Why did you choose a Ducati?

[ducatiz]

cause I love starbucks coffee and I need an excuse to wear the fine looking dainese leathers and futuristic puma boots

i thought you liked fine italian velour pants

[stopintime]

Ten or so years ago a full exhaust 916/996 drove by - something happened in my pants.....

Never thought about it again - "too expensive".

At a dealer looking for an Aprilia Versus or something uninteresting like that, walked by a red S2R, stopped and stared, tested one with Termis and never doubted my instincts.

At first it was the sound and tank design, then it was the performance, then the modability, now it's about improving skills and bonding with my bike.

My local club and the DML/DMF has doubled the value of my ownership Ducatisti  [moto]

[77south]

Cause I was entering a freeway sometime around '95, and one blew past me with high pipes and a loud exhaust, (if i saw it again I could tell you what exhaust) and I knew I had to have one.  It took a little longer than I thought it would, but I got mine in 07.  Still need to get high pipes on it.

[LA]

I had like 4 friends who bought 750's in 1972.  The GT's were cool, but when Tom drove up on the yellow 750 sport and than later friend Bill with his Green Frame 750 Desmo SS (still has it) and I hear what sounded like the voice of God coming out of those Conti megaphones, and that layed down front cylinder looked like nothing else - engine a stress member of the frame, shit ....... I was done for.  Been a Ducati freak ever since.  

I love all motorcycles; really anything that's got grease and wheel on it, but Ducati is the top of the heap for me.  Ducati strikes a chord in me nothing else does.  Sort of a soulful, spiritual thing too.

LA

[ducatiz]

Ten or so years ago a full exhaust 916/996 drove by - something happened in my pants.....

front or back???  not that i need details, i think ppl are split into two camps when it comes to the right sounding exhaust:  wood vs skid marks.

[stopintime]

front or back???  not that i need details, i think ppl are split into two camps when it comes to the right sounding exhaust:  wood vs skid marks.

I heard it coming down the street - I was prepared, so no skidmarks. I could follow the noise for a long while, but I think it was
the driveby vibration that did it for me. Never happened with a Harley though.

I suppose I'm responsible for a few skidmarks when I catch up and blow by unexpecting cagers
Full throttle, 7,000 rpm in a dark tunnel 

[DW]

Ducati for me because of one bike, the 916.  I was entering high school just as it came out, and was also just getting hooked on street bikes.  My early experiences were all Harley.  Then I rode a sportbike (Ninja 600R) for the first time and was hooked.  Here was a bike that worked so much better on southern Missouri roads that I could not believe it.

I started reading Cycle World (High School library had a subscription that they kept just for me ).  When the 916 broke it was on the cover.  I knew I had to have a Ducati Superbike.  Test after test, it was the benchmark.  Whatever Japan Inc. threw at it was slower, even with a lot more power.  Of course, I still haven't had one.  For me the Monster is one step in the right direction.  My only intent was to get going on it again, and then after a few years trade up to a Superbike.  In fact, the Monster is always for sale if anyone is interested...

[CairnsDuc]

I had always known about Ducati, always loved the sound.

But then the first Monster was shown to the World in 93(?), and from that day forward I knew one would be mine, I looked and listened to them at every opportunity that I could, I read TOB/Magazines/books and other trying to learn the quirks and way things had to be done, and then finally in mid 07 I could afford one!  
I had been staring at them on the web and I was already to go and purchase a 695, I was not interested in the S4 models, don't like all the Radiators and stuff, Air cooled for me.

But then I spotted the S2R, always seen them on Ducati's website, but they never did anything for me, but now having seen one in the metal, I said to the wife 695 be damned and deposit was paid on the S2R 800 the next day.

In the time I waited (August deposit paid, December biked arrived) Ducati had upgraded the bike slightly, so no zip ties around the frame, wiring cleaned up and some other bits and pieces.

It's been in for some warranty claims, it's waiting for new engine cases at the moment (The paint has blistered) and we had no end of Drama's getting the Termi/ECU/Air Filter kit to work correctly.

But get it out onto the highway or Mountain range and start letting the Monster of the leash and quite frankly
I wouldn't have any other bike  

[Speedbag]

1. Artful engineering.

2. The sound.

3. The usable power/torque.

[Greg]

Back when I was in College around 1980, we rode a lot of the little Jap 2 strokes, like the RD400, great bikes for there time, but then one of the other kids shows up with a Super Sport. Oh my God that thing was fine, and after riding on the back of it I fell in love with Ducati's. I'll always remember how it cornered like it was on rails, versus the bending flexing and weaving of the crap frames on our bikes.

Fast forward about 3 decades and I find myself wanting to get back into bikes, and there was no substitute for the Ducati, and when I saw the Monsters I knew I had to get one. I almost mought an S4R, but luckily I listened to my gut and went with the S2R. My wallet and insurance has thanked my ever since  [moto]

[Dannyboy]

In high school I saw an 851.  Wanted a Ducati ever since.  Never really even thought about riding anything else.  20 years later I finally got one.  I ended up with a Monster because the superbikes are way too much bike for me right now.  I'm hoping to make my way up to the 848 or whatever the replacement for it may be in the next few years.

[Bun-bun]

Didn't want a plastic bike.

[Duki09]

I am waiting for my first Ducati to be shipped to the dealer this week.

No one who I know real well has a Ducati.  

I owned a Harley Davidson Sportster and a Kawasaki ZX6R, both which were decent bikes in their own way.

The reason I chose to get a Ducati and go with Monster 696 is because of several reasons and the high cost of maintenence was definately not one of them.   hahaha
I would prefer to get to get a Japanese bike as I think they are better bikes for the money, but here is why I went with the Italian bike at higher cost and maintenence.

1. Ducati dealers are basically the only motorcycle dealer I know of who actually have demo bikes and demo days for customers to test ride before they buy it.  being able to get on a Monster 696 and ride it around made me more attracted to it than one from a Japanese bike dealer where I can't test ride the bike to see if I would really like it or not. This relationship that Ducati dealers has with people looking to buy their first bike or another bike is a plus for me.

2. Already having owned a cruiser and a supersport bike, I wanted something more standard, yet still sporty this time and that lead to the more upright seating posture on the Monster streetfighter style bike.

3. I liked the looks and design of the Monster over other standard bikes.  Closest thing would be the new Suzuki Gladius coming out this year, but the features and performance on the Gladius doesn't come near the Ducati Monster.

4.  Did you ever see anyone look at a Ducati on the street and say it was a POS???......   Neither have I.

[scduc]

We all bought for the same reason. "It's who we are".

[grandpa nate]

Back in 97 a friend of mine had a 750 Monster.  You know only year silver budder.  Well he kept telling me to take it for a spin and I would just envision dollar signs flying through the air.  Well one day I broke down and rode the damn thing and have been hooked ever since.  It is everything.  The good.  The bad.  It is the whole experience.  I'm on 4th and there will be more because there is no cure, thankfully, for this disease.