I was thinking earlier about When I was first bitten by the Ducati bug... Thought it would be interesting to find out what first grabbed you guys too.. Mine was a bit weird really.. I hadn't ridden bikes since the 80s and then it was jap bikes.. Had never taken my test either as you could ride 250cc bikes back then on L plates.. We went to Snetterton totally out of the blue, a BSB meet just to try and entertain my young Son at the weekend.. I really had no favourites or anything as I really knew nothing about any of the riders or their teams as I'd totally lost touch with it all.. As soon as the first Ducati went past ( not that I really knew what one was as I had to look in the programme to find out what that amazing machine was ) I had to find out more.. Seeing Hislop Hodgson and Reynolds powering out of the corners so much quicker than the Jap bikes was incredible.. The sound, the twin underseat pipes the really high foot pegs it just grabbed me.. I made my way to the pits to get up close to one and from that day on it became an obsession.. One that's just as strong today too.. I took my test in a matter of weeks and straight onto my beloved 748... The first of many Ducati's and hopefully not the last either..
I wasn't a subscriber, or a regular reader, really, but I remember an article in a Which Bike from about 1980 or maybe 79 which was a comparative of the Laverda Jota and the Ducati 900ss. They were both sexy, loud, fast and immeasurably cooler than the Jap bikes of the era. Then a couple of years later, there was a big spread on the Pantah 500 in Motorcycle Mechanics. Beautiful bike (especially for the time) in it's sky blue metallic paint, with clip-ons and fairing as standard, Brembo brakes and seat cowl to make it look like a single seater and Conti zorsts. Jap bikes didn't have those things as standard. It was put together with allen bolts where Jap bikes had crosshead screws made of cheese. And instead of a rattly camchain, it had replaceable belts which didn't require an engine strip. No valve bounce thanks to desmodromic valves. The technology and build quality were just miles ahead of the Jap bikes of the age. It was far more expensive - it cost about the same as a Jap 1000, but then you got real handling thanks to the trellis frame, instead of a rubbish frame with a hinge in the middle. And it was rare and no one had one. I wanted one, and in 1985, I bought one (second hand). I've had Ducatis ever since.
As a young man I was a total Japanese bike slut. Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda. I only had Yamaha off road bikes as a kid. We were very lucky to have loads of off road access (farm). This means we had motorcycles for as long as we had push bikes, from the age of 7. I first fell in love with the 916 and 748sps, so I think around 1994, so I'd be 26 or 27. The purchase price and service costs made it a pipe dream until 2004 when I purchased a 998s.
I had my first pillion ride on the back of a Kawasaki trials bike at 15 it was ok Has a boyfriend at 17 who had the above too but wouldn't take me on it At the ripe old age of 39 I had a friend with 900 SS and I fell in love with it as soon as the garage door was open it took my breath away the sound was divine when started up ooooo just loved it Pillioned on that until I took my test and bought my own SS One of the best things ever I loved that bike
Ha I was much the same.. We rode a Honda cub strip down across the fields no leg guards or mudguards cut off pipe etc.. I'm sure we were guilty of setting light to a stubble field once! We would ride it beyond dusk with no lights obviously and there used to be flames coming out of the cut off pipe .. If we did? it was an accident but I'm fairly sure it was us.. Then it was RM Suzy's before Yam 250s .. Much later after watching Hizzy and co pulling away from the Jap bikes as they entered the Revett straight I was back in love again.. Ok the Jap bikes got back at the Ducati's at full tilt but it was just the sight of that low down torque and the bark from those twin pipes.. I always say my three favourite sounds are Ferraris a Spitfire and of course a Ducati.. Heaven..
when the aprilia salesman proved to be an asshole when i was looking at a tunno. within an hour i had bought a fugly. then an 848. nothing else is grabbing me in their currant line up the now. but i will have a scrambler when there is one going at the right price.
I'd prejudged them based on people's opinions and never even considered buying one. Then, easily influenced by an effective marketing campaign I found myself drooling over the Panigale 899. I test rode one but then saw the 848 when I got back to dealership and being from Yorkshire I was immediately drawn to not only the looks but the price you could get one for. A few weeks and several hundred YouTube views later I was well and truly under the influence. I was looking at bikes for sale with a few beers onboard and saw one that had had the entire DP catalogue chucked at it. Called the dealer but it had sold that morning. He said he had someone trading one in with only 525 miles on. Sold. First time I'd even sat on one was when I picked it up from Glasgow 6 weeks later and rode it home in torrential rain all the way. I don't own anything with Ducati written on it except the bike and its books. Bike is totally standard except a carbon hugger.... Must make it fairly unique!
The 851/888 was impossibly exotic. The 906/907 Paso was incredibly stylish. Ducati became a "one-day" dream and part of my motorbike mythology. Some years and an inheritance later, I had been off bikes for some years and needed a gentle re-introduction. Time to realise my dream but also not kill myself on some crazy rocket, hence the 750Sport ie. Then the 999 hit the motorcycle press ... I had to have it and when the money was available, I barely hesitated (to my girlfriend's horror).
October 1979. Flat mate at university had just bought a brand new Ducati. I had a Honda CB550 four, and I eventually got my 1st Ducati 34 years later.
The other thing I noticed in next to no time was the attention it grabbed from those you wouldn't normally expect a second glance from.. I would pull up beside cars on my Red 748 and Car drivers and passengers alike would stare and point at it in total amazement.. It certainly made me feel good inside.. Mind you having said that I remember having a couple of drivers mouthing to me " there's something wrong with your bike!" It was ok it was just the dry clutch rattling away...
Heh. I had a BMW rider pointing at my 999 open clutch at Box Hill yesterday aftyernoon. He was telling his mate, "This is where all the bits fall out of the bike." He sort of smiled at me and I told him, "Yah, how I even managed to get here without breaking down is a mystery. Mind you, this bike has done 44000 miles. Somehow. No idea how." The look on the guy's face was worth paying money for. His mouth fell open and he stared at me for nearly ten seconds, I tell no lie. I was laughing by the time he was able to say something. Highlight of my week, that was.
first fell in love with ducati's when I was about 11 years old found a bike book on my dads book shelf (still have that book) and the only bike that stood out for me was the ducati ok I am sad as it was the 500 sport but it had a lasting affect had a string of field bikes bought off my mates mainly garelli fantic etc and an odd Suzuki thrown in into the world off Japanese when I was 16 with a fizzy but still loved the looks of the Italian stuff especially when my mate got a benelli 125 as a run around well I soon got my hands on that and still have it (love it ) and eventually got my hands on a 500 sport had it years its still waiting to be rebuilt honest then with the threat of not being able to ride anymore after two leg ops and being told I possibly wouldnt be able to drive or ride I decided it was now or never and ended up with the ss ie which is a hoot to ride and also reminded me what Italian bikes are about
I know they are two strokers but if I was a young un I'd have one of those Cagiva Mito's .. Stunning little stylish machine..
Mine was in 1993. I was walking along just by my house and saw two guys on 888's and one was an SP4. I remember the sound, dry clutch and massive back tyre, I can remember it like yesterday. Never seen them before, they just looked so cool. I was straight down to Birmingham Motorcycles looking at all the SS's, even a 400 Junior. At the time I had a Zephyr 750. In 1998 I bought my first Ducati a Terblanche 900SS and absolutely hated it and sold it 6 months later. Then in 2001 a Monster S4. Since then I've owned 18 Ducati's.
I guess I'd had a hankering for a Ducati since the early 80's but they always seemed too expensive and had too much "character" and kept breaking down with crap electrics. So I went down the Jap route like many on here. It was only when they launched the 1098, which I thought was the sexiest bike on the market at that time, that I felt I could scratch the itch. Also I could afford one outright and justify it and so I ordered one and paid £500 deposit. But then Ducati let me down over delivery (quoted 3 months and 7 months later they still didn't know when it would be turning up), so I went back to Jap bikes vowing never to give Ducati a penny ever again. And then the itch started again early 2012. And now they have sucked me in. I don't think I could ever go back to a Jap bike again.
Thanks for this post @gliddofglood . I think you have captured it. A new Pantah 500SL in 1980 was £2,300 which was the price of a big Jap four - but there was no comparison. It would be like comparing a painting with a photograph.
I recall it was early on when I got a licence. I went to a bike shop and there was one in the show room. Red, gold wheels, gold frame, must have been a 748 or 916. I recall looking at it and thinking that looks a bit special. Many years later I remember having a discussion with a friend and I said if I won the lottery and had a big house. I'd buy one and put it in a glass box in my front room because it was not the type of bike I'd ride at that time. I've stunted, thrashed, crashed many Jap bikes and they've never let me down, cost literately nothing in maintenance costs so I won't knock them ever. They are a tool and that's what I wanted back then but the Ducati is a thing of beauty. I recently noticed a Duke in town on a hot sunny day and I remembered the attraction. Now I'm older and a bit more sensible I thought I'd buy the bike that caught my eye and look after it.
1998. A friend of mine wanted to buy an almost new 916 and asked me to go with him and share the riding back from Birmingham. I had a Fireblade and said "What do you want that pile of sh*te for?" I was smitten after riding it for 100 miles and ended up buying it from him a year later. I've never been back to a Japanese bike since.
Hadn't rode bikes in 20 years, bit the bullet and done the test. Went to the dealer to look at an RC8, which I still like, seen the Ducati sitting around, but just thought, I can't afford one of those, they are way out of my league. I mean, I've just passed my test, who am I to think I could have one, stop dreaming. Couple of weeks later, spoke to the dealer and bought one, no test ride, I didnt even own a helmet. No more dreaming, it was home. I still feel quite privileged and living the dream. What a baptism coming back to bikes, a Ducati. Says it all really.
Sitting in a fuel station waiting to fill up the car when someone came out got on this red bike and started it, the sound just did it - everything a bike should sound like. Fast forward a few years to 2002 and I bought a brand spanking 748, no test ride, never even sat on one 'til I went down to order it. 13 years later the missus is long gone and the garage and house is stuffed full of bikes, mostly Ducs and all because the dealer wouldn't give me enough p/ex on the 748 against a new 1098 so I thought sod it I'll just keep it and have two of them to ride.......... then a third, a fourth ,a fifth you get the picture. Nearly bought no. 6 this week when I heard about an 851 for sale but it just wasn't quite right. Bound to be another one along soon.
