Ducati questions
 

Thinking about dipping my toes into the Italian waters and don't know what to look, or more rather lookout for.

I like the Panigale, Monster S, and the Supermotard bikes, possibly might be interested in a Strada. I know, broad range there. Don't know which at this point but not gonna do any long hauls. Just something for fun every once in a while

Newer = better? Any specific engines/years to stay away from?

Having always had Japanese bikes and many thousands of care free miles I've always shied away from Ducs. Guess I'm still a little scared to buy something that might leave me sitting alongside the road like them, umm, er, Harleys, lol.

Anyway, tell me what you know.

I have never had a Duc leave me stranded. Not once. And the modern bikes maintenance schedule is far less frequent than in the past.

The only call out I would have it probably not related to bikes you are looking at. The old 916/996 superbikes (including the 748) had thin chroming the rocker arm rollers. That could lead to scoring on the cam....then bad things could happen.

If you want a comfortable, capable modern Duc, don't discount the SuperSport.

If you are willing to look at older bikes, check out the early 2000s fuel injected Monsters. They still had the full trellis frame. Lots of grunt from the 900 twin.

Stay clear of the bikes with the plastic fuel tanks.

Yup. Good call out.

To be clear, the modern bikes have plastic tanks under the skins. There was a period of time in the mid 2000s when the entire tank was plastic. The ethanol in US fuel would cause the tanks to expand, and eventually not fit into the frame. There were a variety of treatments for it, but given the oceans of bikes available, why fiddle with it?

I like the 2V air-cooled Monsters; simple, classic, well-proven design, easy to work on. Wants frequent (15K/3 year) belt changes, but they're cheap/easy to do.

Dirt cheap used. I bought an immaculate unmolested 900 with 8K-odd miles for 3K. I rate the EFI ones - but before they started using an electronic keys with the immobilizer tied to the ECU and the LCD clocks.

Which limits you to 2000-2002 MY; zero nanny aids, but does give you a good stiff frame (the later ones are stiffer still, no idea why you'd need that unless your last name was Rossi or Fogarty or something), good suspension (great suspension if you spring for the S with adjustable forks and a better rear shock) and brakes so good you'll have to train yourself to only use 2 fingers.

The 900 gives 80 HP (+10% more torque/HP everywhere with a DP ECU/flash, open airbox and DP mufflers - this also restores all the sub-3000 grunt that emissions control robbed you of, makes all thoughts of lowering 1st gear unnecessary and makes riding in town much more fun). You can lift the front wheel on throttle at the top of 2nd just by carelessly rolling it on too fast. Drop the front in the clamps and jack the rear suspension hoop by 1" if you want quicker steering still - stock is not exactly slow...

Riding position is basically "superbike bars with rearsets"; pretty comfortable with any wind to lean on at all.

If you want 120+ HP and nanny aids, disregard everything I said. Any faster than this is outside the "fun" envelope for me. A buddy had a monster S4 and ended up riding his 750SS all the time instead because it was much more fun than trying to keep the front wheel on the ground.

My car has better power-to-weight than the M900, but it's much harder to approach the limits on the Duke, because you'll just be on one wheel or the other.

Especially if you fit the DP ECU (and mufflers/airbox mod). Otherwise, 1st is a tad tall and throttle response a little anemic/touchy under 3000. With the DP setup, it pulls like a train from the (endearingly lumpy) idle, with no clutch feathering required...

I love my 1992 Super Sport. Great street bike. Plenty of power, plenty of low end grunt, makes an absolutely lovely sound while doing it. Probably 80hp on a good day. I've honestly never had much use for bike with more than 100hp. I don't need to get the front wheel off the ground going 50mph.

Both of my 916s, including my 916SPS, could be ridden hard all day long and keep the front end planted. Rider position has a lot to do with that...

One of my kids had a 1098 or 1198 that kept setting itself on fire. Somewhere around the 2010 model year, give or take, I don’t remember exactly. Stay clear of whatever that was.

For the most part, yup. For a decent cruiser with a more tolerable/comfortable (upright) riding position, but still very sporty/capable, I'd look at something like a new-ish (2017+) Monster 1200s. Much more refined in several areas than the older variants, and loaded with all sorts of goodies: Ohlins front and rear, single-sided swing-arm, quick-shifter (up and down), lots of tech goodies (ABS, traction control, wheelie control, etc.), custom-izable riding modes, a nice big TFT display, etc.

They rip, and the handling, sound, and torque will give you perma-grin.

YMMV...

I knew I came to the right place to ask. Thanks all! Keep it coming.