Ducati Monster Forum

Well i sold my Italian girl this morning and i am already feeling a little more empty then when i rode her into work. But what can i say, she was a high maintenance mistress who i couldn't afford to please any longer.  :-[ I sent her off to a good home, and i hope she will be treated right.

As for all of you guys on here I offer a fond farewell and a gracious thank you for all of your help and advice these past few years regarding these amazing machines. This is an outstanding group of guys, and even better riders and mechanics. It will truly be missed! So i hope the best for you all, ride safe and god bless! 

are you stopping riding altogether?...

No, i plan on stepping over to a bike with less maintenance costs and is less exotic. probably a honda or suzuki sports bike, however an old friend of mine was killed last week on decker canyon (a road i frequently ride), so the reality of our mortality has been brought up in my mind, and im wondering if i may take a step towards the more conservative cruiser/Harley style, rather than the more race oriented rice rockets. But at least at this point in my life Ducati's are just to expensive to own with the mileage and wear that i put on them. 

You don't have to leave either because you're not riding a Duc, or even if you don't ride at all.

Stick around.  [thumbsup]

I'm sure I speak for everyone on here when I say I'm very sorry to hear about your friend's passing.  Hope you can move forward and find the strength to keep riding if it's still what you love to do. and there's no reason to leave the board, even it you put the bike away for good.  If you go for the Harley, you should have a look at that xr1200 sportster....the thing is swweeeeet.

If you don't mind my asking what sort of Ducati were you riding that cost so much to maintain.

+1

No need to go away, several folks here don't own Ducati's. Also I love me some Harley's, but if you think they are cheaper to maintain, you couldn't be more wrong.  ;)

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JNgH2kk8pu4/SdW4Mj2CriI/AAAAAAAAC9g/3shLUx2n340/s400/big_blora_xr1200_2009_01.jpg)

or

(http://bikerscafeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/IMG_0944-540x360.jpg)

probably still significantly quieter than an open-piped duc...

PSSSSSSSSST  Check out some Guzzis....  [thumbsup]

High maintenance?

What are you asking Guzzi or Duc?

A Guzzi has about 6k valve adjustments, but they're simple screw/locknut and hanging out in the breeze, plus the shaft drive means no chain maintenance just an oil change at that same 6k interval.


Obviously a Duc is a bit more involved.

you make it sound as easy as an older airhead R series Beemer...like an R1100R for example...

also curious as to which Duc... My S2R1k has 46k miles (bought her brand spankin' new) and hasn't cost me too much in maintenance....

Those are only easy until the valve cover bolts strip the threads out of the cheese BMW calls aluminum.

You mean an older oilhead Beemer (airheads were great, but required a little more frequent attention) - ABSOLUTELY - actually even easier.  [thumbsup]

I used to have to sit on the floor to adjust the valves on my R1100RS (or my R80/7, or my R65).

But I could sit on a rolling garage stool when I adjusted the valves on my Guzzi California or my Guzzi Breva 1100 because on a Guzzi the teats don't sag lol.   [laugh]

Ironically I've got a new Guzzi V7 Stone on order BECAUSE it's the closest modern bike you can buy to what the Airheads WERE (and would have become if BMW hadn't developed the whole oilhead series and instead had just installed EFI on the airheads).

Thank you for the comments guys, But my bike was an 01' m750 carby. There were alot of issues that I inherited with the bike that have been nickle and dimming over the span of time that ive owned her. But i was just coming up on a full tune with valve adjustment service with alot of other little stuff that needed to be dealt with to really get her back to the point where riding her wasnt at the detriment of some other function of the bike. But just alot of little stuff with big value. Im not saying that i will never own a Duc again...BECAUSE I WILL! [thumbsup] its definitely apart of me now...but at this point in my life as a 24 year old making 30K/yr trying to survive in southern Cali...even a thousand dollar service a year can really cut into my emergency funds. And i probably wont go the Harley route either due to cost...but we will see what happens...I think i will keep my profile on here after all of your accepting posts about bikes other than ducs :) ...but its just difficult to see all of the amazing bikes on here without bringing up the memories of mine...but we will see what the future holds!