Passed my test in 1964 at 16, lusted after a Mach1 which had just come out- but since I was still at school no way could I afford one...... Move on to 1996 and after over 20 years without a bike I came back to a 1995 900SS, followed by a 996, ST4S, 1200S Multistrada, 900Sie Monster, 1078SS Special, 1100S Multistrada. I now only have a 450RT which I have owned for 10 years and will never part with.
I was at my fathers today, I mentioned this thread, he said “well don’t forget your first ever bike was Italian, maybe that’s what started you off wanting a Ducati?”, then he searched out this rather poor old photo of the very machine! (Bonnet from his frogeye sprite in the background).
Was looking for a new sports tourer at the time. My wife suggested a Ducati.One minute I'm explaining how unreliable they are etc, the next she had me putting a deposit down. That was 19 years ago and not been without a Duc since.
Having had a few Japanese bikes previously my ‘exotica’ started with Moto Guzzi in my early 20’s . I was hankering after a Ducati but my dad who was in to bikes had read somewhere that Ducati were a great weekend machine if you didn’t mind being late or not arriving at all, due to their documented unreliability. Moto Guzzi however were totally solid if not a little agricultural. I opted for the Guzzi and what a bike it was, I totally loved it. All my friends were on whatever the latest jap ‘ had to have bike was’ at the time, I was running around on a V500 full of character. Then a few years later after a period of raising a family and non bike ownership I saw a red 900ss for sale and jumped on the opportunity. It was truly amazing, and more importantly it was reliable!
Yes, Malaguti Monte 49cc, more powerful than a FS1E , 6.9bhp I’ve recently read, but bigger and heavier, identical acceleration, slightly better top speed, I could crawl away from my mates on the straights at an indicated 67mph , more like 53mph I’d guess!, it was before the days of sat nav top speed verification of course.
Relatively late to the party with purchase of 1260s Mutley last year. Started on a Zundap step though aged 8, we were visiting family friends in Germany whilst on holiday. Father of the family though it would be amusing to drag this out of the barn and get it going expecting me and his son to maybe ride it up and down the private road to their farmhouse a few times. I was on it non stop for a good part of the four days we were there, my dad had to go to the petrol station and fill a jerry can with premix... My best mate's grandad ran a chain of bike shops and he was given, or sold for trade, a very ropey PX Jawa step though that we did up and rode around the local gravel pits. He then had an Excelsior 125 single that we killed by breaking the girder forks, next was a CZ 175 with some vague off road pretensions. This was a major step up for us but our eyes were opened when the flashy kid in the village turned up at the gravel pits on a Suzuki RM125. He let us have a go and it somewhat blew our minds... I worked in a local hotel to buy my FSIE at 16 and I was on the road, free and independent. A great feeling at that age. embarrassing but noteworthy Then a dull and boring Yamaha XS250, reliable but I insisted on taking it apart and putting it back together quite regularly. This was on L plates and coincided with me going to work in London so rode from Gloucestershire to Chiselhurst and back fairly regularly via the A40. Then graduated to a 350LC, then one of the early bikini faired YPVS Yamahas, toured France and Europe on that. At the same time I ran two Honda RS 250s as despatch bikes before getting a YPVS F model. After that a VFR750. At this time I visited my cousin who was staying I Latvia, this was around 1994. He leant me his 600 Monster for two weeks. Latvia, not long out of the Soviet Union at the time, had mostly Russian machines and the odd very ropey old Japanese smaller bike. The Monster was beyond exotic, I was stopped by the police 5 times in one day, only once for speeding (questionable on the spot fine of about £15), the other times just because they wanted to look at the bike... Then the best mate who I used to charge around the local gravel pits with got a MkII Le Mans. I then got a VTEC and he got a 996 around 2009. He's been subtly trying to convince me to get a Ducati since then and my ribbing about reliability of his Italian mistress backfired when my VFR broke down on our annual European tours more than once whilst his 996 has never missed a beat... A Multistrada was on the cards for me in 2016 but Fowlers of Bristol really cocked up the test ride to such an extent that as my local(ish) dealer I was put of and got an MV Turismo Veloce instead. here in the Picos but have also toured Alps and Provence, Brittany/Normandy, Dolomites and Pyrenees in the 2 and half years I owned it. Great bike but with a few cost cutting flaws that meant rain stopped play plus another electrical issue due to cheap/poorly developed components. All expensive to fix. Once out of warranty and with three failures on one tour it had to go. Shortly after purchase of the MV I did the Panigale Trackstar Day at Silverstone and as well as time on track with the 959 and 1299 rode the Multistrada Enduro on a road test, that wasn't for me but it did light the fire to consider a regular Mutley in the furture. The logical step was to revisit the Multistrada with the new 1260. Ducati Coventry obliged with the test ride this time and were very helpful save for the fact that they couldn't find someone to trade to the MV onto. DMC Stoke did though so here I am, very happy with my purchase thus far and using Coventry for servicing. Aside from the reliability of the MV being an issue it wasn't ideal for two up touring and my then new girlfriend was, and still is, fully up for trips away. my mate still has the 996, his forever bike and now approaching 40,000 miles So, not so much a Ducati journey but one that lead me to one eventually...
For me it was my Ducati 748E in 2006, it was a 2002 bike that I bought through a friend of a friend and tbh it was about a year too early from a financial perspective, I was always worried about it breaking down and the cost of the services as I was only 22 and not earning lots, I got a little spooked when the ECU got damp and started cutting out and miss-firing all the time and once fixed I sold it and bought a new ZX6R (2007). Not my finest decision. I came back in 2013 with an 848 Evo, then a 899 and now have another 848 Evo though which I think is a forever bike unless I can get hold of a 748R which is the only other small capacity Ducati I would rather have.
I was probably fifteen or so and my Dad had amongst many eclectic cars he'd owned, a Lotus Elite (though I do remember it being hideously unreliable). When he dropped it off at the dealers for yet another problem to be sorted out, the two sons of the owner of the dealership has a couple of Pantahs which were in their workshop. Despite an array of very exotic looking cars, I was blind to anything else but these two machines and it was twenty years later before I finally bought my first Ducati, a 748SPS, which pretty much blew every penny I had saved towards it. It's still possibly the most involving Ducati I have ridden, the V4S now being my tenth.
My journey started this year in July. I picked up my late brother in laws Streetfighter S. I knew what it meant to him and have taken upon myself to restore it to as new condition.. He had used it for a last ride and didn't have the energy to clean it down afterwards and so as he lived in Blackpool the finish on the frame had been badly damaged. I've blown it apart and had it powder coated. I'm almost finished the rebuild and it's been a lovely journey. The bike only has 1200 miles on it so there were no rusty fasteners or bodges to remove It's been fun and I am looking forward to it turning it's wheels once again under me this time. It's a keeper that's for sure.
I would lay good money on a lot of us having a fizzie in our history. Cheap, everything on it could be fixed with two spanner’s & a flathead screwdriver with absolutely no previous mechanical knowledge & as you say provided instant freedom. Those were the days!
Saw a guy in a petrol station ducati leathers and a 916 .I was on my yam at the time went home sold the bike and for a yellow 748 with terms never looked back had 6 dukes now never looked back 748,916 senna, 996, 998, 749s, now848 evo great bikes love them.
Back in the late 70's a friend had a 860gt,I had a honda, really loved his duke, bought mine in 1978, still got it, and just got round to restoring it took 15 months of head scratching but got there, after 1500 miles in 3 months last summer still love it.
I had a Triumph TT600, then 18 months ago I was involved in a car crash which buggered my neck up meaning that my arm would go numb when riding it. (Not good!) I needed a more upright riding position, so bought a Monster. Should have had a car crash 40 years ago.... If have never ridden anything else!
Back in the 70s, I was ready to step up from a 500 to a 750. Wanted something I could use for daily commuting, European travel, racing and hillclimbing. Narrowed it down to two possibles: Triumph Trident T150/T160 and Ducati 750 bevel. But the Trident went out of production, and they never made a "Slippery Sam" type production racing version - if you bought one you had to modify it yourself. Ducati however made the SS version of the 750 as an alternative to the GT and S versions, and fitted all the right bits as standard. So I settled on trying to get the Ducati. Mick Walker (of Wisbech) had a 750 SS greenframe for sale secondhand. When new it was Mick's personal ride and it had been raced in the TT and mainland meetings. I took a look at it and was impressed. Very impressed indeed. Looked right, sounded right, felt right. So I bought it, the first Ducati I had owned. I loved it, it fitted me perfectly, and it served me very well for years. Pleased to sell it for more than I paid. I wasn't to know that 40 years later greenframe prices would reach high six figure sums!
yip, that's what i thought it was,and yip, that's what i bought (cavalcone) as my first road bike, tho at 16 i wasn't v,road legal all the time i used it.
