be that big a seller anyway (judging by the number of
them I see in London) and most of the Ducatisti probably go to a bloke
with a clue rather than getting the bike serviced at a main dealer.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Lozzo amazed us all with this pearl of wisdom:

<emailed>

 

<replied>

 

The 749/999 simply doesn't sell as well as its predecessor, anywhere.
That's the trouble with trying to follow an iconic design.

The Multistrada has bombed in the UK. I feel smug here, because I
forecast it would.

Ducati has absolutely no entry-level bike that's powered by a modern
engine. The cheaper bikes are still powered by derivatives of the old
SOHC lump, albeit with three valves per cylinder and/or twin plug heads.

What they need is to take one of the watercooled DOHC engines (probably
the 749), detune it a bit, stick it in a basic chassis, maybe with steel
swinger and relatively simple forks, and price it right.

That would be a latter-day equivalent of the old 750/900SS, and would
give them an affordable and desirable bike powered by a modern engine.

Why they keep fannying about with the old SOHC vees escapes me. I mean,
I love my old 750SS but even I'll admit that the engine was hardly
cutting edge when the damn thing was first released.

 

Probably because the old air cooled lumps have 'eek!' servicing costs,
rather than 'we'll have to remortgage the house' costs....

 

thought they already did that with one of the monster

nope, with dodgy clutch and electrics it is the same old same

if they are very lucky, the Chinese will step in

 

Where's me CC ?

 

Oh, do tell?

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, BGN amazed us all with this pearl of wisdom:

Can't ;o)

 

It's nothing to do with My Hero, is it?

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, BGN amazed us all with this pearl of wisdom:

Not AFAIK

 

Bother.

 

Those pesky villagers. Peasants, all of them; can't let a harmless chap
practice on revivifying corpses.

You've met my Creature, then?

Well yes, there's always that. They're always willing and ready to
please.

 

The Older Gentleman scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Indeed, and unfortunately with something uglier IMHO:

Well, that's a proper ugly bike right there...

I guess that's because at the end of the day, they're still cheaper to
manufacture.

Unless they suddenly come up with a way to make a really cheap bike
that could compete on price and performance, my guess would be that the
sensible thing to do would be to position them as a premium-only make.
Along the lines of the "reassuringly expensive" mold.

 

Very, very dangerous thing to do in an economic downturn.

 

The Older Gentleman scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Agreed, but on the other hand they don't have a real 'entry-level' bike
at the moment, so developing one in an economic downturn may not be the
smartest move, either.

Maybe cleaning up the engine in the Monster to making it easier on the
eye would be, given that (AFAIR) this is their best-selling bike anyway.