Well it was my uncle who got me into bikes but he always had jap bikes. Cbr's, ninja's and an awesome RS Capri in lime green. Style! Anyway, I first started watching bikes about the time he first started getting into Italian bikes. Aprilia Mille's with the old PlayStation Haga paint jobs. Toseland was racing and winning on the 999's (which I personally thought looked cool). When my uncle used to take me to work down Pitsea market, I'd wait for him at a rendezvous and I'd be sat there waiting to hear what he'd be turning up on, crossing my fingers that it would be bike not car. Those were the best days, when I'd hear him full throttle on the Mille at 5 in the morning down the empty street and I knew it was a bike day that day. He didn't let up when I got on the back either. Best days ever! When I passed my test I got his old track bike for the road. A 1993 ZX6R we called Dog 1. His mates track bike was Dog 2. I had that until it went wrong so sold that and got a 2007 Zx6r but a year later I was in love. My pin up bike was the Ducati 848, in white. It was my background, it was my dream. When I got knocked off my ninja, I shook the guys hand and thanked him for funding my Ducati. My uncle was straight on the net looking for 848's (he's found almost every friends bike they've purchased as he gets excited looking online and loves spending people's money). Hysides had 2, a red new one or... A white with 1500 miles on, termis and an alarm. Same price as the new one so I snapped up the white with extras. The dream had been realised... And it was expensive [emoji51]
As a teenager in 1980 Ducati and the other large capacity Italian marques were seen as unattainable exotica, me and all my mates had Gt250x7's ,Rd 250's and Kawasaki KH250's,The common as muck jap stuff of the time...I always remember seeing a guy on a Morini 350 sport followed closely by a Ducati 900ssd in sparkling blue, the noise and presence of the Ducati was unbelievable ,as far as I was concerned it could have come from a different planet...I was hooked straight away. I told myself that someday I would have one,not necessarily a SSD any Ducati would do,it only took me 25 years before I got round to buying my first one, a 1995 750ss,and to be honest it wasn't what I was expecting after a life riding Japs but I persevered and got hooked all over again,a 2001 900ss followed before I finally got what I consider to be my ultimate,a 2004 999S...which I intend to keep. It doesn't just put a smile on my face when I open the garage doors,it also puts a wide grin on my face every time I ride it...Fantastic
Sports motorcycles in Manchester late '70's. Wagging school to go stare at the then unaffordable Italian exotica. After years of jap machinery I bought a moto guzzle v500, unknown to me but the Italian v twin addiction had got under my skin. 5 ducati's later and still hooked.
Late '65 early '66 a local lad rocked up on a new Mach 1 he'd just bought from Vic Camp. He let me take it for a ride, wow a different world from my Tiger Cub! Revvy engine, superb handling, brakes that worked well, rubbish lights but it felt really fast and the speedo registered a hitherto unknown 95mph A couple of years later a friend bought an ex Chas Mortimer Mk3, a ride on that just re-inforced the earlier Ducati feeling. Then in '78 I test rode a Darmah from Pinewood motorcycles, found myself going way too fast in places, it was very deceptive after Brit twins but the poor reputation especially electrics resulted in the sensible? decision and bought a Co-op 750 Bonny instead. Twenty years later was fed up with the vibes from an RS BMW and took a test ride on a 900SS from Snells, brilliant! it had that Ducati feel from many years earlier, bought it and had a good dozen since then, all of which have given real pleasure and in fact the 899 actually has many of the characteristics I'd enjoyed fifty years previously!
Spectating at Silverstone in 1971, Ducati 500 and 750 twins sounded great in practice, although they didn't do well in the races. The Ducati 1-2 at Imola in 1972 against stiff opposition was sensational news to read about. Then spectating again at Brands Hatch in '72 Paul Smart's 750 looked great, sounded great, and beat everything. It had obviously been fully sorted out by this time. I really, really wanted one like that. I had no money at the time, but a few years later I scraped together the necessary to get a decent bike. There were three options as I saw it: a Vincent twin (but they were all 20 years old and knackered at that time); a Triumph Trident (but the factory was collapsing and they didn't make a Slippery Sam replica); or a Ducati (I could not quite run to a brand new 900SS, but Mick Walker offered me his own racing 750SS secondhand). It was really easy to decide that the Ducati was the best bet by far. And I got my money's worth.
It's really strange how some bikes just don't seem to age and yet others look terrible.. I remember as a college apprentice I would hitch hike everyday ( was ok back then ) just to save the travelling money given by the Garage I worked for putting the extra money towards my dream bike.. I dreamt of a KH250 and especially one that came as a race replica called the Dyson .. I used to stand at Bob Nicholls shop window transfixed by the beauty of the thing.. There was a permanant print of my nose there.. I was gutted when it got sold.. I looked one up the other day on line and thought.. How on earth did I ever like that ugly looking thing. There was a Yam as well a V4 2 stroke I think.. A mate got one and god was it stunning... Yet now? But having said that.. Offer me a new Monster or a old M900 and it would be the latter.. A Panigale or a 916 Sps?.. Same again..
I was offered a ride on a 916 that a friend of mine had in his shop to sell for a friend. I jumped at the chance and had to have it after riding it. Unfortunately I wrote it off after year, replaced it with a 748sp, then a new hyper 1100s followed by a streetfighter 848. Recently jumped ship to a brutale 800rr but will be back. Addictive bikes
Saw an 851 in Oxford Motorcycles (anyone remember them?) in 1991. It was so much classier than Jap sports bikes of the time, and so much more exiting than the BMW K series yawns I was then riding. I bought it without a test ride and was immediately hooked by the handling and power delivery. Added an SP4 to the stable a year later and even though it was more beautiful than the 851 and had immense presence I found it less useful on the road. The Ohlins were unforgiving and the engine had an enormous flat spot between 4 and 5 thousand revs. Sold them both after a few years and did not return to Ducatis until 2012. Now have three so guess the bug never really left me..............
I had a Suzuki GT750M when I was 20, but I found it was too heavy and the handling too wayward. I went to a dealers in Birmingham with a friend and saw the Ducati's in there and was instantly struck. When my GT750 was stolen shortly after I bought a two year old Darmah. I had spent every penny I had to buy it and struggled to run it and as day to day transport it was unreliable, but I still loved the power and the handling. Had to sell it after 3 years with the family arriving. After many years without a bike I went to the NEC show during the mid 90's and sat on a 900ss, I lusted after one for about 10 years until in 2005 after a divorce and grown up family I had the money to get a '96 carby 900ss. I absolutely loved that bike, so much more reliable than the old Darmah but the same engine feel just more so. Stolen last year so I bought a Monster S4R.
Starting off on a RED Italian Gilera 50, pointed me towards Ducati. The 250/450 Desmo singles in bright yellow were always admired but a bargain basement GT250 led me astray..... Various Japanese 2 strokes before the move from an RG500 to my first 996. It's like joining a special club. All Multistrada since then.
