Why did you start buying/buy, a Ducati ?

In a word, in response to the OP’s question,

Foggy.

I think Foggy probably did more for Ducati sales than any other single factor.

I’d had a stream of Jap 2 strokes all Suzuki thanks to Barry Sheen then had a Yam Genesis FZ1000R exup yet it was always Foggy and his dukes I was following in BSB & WSBK.

Then a couple of Ozzie lads took over an old shop in Twickenham and opened it as a sandwich/deli shop. It was right next to our office so obviously we tried it, the sandwiches were great. Two weeks after opening, 2 brand new red 916’s appear outside the shop. Beautiful. Sex on wheels. To see them in the flesh as opposed to on tv was an eye-opener. I wanted one. When I got my next bonus I was going to buy one. As it happens my bonus didn’t run to a 996 which was the then current model, nor to insuring it, especially as I now had to rent a garage as there was no way I was going to leave that parked on the street in SW London overnight. It had to be a 748 which of course had to be in yellow😄. I still have it 21 years later👍.

Since then others have joined it 😄 with only one leaving it 😕. IMO opinion whether you’re male or female, ride or not, Ducati has the most beautiful bikes on the road to look at (well, fuglies aside) and definitely the brand that has the most soul👍 and desirability.

As for the lads in the sandwich shop, sadly they closed down within the year and went back to Oz😕. I have a feeling they blew the loan they got to start the business on the bikes and then wondered why they had insufficient cash in the business🙁.
 
West Cork Paul said:
In a word, in response to the OP’s question,

Foggy.

I think Foggy probably did more for Ducati sales than any other single factor.

I’d had a stream of Jap 2 strokes all Suzuki thanks to Barry Sheen then had a Yam Genesis FZ1000R exup yet it was always Foggy and his dukes I was following in BSB & WSBK.

Then a couple of Ozzie lads took over an old shop in Twickenham and opened it as a sandwich/deli shop. It was right next to our office so obviously we tried it, the sandwiches were great. Two weeks after opening, 2 brand new red 916’s appear outside the shop. Beautiful. Sex on wheels. To see them in the flesh as opposed to on tv was an eye-opener. I wanted one. When I got my next bonus I was going to buy one. As it happens my bonus didn’t run to a 996 which was the then current model, nor to insuring it, especially as I now had to rent a garage as there was no way I was going to leave that parked on the street in SW London overnight. It had to be a 748 which of course had to be in yellow😄. I still have it 21 years later👍.

Since then others have joined it 😄 with only one leaving it 😕. IMO opinion whether you’re male or female, ride or not, Ducati has the most beautiful bikes on the road to look at (well, fuglies aside) and definitely the brand that has the most soul👍 and desirability.

As for the lads in the sandwich shop, sadly they closed down within the year and went back to Oz😕. I have a feeling they blew the loan they got to start the business on the bikes and then wondered why they had insufficient cash in the business🙁.
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It might have been part of the plan lol, no money to buy a 916, so business loan instead for sandwich shop , then quickly buy two 916’s and off back to the sun😂😂
 
West Cork Paul said:
In a word, in response to the OP’s question,

Foggy.

I think Foggy probably did more for Ducati sales than any other single factor.

I’d had a stream of Jap 2 strokes all Suzuki thanks to Barry Sheen then had a Yam Genesis FZ1000R exup yet it was always Foggy and his dukes I was following in BSB & WSBK.

Then a couple of Ozzie lads took over an old shop in Twickenham and opened it as a sandwich/deli shop. It was right next to our office so obviously we tried it, the sandwiches were great. Two weeks after opening, 2 brand new red 916’s appear outside the shop. Beautiful. Sex on wheels. To see them in the flesh as opposed to on tv was an eye-opener. I wanted one. When I got my next bonus I was going to buy one. As it happens my bonus didn’t run to a 996 which was the then current model, nor to insuring it, especially as I now had to rent a garage as there was no way I was going to leave that parked on the street in SW London overnight. It had to be a 748 which of course had to be in yellow😄. I still have it 21 years later👍.

Since then others have joined it 😄 with only one leaving it 😕. IMO opinion whether you’re male or female, ride or not, Ducati has the most beautiful bikes on the road to look at (well, fuglies aside) and definitely the brand that has the most soul👍 and desirability.

As for the lads in the sandwich shop, sadly they closed down within the year and went back to Oz😕. I have a feeling they blew the loan they got to start the business on the bikes and then wondered why they had insufficient cash in the business🙁.
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That’s just taken me back to the heady days of WSB, boiling hot days at Brands watching Foggy and Whit.
Huge crowds waiting for the booming Ducati’s to blast past.
One year it was so hot the road outside Brands was melting!!
I think I was riding a SRAD around that time, we’d hammer back home to the pub after the racing.
Good days.
 
When I was much much younger I was always into bikes, motocross as thats what you aspired to as a 13 year old and a mate has a YZ100, another mate got a scrapped TS50ER to rebuild and sell so I said I'd have it in off road form and helped him (loosely) build it up. Parents wouldn't allow it so I bought a pair of skis instead. Another mate bought the ER so I still git shots of it as he put it on the road. Then I started driving cars and some time passed.
Once I finished edjikashon I nearly bought a 125 bht didn't as I was imminently moving with work and wanted a road style bike but the sales guy said, ooh, no, you're too tall..... More time passed and I was walking past another mates garage when he appeared to get some paint, we chatted as he opened the door and I spied something familiar, a fully faired 1979 900 SS (think MHR but red only) more chat and he started it up, he was also keeping a mates white frame belt drive 900 SS. Had to have one after that 👍
Borrowed a yam DT125, sat test and went looking for something 'sensible'. Brought a 900 monster 😁
 
Watching Foggy and a trip to the Bike Show when the 916 was shown (1992?) - it was so beautiful but could hardly get near it because of the crowds
Later went into my local Ducati dealer (CMW in Chichester) who had a 750SS - took it for a test ride and sat it on the driveawy at home just listening to it
 
Never wanted one, Suzuki was my bike of choice, was looking for an SV1000, started looking at Cagivas with the Suzuki engine, looking on TradeMe.co.nz saw a Ducati SS800ie, in Yellow, went to view, the moment he rolled it out of the garage I knew I had to have it.
 
I bought my first Ducati on the 9th December 1976. A brand new 806GTS. The first brand new bike I ever bought. The next brand new one was the Scrambler classic I bought in May 2015. Quite a lot of previously used ones in between though.
 
I bought a 900ss when my gf decided to call it a day and buggered off
I though fuck it I’m buying a bike, a loud red bike.
had a few bikes before mostly Japanese with the exception of Moto Guzzi and an old NSU!
Since it’s been Ducati all the way
S4 monster, S4rs monster, and a 1200 Multistrada,
Gone full circle and back on a red loud 900ss which I bought from the very friendly David ( @Dukesox ) last year, the reg plate ends in the letters XGF which I find quite fitting!
 
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A buddy of mine left a 996 with me to valet and also get used to the idea of no longer owning a ducati, it was around 7 years ago he had outgrown it, all 22 stone of him so had to head down the panzer route!! I fucking hated ducs noisey twin cylinder dry clutch rattley bastards! I was always an IL4 jap owner but while cleaning and polishing his pride and joy I fell in love and to my shame started an affair with a mates bike to this day he reckons it would have been easier if it was his wife 😂 so the seed was planted!! Should have bought it at 4500 euro it was a bargain even if the wrong colour! I'm the skitz and I'm addicted to Ducati
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Noobie said:
Feel free to throw in your own experience , reasons for and not or whatever floats your boat.

When I first passed my motorcycle test, it followed many years of riding off road and many years as a pillion with others. Being relatively young at the time, almost every penny was about building up the family home,business and some goodies and not owning a bike.

Then on the day of my test, I passed at 1pm and by 3pm was on a 1993 metallic purple and orange zzr1100 d1. It was on the A12 that I learnt my experience in aerodynamics and quantum physics was saddly lacking, when I experienced speed vs buffeting from a lorry, nearly equals central reservation and brown pants. Needless to say poop isn't as easy to get out of leather trousers on the inside than textile trousers

Over the years bikes varied, honda, suzuki, kawasaki etc and mostly sports tourers due to my 6ft 3 and 18 stone frame. I deliberatly avoided sports bikes and, italian bikes. We did though tour greatly throughout europe following WSB and Foggy and often staying in europe touring between races, I remember Oschersleben one weekend then onto Assen the next, I also remember valencia when troy corser rode Aprilia's first entry back into wsb

Now to the thread title. I'd just sold my hyper sports tourer as touring was become a distant memory but after a few months the itch without a bike needed scratching. Now, having invested much miles, money and time in following ducati throughout europe and supporting their wsb prowess, a ducati became available for my tight arse budget of £2,500. The budget was that low because over the years I had learnt for me, the fun is in the miles, and not the latest number plate

That Ducati was only to be ridden by gods who were comfortable in their sexuality, had more testosterone than a tyranosaurus rex and none of that metrosexual shit pussies.

For the time I had it, other than a gsxr 750 k7 (the best all round bike of all time), the multistrada ds1000 was the best fun, pound for pound of any motorcycle I have ever ridden or owned. It gained attention where ever it went , some even chuckled till asked have you ridden one? Normally they said no, it's fugly ( they tended to be the same people who would shop at waitrose and look down at people who shopped at aldi or lidl).

I would offer one or two mates who had insurance, "well ride the fekka and thrash the tits out of then come back and tell me what you think". They always came back with the same opinion, "what a cracking bike to ride, sharp to handle, leans in lovely, is great fun to get the best out of , but feck, it's ugly"., I saw their wimmin, they were not great in the taste stakes.:cool:

Now, having been Ducati tainted, mostly because of foggy and his dominance in wsb, Hodgson a bit, Toseland a little, Bayliss and Xaus, I have a wish to put a bike in the lounge and it's likely to be a ducati (or an mv augusta which is sheer porn but long distance unrideable )

So for now, I give you , the true ducati thinking out of the box motorcycle before the sanitised Germans took over, Ladies and gentle men, the true ducati Icon




DUCATI MULTISTRADA 1000 (2004-2009) Motorcycle Review | MCN
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Yes Noobie, my first Ducati the original Multistrada. It took some stick for the look of the front end I know. I had a great time riding this model. The concept was so original don't you think?
 
I bought my Multi DVT after doing a few Euro tours with a mate riding one. His MPG and fuel station stops were far better than mine. He also never climbed off with aching bits like I sometimes did. Seeing his dash display and finding out his bike had cruise etc, was the tipping factor. I just have not had the chance to get mine on the continent this year :(
 
As many kids of the 80,s started my riding off-road
Have been touring since coming back to biking in the oo;s.

Sort of admired Ducati,s but it was Aprilias that I like more and were cheaper
But after seeing the hyper at the Brum bike show I thought,I,m having one of them
Took over a decade but now I do
 

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Had got divorced, sold house, was living with my brother and instead of paying off a loan said bollocks to it and decided to get a bike again as previous one had become a fitted kitchen! Was looking at Bandit 1200's and paid a visit to Jack Lilley's in Shepperton just looking and lurking in the corner was a 900SS that spoke to me. Had a test ride and that was it. Still have it now 25 years on and started doing trackdays on it but decided to retire it from that after an excursion through a gravel trap at Silverstone! :rolleyes: Decided to get something I don't care so much about for the track.

Have also run a 998 and an original Multistrada, yes their ugly but great fun. The 998 was dangerous on the road, so easy to go fast on licence was at serious risk.
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Well at the risk of being lynched I’ve never wanted a Ducati ever!Never been without bikes since I was a kipper but a Ducati? Blah! Horrible things! Then the 916 came out and I had to admit she was a stunner but a v twin? Hmm! Never ridden one,then got the chance to ride a mates 749r! That confirmed it! Gorgeous looking but what I ain’t is a v twin lover! Add in all the usual stuff about em being expensive and going bang and that made my mind up! Then out comes the V4r! That was that! Had to have one,of all the bikes I think I’ve ever had it is by far the most amazing and the prettiest like Beverly macca in a sports bra👌
 
Philm said:
Well at the risk of being lynched I’ve never wanted a Ducati ever!Never been without bikes since I was a kipper but a Ducati? Blah! Horrible things! Then the 916 came out and I had to admit she was a stunner but a v twin? Hmm! Never ridden one,then got the chance to ride a mates 749r! That confirmed it! Gorgeous looking but what I ain’t is a v twin lover! Add in all the usual stuff about em being expensive and going bang and that made my mind up! Then out comes the V4r! That was that! Had to have one,of all the bikes I think I’ve ever had it is by far the most amazing and the prettiest like Beverly macca in a sports bra👌
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V twin, resistance is futile 👀 😁
 
I'd had a few shonky old riceburners in the 80's but drifted away from bikes in the 90's, kids, mortgage and stuff.
Started competing off road in the noughties and that lead to a Hinckley Triumph Thruxton and back on the road in 2006.
2009 saw my first Ducati, a 1993 900ss, bought on nothing more than I like the rear quarter view and the exhausts, no test ride just pay and go, the ride home was an eye opener. That bike took me to France and Germany and quite a few trackdays without ever missing a beat.
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Bought my 749 December 2014, similar to the 900ss, I liked the rear with the twin exhausts, obviously I'm a bum man not a boob man 😉
I first saw it in the Summer, £4200. Waited and watched it until December, now £3500. Blagged a test ride in the cold and rain, hated it, the screen cut the view of the rev counter in half and it was high at the rear and very on it's nose, on top of that, I couldn't even get a hot drink when I stopped. I took it back and left under a black cloud, thinking that's me done with sportsbikes. It still niggled me a week later so I thought if I can get it cheap enough, a few sunny miles might be all I need, so, I offered them £2500, they said £3300. We ended up at £2900 delivered, bought as seen. It sat in the garage until April 2015, a double bubble screen and a few sunny miles and she's the best bike I've ever had, defo a keeper.
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