Ducati 400M?

[H0LESH0T]

Anyone here owned or heard feedback on the Ducati 400M? I know most people are going to say get the 600 as it is also LAMS approved but I can't see myself really requiring a bike bigger than 400cc as work isn't to far away and im not exactually a big person (5' 10, 63kg) and the 600's are a few $ more. Are parts easy to obtain and can only Ducati dealers do serving on them or must stores can?

[goldFiSh]

the M400 is a grey import from Japan - they only produced the M400 for Asian countries that have restrictions on displacement. The 400 was never sold here. From memory, it's basically a 600 component wise, so you should have no real issues with parts..

See the servicing thread above (is a sticvky thread at the top) - there are a number of people who service ducatis who are not dealers as such - but yes, there are details which make it more specialised to service than a Japanese bike.

Have you ridden it? I've heard that it's a bit underwhelming, but them again, I am _exactly_ a big person :-)

Good luck and happy hunting..

[mattyvas]

That's pretty much all the info you mightnneed on buying a grey M400
All I'd add being a person who started on a LAMS 620 is that underwhelming is pretty kind.
Even though you are saying you might not need much power and don't ride far.
This bike is a a sleeved 600 as said, so it is carrying the same sort of weight as the bigger capacity bike with less grunt.

My dimensions are pretty much the same as what you've said. So I'm talking from experience.

Cheers
Matty..

[DUCMONROB]

IMO I think the 400 grey imports are over priced compared to a local 600/620. One thing to be wary about the Jap imports is these bike have been sitting in a holding yard for a number of years out in the open before some one has decided to purchase the bikes and ship them here to this country for re sale.

Rob

[koko64]

Get the LAMS 600. You want to be able to accelerate out of the way of danger.
And yeah, I got a Japanese M900 and I had to repaint the frame and engine due to all the acid rain from it sitting in the holding yard.

[brad black]

i've serviced a couple.  in victoria they come through a company that may or may not be part of peter stevens - they've all had new dunlops fitted and appear to have some service work done.

they're 5 speeds, which is a bit odd as the 350/400 from 1991 and 92 was the 6 speed that ended up in the 800.  the 1994 on 600 is more accurately a bored and stroked version of that engine, which is why it has the small valves and chamber and dished piston to drop the comp.

they're slow (as expected), but otherwise quite good i thought (in a 600m way).  they can be very flat off a closed throttle when cold.  to the point of hardly being able to rev them.  the carbs have very soft springs - almost jet kit soft, so you'd expect the slides to lift faster which may be part of the problem or the lack of manifold vacuum due to lack of capacity may also not help.  one i did was a lot better according to the owner after i richened the idle mixture from 1% co to 5% co, but i thought it still had a problem at 5%!  once they get going they're ok tho, i was quite surprised how well they went actually for what they are.  the 400ss tacho was redlined at 11,000, but i doubt they'd go that high (unless you shifted down instead of up).

generally the same as a 600 of the era (2001) i assume.  allegedly some bits aren't - bob at ducati city said he supplied parts to the importers based on 2001 400m parts list and they were wrong for some reason.  they looked pretty similar to me.  possibly them just not knowing the specifics of what they were looking at.

they seem expensive for what they are, but there also seems to be very few local delivery 600 around for sale now they're lams and there's lots of these in japan.  and anything lams is pricey.  my nephew just paid over $7k for a new yamaha 125 baby r6 thing.  man that must be slow, i know how much work a mito was and it had top end.

personally i'd like to try the 620 cam profile (basically inlet closing 15 degrees earlier, plus a little more lift) ground onto the 600/750 cam the 400 has, and/or make an inlet manifold that runs them on one carb only.  i think that'd have to help.  might help a 600 too, you never know.

[H0LESH0T]

Thanks for your replies, might look into the 600.