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Oh...My...Goodness...

tazbatgirl said:
Nice Buell hand guards there. :D

Must say as a self professed ultimate Bueller, I REALLY like that Duc. It is pretty darn sweet.

By the way Jack, ever bother to look into the ACTUAL price of Ducatis? They are not ALL so expensive, in fact, I believe I paid more for my Buell than a Monster costs......

I looked at a 620 (along with other bikes) and the SV and the SV won, more for less. Oh, yeah, and the XB9 had just come out before I bought the SV. I also liked a LOT, the FZ1, the Bandit, the ZRX, and the 919 Honda. I wanted handling and new the SV would do that. I didn't care that much for excessive horsepower. The FZ1 reports I'd seen said it was quite slow to turn in, but otherwise a decent handling bike. The Bandit, well, it's somewhat old school. The ZRX is AWESOME, but not the handling bike an SV is. The SV's weakness is simple suspension, but at $5800, what I gave for it, I figured a few suspension goodies wouldn't be a big deal. I bought springs for the forks, set the sag at 30 mm, put 20 wt in the forks, kept the rear stock so far. Might not stay that way, though.

The one Buell I like is the Ulysses. Looked it over real close at the bike show. It's almost 12K and I can get a V Strom 650 for $6500. There's not $5500 difference in the bikes to me. I like the Buell's 17" wheels, the Strom runs a 19 on the front. I like the Ulysses' size. I'm six foot tall and the SV cramps me bad enough. That's one reason I didn't like the XB9. I like the motor in the strom a lot better than any sportster style V twin. The transmission is much slicker on the Strom. I like the Buell's suspension and running gear better, prefer a belt drive. If they were the same price, or maybe a couple thou more, I might go Buell, if I could learn to trust 'em. Can't afford to get stuck with a possible lemon. I hear they've gotten better, but I need more proof before MY hard earned money goes for one. I keep going back and reading http://www.mybuell.com . Not inspiring there. But at 12K, it's still too steep considering the competition. It's a very nice looking bike, though. Then, too, if I want parts for my Suzuki, I have shops here I can get 'em. We have a HD/Buell, Suzuki, Victory, Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha shop here. We have no Ducati shop. We have no Triumph shop. We have no BMW shop. I can always order parts and do a lot, but it's nice to have a shop close by, or at least within 40 miles.

That's how I shop and compare. If you have other priorities in a bike, that's why they make different bikes. I don't plan on having sex with the bike. I just want it to take trips and ride to work. I love a quick, stable handling bike and enough motor to easily distance 99% of the four wheelers I have to pass on the highway. SV has that covered. I never was enamored by power. Every time I got something powerful, in a few years there was something faster. Besides, I'm a road racer, not a drag racer. I've always loved racing GP stuff, TZ250 Yamahas, RS125 Hondas. No street bike on earth no matter who makes it can HOPE to handle as well as the GP stuff. That's what they're made to do and I've come to love that ideal handling and like to approach that as much as I can on my budget in a sporty street bike. Now days you can. That's the cool part of bikes in the 21st century. In the 60s and through the 70s, the bikes I rode handled like crap, but I knew no better. On the street, Euro bikes had a definite edge in handling back then, but no longer. It wasn't until I got a TZ250 in 1980 and went AMA racing with it that I learned what handling really was. It was unreal neat not to wobble through every turn. :rofl:

But, that's my background where handling is concerned. I CAN tell the difference in the high dollar suspension. I'd love to have a Tuono R, but it'd be a lot cheaper to buy an Ohlins for my $5800 SV and put a Jixxer fork on the front, I mean, if I were THAT into it. That's what a lot of racers do. Race Tech will fix the front a lot easier, though. And, I hear a ZX636 shock fits and raises the rear for quicker handling to boot and you can ebay one cheap! I may go that route, but I'll want a steering damper if I raise the rear for safety's sake.

Coming up on the first valve check, 16K, on the SV. I'll do 'em myself, of course. I've found one problem with the bike so far, the turn signal stalks keep braking off.:shock: I'm in my 39th year of riding motorcycles, started in 1966. I'm pretty set in what I like. The racing has shaped my tastes, but my pocket book has always been thin. The most exotic motorcycles I've ever owned were GP racers.

Through all the years I've been riding, the street bikes have just gotten better and better. Every year I see the latest and greatest get faster, better handling, lighter, more powerful. I've come to the conclusion that having something that works well on my budget is easier than buying the latest and greatest every year. And, I've never been a Europhile because in 38 years, they've rarely topped the Japanese in pure performance and even when they do, it's on a rich man's budget! Sorry, but no, a 999 is not cheap and the latest GSXR1000 or ZX10R will stomp it at $11K! The 999 is about $30K I believe? Sure, I coulda got a 620 monster, but why? It's 10 hp down on the SV and don't have a tenth the aftermarket support, handles no better, no dealer here, and even if you think the valves are easy (guess you never owned a XL600 Honda), even underbucket shimmed DOHC SVs are easier and only get checked every 16K by the book.
 
:tab Ahhh Jack... We appreciate your thin wallet appraisal because others are also in that boat. However, not everyone is in that boat and if they have the cash to throw at an expensive bike, more power to them! ;-) That does not mean they are debt lovers or posers any more than it makes everyone riding cheaper bikes tightwads and penny pinchers :-P The exception being you :nana: I only wish I had a bit more of your financial frugality and discipline, then I might be able to save up for one of the glamorous bikes :mrgreen:
 
Tourmeister said:
:tab Ahhh Jack... We appreciate your thin wallet appraisal because others are also in that boat. However, not everyone is in that boat and if they have the cash to throw at an expensive bike, more power to them! ;-) That does not mean they are debt lovers or posers any more than it makes everyone riding cheaper bikes tightwads and penny pinchers :-P The exception being you :nana: I only wish I had a bit more of your financial frugality and discipline, then I might be able to save up for one of the glamorous bikes :mrgreen:

True, but I never called anyone a name. I did suggest that this Duc would be a good Poseur Motard. That's a first for the category, I think.

Yeah, if you're rich, buy what you want. Got no problem with that. But, if asked my opinion on a motorcycle, I'll go at it from my point of view, not yours. As in, do "I" like it?

I think I'm the one that was called names here, not the other way around. I'm a "ducati hater" ya know. I'm definitely a "buellophobe". I admit that!. :rofl: I mean, I guess I don't really care if someone thinks that. Not like they're calling me a racist or something. I've been called a lot worse. ;-) No, I don't want a Duc, but hey, I don't hate 'em. They're quite nice eye candy, well, the 916 was. That was probably the most beautiful sportbike ever created in MY humble opinion. However, I don't want one.

edit--
it all boils down to hypocrites though, no matter what the subject, I just can't stand them....lol

Oh, yeah, seems I'm a hypocrite, too, though how that conclusion was obtained, fails me completely. :rolleyes: By definition, if I owned, say, a Munch Mammoth and called a Ducati expensive and eccentric, well, then I'd be a hypocrite. But, I don't own a Munch Mammoth, unfortunately, cause I could probably sell it for enough to give me another $500 a month in mutual fund monthly income, which sure would be nice right now.

I re-read this whole thread an NOWHERE did I call anyone a name, nor did I really say anything that onerous about Ducatis! :rolleyes: In fact, I defended 'em in some sentences! Go back and re-read every post I made and show me where I called anyone a name.
 
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DucGirl said:
Ahhh - I just felt my heart rate drop there....pictures are nice...

:)

there are plenty of bikes out there with handgards....namely BMWs....lol :)

Oh, by the way, those are known as "bark busters". If you ever did much off roading, you'd know why they're called that. :lol: DANG, those pine trees hurt!

One thing bark busters are really good for on a motard is crash protection. I need to order some. They're not the plastic fake ones that seem to be on that duc (might be metal behind 'em, though) and come on a lot of play bikes like the XR100s, but they're metal, clamp to the bar and stick in the bar end. When you crash, no risk of braking a lever. That's cool, cause you can jump back up and finish the race. I crashed twice like that this season and fortunately didn't brake a lever. I was holding the clutch in one crash, popped back up, never killed the motor, still made the box! :mrgreen: So, anyway, bark busters aren't just for trees. Not only that, they keep the cold wind off your gloved hands, which helps keep 'em warm on a morning like this one was.
 
Hehe, I never said you called anyone a name ;-)
 
Tumper said:
What a bunch of girls....no offense ladies.

Well, you and I don't care because we know that Triumph makes the best bikes anyway. It should be patently obvious to everyone by now! :mrgreen:

Jack Giesecke said:
...if asked my opinion on a motorcycle, I'll go at it from my point of view, not yours. As in, do "I" like it?

In the case of the Ducati Hypermotard, I don't think you were specifically asked for your opinion of it, were you Jack? :-P ;-)

Not that I actually take offense either. After all, posting up those pictures did constitute an implied invitation to comment on the bike, so you were within your rights. And nobody should let anyone else's opinion of something affect their own enjoyment or appreciation of it either, especially when it's a matter of so little consequence. I also think you offered a well-thought-out defense of your reasons for getting an SV650 instead of a Duc 620. Good points all. The M800 might be a better comparison for the SV performance-wise, but then the price differential becomes an even bigger factor.

Most of us will probably agree that with a Ducati the extra cost gets you style, not absolute performance or anything else tangible. So, being that for many people, the choice to get a Duc has a stronger basis in emotion to begin with, we probably shouldn't be surprised that those same people are emotional in their defense of it.
 
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I have a long list of bikes and cars that someday I would love to own. Then there's the list of bikes and cars that are way cool and nice to look at, but for someone else to own. This Motard is way cool, I would love to see it in person, but actually buy one? Not happening...that reality thing comes into play.

After spending all day chasing the sport bikes on my DRZ400s I was wishing it was the supermotard until we finally got on the gravel, then that reality thing came into play again and I remembered this was why I bought it. And when I dropped it at the gas station, the only thing I was worried about was getting it back upright again.

There just isn't one bike for every person or for every purpose, but there sure are a lot I can dream about.
 
I'm not sure that the words 'practical' and 'Ducati' would ever be used in the same sentence (although an argument could be made for the Multistrada relative to, say, the GS).

I took scratch's thread title to mean "check out this design." I'm not expert, but I know what I like, moto-design-wise, and from that perspective, this 'hypermarketed', er, sorry, 'hypermotard' bike is really quite visually appealing to me. I like clean lines, and this bike has 'em... :-)

Regarding some of the other interactions on this thread, well, might I suggest this or this. ;-)
 
Well single thumpers are great, but I wouldn't mind a twin in the stable. Easier on the vibes and usually last longer.

I'm thinking my old '96 KTM might have to get traded off to add one of those aprilia twins. They look light enough and the 450 twin should be able to go longer distances pretty well too.

That Duc is a pretty street bike though. Light, naked and good looking.
 
Dyna Sport said:
...Light, naked and good looking.
Are we talking about bikes or...? ;-)

It's hard not to describe most of the Ducati line-up in such terms. They're sexy beasts! 8-)
 
Was just checking out things at Ducati.com, and it looks like they're planning to install the new air-cooled 1100 motor in the Hypermotard when it goes into production, and it will come in two grades: regular and S-model. The S-model will have upgraded suspension consisting of Marzocchi 50mm forks w/Ti-nitride sliders and Ohlins rear shock.

111505top.jpg

Drool... :drool: :help:
 
Well then..... all opinions and viewpoints aside
Had I the money, probably would not own one.
Do the words 1100cc and motard belong together? Granted the Italian girl is hot, but those fat girls can't quite flick like a skinnier 400/625cc cousin.
Looks like the big displacement motard war is on. What's next, a gixx-powered tard?
I'll take 50hp and light weight please.
 
jetblue said:
What's next, a gixx-powered tard?


I doubt it. Although I can accept this v-twin as a oversized motard, the class is somewhat defined by the mid & light-weight singles that were first used to create this class of bikes. I don't know that an inline four will ever be accepted as a true motard.... maybe a twin won't either. :shrug:
 
Don't think Ducati really intended that anyone should take this for a true motard.
No, it's waaay beyond that! :-P

It's just a nice bike guys. Take it for what it is.
 
scratch said:
Don't think Ducati really intended that anyone should take this for a true motard.
No, it's waaay beyond that! :-P

It's just a nice bike guys. Take it for what it is.

Right on Paul. There's no way Duc ever intended this bike to be a true motard. Maybe HyperSTANDARD would have been a better name choice. Either name, this bike is hot.
 
I got on this thread and started reading backwards to get to the old posts.

The last few were yesterday and today. Then page after page I got back to 11/18, 11/17, 11/16 and I am thinking how the heck did all these posts get out here and me not see them.

Finally my brain kicks in and some of these posts are looking familiar and finally I realize that the first 66 posts were from November 2005.



Well going back did allow me to follow the link to Motorcycle Daily which had the following quote -

This bike offers what no Supermotard can: speeds exceeding 220KPH on the race track, fuel injection and 100 horsepower on only 175 kg of dry weight.

So I just wanted to comment to Paul - The new Speed Triple only weighs 14 more kg and has 31 more ponies.

However, if I won the lottery this one would most likely be in my very large, very crowded garage.

-

-
 
If I had money to burn, I'd own it simply for the coolness factor... it's probably the one bike I'd buy that I wouldn't ride much, maybe just down to the Starbucks to show up the guys on the supersport machines. :mrgreen:

Although, I could a bit a of hooliganism in it's future... :rider:
 
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