Bought my first Ducati in 1997, but I had been riding a Guzzi for 23 odd years before so the only change for me was that I was going everywhere a bit faster!
Yes i do, the engine and shaft drive is going through a re-build and a sand blast at the moment. Frame is being re-stoved as well. It was new when i bought it, a toss up between the Guzzi and a Halewood Rep.........................the Guzzi won........................well we all make mistakes lol.
Two weeks on and I'm loving the 848 Its a helluva lot easier to ride and more comfy the more I open her up (Phanarr Phanarr). She handles like a dream too. And everywhere I stop everybody comments on how beautiful she looks..........that NEVER happened to my jap bikes
Ducatis do have an organic look about them; like they were chipped out of a solid lump by an artisan, rather than tack-welded together by a robot.
Still finding out more from mine! Each ride teaches me a bit more about her abilities, and just how far off the pace I am!!!!
Like you I had a Pantah and agree it took no time to adjust, I upgraded from a Z250. Nearly 30 years later I still have it and ride it regularly. Every journey is an occasion, much more involving than any other bike I have had since. Was yours a 500 or 600?
It's an ST3 and I only got it in May! Injuries and crap English summer have restricted my time on it.
Yeah it has, and of course just when it got better, I had my op and putting a lid on was too bloody painful!
Mine was the later 500 with the 600 fairing and gearbox. So I had Steve Wynne stick 600 barrels and pistons on it. So it was a 600, but in the nicer blue colour (the 600 silver was a little dull). I had to sell it in the end before it killed me. I had an 851 and I started riding the Pantah as if it were an 851. But it didn't have 851 tyres or brakes and I seemed to continually thrash it and fall off it. Great pity. I loved that bike, but I love being alive even more. There is a pic of it on my album. I wanted it to be repainted in 900S2 gunmetal grey, but it all came out a bit brown. Once I had trashed it again, I spent a fortune having it all repainted standard again, with Contis. No sooner had I done that, than I bent it again. Arse.
Mine was a (dull silver) 600 but in 1999 the engine had given up and I had a 750ss engine put in to replace it, had the brakes from a 900ss put on too as the old ones seemed rubbish compared to what was then available. God know how much I have spent over the years but all worth it, I`d only have wasted it otherwise!
Lots of old photos from the 80`s and 90`s but nothing digital to post on here. I`ll get some taken over the next week or so and post them. Looks pretty much a standard bike though.
