New member from USA
Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:20 am
Hey everyone,
I'm Jess, just joined the other day. A dealer close to me has had a 750 for about a year. I showed my boss (at the time) and we geeked out over it for a while; it's nice to have a friend who feels the same way about 80s sport bikes. A few weeks ago I saw it was still listed, and today I ended up in the area and checked it out. I ended up putting a deposit on it so I can go back to them with more thorough questions and see what else I need to figure out. If Thursday isn't disgusting I'm going to see if I can head down and take it for a spin. If all goes well, then Saturday morning is the day. Phew. The bike was on a battery tender when I got there, and I was there randomly since I am never in that area so I didn't get to ask all the questions I was compiling. etc, etc.
It will be my first Duc, right now I've been on a Ninja 250 for a few years and have taken it to a few novice track days. Really getting to open it up has been awesome. The 750 seems to be a good choice for the curves and bends we have in my neck of the woods, I don't need anything that goes too fast. My Ninja is totally bullet proof and seriously forgiving. So it will be fun to get on something that will force me to have my head about me.
I'll post some pictures below but I suppose I'd like to pick yer brains about the dry clutch and some other things. It may be me overthinking, but I'll get right to it.
- I tend to always be engaged in first gear when stopped, even in traffic unless it's packed and not moving, at which point I usually shut the engine off. Is this ok to do with a dry clutch or should I keep it in neutral when stopped?
- I read a lot about dry clutches being a bit finicky getting into neutral. When I'm in my car I will usually lift off the clutch until it begins to catch, then shift+clutch to get into neutral. Is this effective for this as well?
- As far as valves, carbs, electric goes. Is there a way for me to tell if they have been upgraded (just by looking, or maybe taking some plastic off)? I looked through some of the older posts but didn't really find anything. I'm not a total gear head, but my eyes are basically seek and destroy if I know what I'm looking for and at.
- Anything else a newb Duc rider should be aware of? Esp for a 30-something? Will it want to sleep as much as I do??
- What are some other pictures I can take that would be helpful if I do need some troubleshooting (some of the ones I have now are at really weird angles, I was excited, go figure).
- Would it be wise to take it to a Ducati dealer and have them do a look over? The dealer now is a Kawasaki dealer, but has a mechanic who has a few Ducatis so he worked on it. I've been using them for a few years here and there, so I trust them as far as that goes.
- Sales guy said it would definitely make it the ~40 minute trip home, but said "not two hours" when I joked about taking it to a work function in two weeks... so, is there a limit to how often I should be running it, and should I limit my distance? I have a ten minute commute to both jobs and school. Should I take a longer route so I can warm the engine all the way up before shutting it off?
- Anything else I should note switching from wet to dry clutch?
- I'm assuming with the 10:1 compression I'm looking at premium fuel? And should I be using non-synthetic oil?
I know... I ask a lot of questions
So, what I DO know about the bike is, it had two POs but the first didn't ride it; basically bought it, then sold it. Second owner babied the heck out of it (see below). He was going to ship it overseas but I guess the dealer bought it from him instead. The dealer I'm going through is super thorough, I mean the bike is just so clean and well... the price is kinda what did it for me, I guess.
Out the door with temporary tags, title and taxes: $1968.42 How did I do??
Now, the reason you're all here: (High res: https://imgur.com/a/KXwAF
O yeah did I mention full original tool kit? (Note: I'm scattered brained and totally did not get a picture of the set open, go me)
I'm Jess, just joined the other day. A dealer close to me has had a 750 for about a year. I showed my boss (at the time) and we geeked out over it for a while; it's nice to have a friend who feels the same way about 80s sport bikes. A few weeks ago I saw it was still listed, and today I ended up in the area and checked it out. I ended up putting a deposit on it so I can go back to them with more thorough questions and see what else I need to figure out. If Thursday isn't disgusting I'm going to see if I can head down and take it for a spin. If all goes well, then Saturday morning is the day. Phew. The bike was on a battery tender when I got there, and I was there randomly since I am never in that area so I didn't get to ask all the questions I was compiling. etc, etc.
It will be my first Duc, right now I've been on a Ninja 250 for a few years and have taken it to a few novice track days. Really getting to open it up has been awesome. The 750 seems to be a good choice for the curves and bends we have in my neck of the woods, I don't need anything that goes too fast. My Ninja is totally bullet proof and seriously forgiving. So it will be fun to get on something that will force me to have my head about me.
I'll post some pictures below but I suppose I'd like to pick yer brains about the dry clutch and some other things. It may be me overthinking, but I'll get right to it.
- I tend to always be engaged in first gear when stopped, even in traffic unless it's packed and not moving, at which point I usually shut the engine off. Is this ok to do with a dry clutch or should I keep it in neutral when stopped?
- I read a lot about dry clutches being a bit finicky getting into neutral. When I'm in my car I will usually lift off the clutch until it begins to catch, then shift+clutch to get into neutral. Is this effective for this as well?
- As far as valves, carbs, electric goes. Is there a way for me to tell if they have been upgraded (just by looking, or maybe taking some plastic off)? I looked through some of the older posts but didn't really find anything. I'm not a total gear head, but my eyes are basically seek and destroy if I know what I'm looking for and at.
- Anything else a newb Duc rider should be aware of? Esp for a 30-something? Will it want to sleep as much as I do??
- What are some other pictures I can take that would be helpful if I do need some troubleshooting (some of the ones I have now are at really weird angles, I was excited, go figure).
- Would it be wise to take it to a Ducati dealer and have them do a look over? The dealer now is a Kawasaki dealer, but has a mechanic who has a few Ducatis so he worked on it. I've been using them for a few years here and there, so I trust them as far as that goes.
- Sales guy said it would definitely make it the ~40 minute trip home, but said "not two hours" when I joked about taking it to a work function in two weeks... so, is there a limit to how often I should be running it, and should I limit my distance? I have a ten minute commute to both jobs and school. Should I take a longer route so I can warm the engine all the way up before shutting it off?
- Anything else I should note switching from wet to dry clutch?
- I'm assuming with the 10:1 compression I'm looking at premium fuel? And should I be using non-synthetic oil?
I know... I ask a lot of questions
So, what I DO know about the bike is, it had two POs but the first didn't ride it; basically bought it, then sold it. Second owner babied the heck out of it (see below). He was going to ship it overseas but I guess the dealer bought it from him instead. The dealer I'm going through is super thorough, I mean the bike is just so clean and well... the price is kinda what did it for me, I guess.
Out the door with temporary tags, title and taxes: $1968.42 How did I do??
Now, the reason you're all here: (High res: https://imgur.com/a/KXwAF
O yeah did I mention full original tool kit? (Note: I'm scattered brained and totally did not get a picture of the set open, go me)