ducatipaso.org

So, what stops people getting into ducati and buying their first italian bike?

For me, it was largely press reports of unrealibility, high purchase price, high service prices (and therefore presumably crippling non-service parts prices), and because of rarity a general lack of support in the mainstream motorcycle world meaning long journeys and inconvenience to find a specialist.

So what changed?

Well, after nearly 2 decades thinking about it, I saw a Paso 750 parked in the basement garage where I work and decided that I must try the ducati experience, especially as I always liked the look of the Paso.

Searching on ebay I found a cheap non-runner 907ie for an amount of money I could afford to loose if it turned out to be something so badly damaged that it would never run again.

About 6 months after my purchase, I had a fully serviced and running low mileage 907 that handled better than anything I had previously ridden, was comfortable, and is reliable. The guys who mot'd the bike last year said it ran better (even idle and smooth pick up) than any of the new Ducatis they service for customers.

So what would have made life easier?

As well as the tech FAQ, a howto section with pictures and explanations would help for things like setting the idle, valve shims, oil change, ignition timing etc. It would be nice to have had a one stop shop for such information. Maybe we should consider such things for the future as many of the recurring questions relate such items.

An off shoot of buying the ducati is that I now interact with my bikes such that none of them have seen the inside of a garage recently as I have started doing my own servicing/repairs. Its true, ducati do make mechanics out of motorcyclists, which turns out to be the other 50% of the pleasure in owning a bike!

The best way to have a dedicated tech FAQ is to use the search button on here, There is tons of info on here it just takes time to look through sometimes because of the volume of data now collected. Each bike section has it's own Tech info and at worst you could always ask the question as some one will answer. I keep taking pictures of my own rebuild but just can never find the time to load and post but will one day.

Something else and here is the beauty of Ducati and that is that it makes mechanics and designers out of bikers if you go on to youtube and paste in "Ducati rebuild" for instance and you will find numerous videos many of which will help, also type in "Ducati Belt change" and there are links to some very good Ducatitech videos.

There is one other thing to bare in mind and that is the job of our moderators and site manager who at the end of the day will have to set this up and manage it for us.

That basic Ducati Machine has sporned many followers be it the Monster Owners, Bevelheaven, Ducatisti etc etcc....all who will help and have knowledge somewhere in their memberships.

As Stiv has written, there is a BUNCH of info here if you search or just ask.

Check out Ducatisuite.com

Lots of info there too.