I'm not entirely sure it's _my_ future.
Ok, it's a desmo L-twin with 195HP - lovely. Chain driven cambelts? Maybe.
It's the wet clutch and horrid frame that disappoint me.
Maybe its time to take a look at Moto Morini and revisit Moto Guzzi,
or even go for one of the big four. Is Aprilia going to stick with V
twins? They have a good reputation for reliability, but they dropped
the Futura and the Falco. Come back Cagiva - make us some more Duc'
engined motorbikes.
I have other issues, concerning flimsy components and paint quality.
The finish on new Ducatis isn't looking good. Carl Harrison was showing
me the crumbling engine paint on a 4 year old Hypermotard with 5,000
on the clock last week. No paint left on the front cylinder and cylinder head
and lots lost from the rest of the engine. At 85,000 and after many
salt drenched winters my Monster engine is in much better shape. So is
my ST4s, but that does benefit from a fairing and only 51,000 miles.
Carl didn't think that this was unusual for recent Ducatis. It reminded
me of the way the paint seemed to wash away before your eyes in a stream
of rust on the early Buells! Oh, and what's this about not being able
to repair the lights in the instrument cluster, any more? It's a sealed
unit that has to be replaced and "rekeyed" if anything fails. That's great
for the Ducati factory, but not for us. Will this really help their sales
or does it just keep the bean counters happy?
It seems to me that, since Ducati fixed their quality control in the
'90s, they've gradually been paring away at the peripherals, seeing what
they can get away with. The bikes are still great to ride when new.
I love riding the Monster 1100s, but I wouldn't buy one because of the
above, the cheap looking plastic on the engine and the ludicrous tank
capacity. "Fast between petrol stations." Stocking up on some low
mileage, late '90s Ducs might be prudent, but spares are difficult,
because Ducati won't hold stock, but makes them when it has "enough"
orders. Things probably aren't so bad in the USA because you've got
lots of small manufacturers eager to make parts.
Has anyone on the list ridden their Mutistrada 1200 through a winter of
salted roads? How's the paint looking?
--
Jan
On the road:'03 ST4s ABS (since April 2010), '99 M900 (since new)
Languishing: 'Guzzi V50 III & that legend of unreliability: a Lario!
and for Really Bad(TM) winter days: a Fiat Panda!
Norwich, UK
Mark, on Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 10:38:02AM -0000 you wrote:
>
> Here's the future folks...
> [1]http://www.superquadro.ducati.com/en/
> Mark
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