Hello all.... My first EVER forum entry, on ANY forum...so here goes. I have not ridden a bike in about 12 years; used to own a 600RR Honda back when I was younger and better looking... have loved the Diavel ever since it launched and finally made the decision to buy after Easter. Not sure if I should go new or used (no more than 12 months old) and loads of money to spend on helmets, ground anchor, kit, etc etc. HR
It's El Toro's little joke. He always calls all the newbies Dave. He's weird like that Anyway, welcome! Re the bike choice. If you can find a 1 year old bike with 2k miles on it at a good saving over new, I'd say go that rout and save yourself some depreciation. There is something to be said for a brand new dealer bike but it'll cost you. Depends on your budget I suppose. Diavels are very cool bikes though and proper quick!
Welcome in and good luck with the search, I bought my 899 with 650 miles on the clock and all the accessories I would have wanted for about £1200 off list price, still with 18 months warranty, so obv I think that's a sensible way to go! Most ex demo's won't have been thrashed because frankly most will have shit their pants by about half throttle!
Hello and welcome into the mad house Will you be looking for a red one We are all Dave here I'm Davebird
Welcome to the madhouse HR. Have fun, take a pinch of salt with some of the responses, participate wherever you feel like it, and have fun. Oh, and Ducbird likes red.
wow...what response; thanks guys...and lady! Been doing some research on the bike and accessories, clothing, security etc. Since I have not been on a bike in some 12 years I will be taking a rusty rider course, am nervous even going on a test ride! Anyway; i wanted some advice from the sage network and maybe this is not the right forum thread; i visited an ex-Ducati dealer and was hinted at that buying a Ducati is high risk with their reliability issues, which I thought were a thing of the past. Also that a Diavel is not a commuter bike and will rust away. I take what they said with a dollop of salt BUT it has planted a seed of doubt! HR
Were you by any chance steered in the direction of the brand that this ex-Ducati dealer is NOW selling?! Having ridden in Texas quite a bit (Austin, East and West Texas as well as Dallas area), I'd say the Diavel would make a decent commuting bike there as long as you're comfortable with a 1200cc bike and are careful with big bike power available. They don't "rust away" certainly no more than a Harley (I had two and they rust like hell if not kept scrupulously clean). Which brings us to reliability: Certainly Ducatis are MUCH more reliable than they used to be and only require very reasonable service intervals now. They CAN be prone to little electronic glitches though. Mine was perfect the first 21000 miles then had some issues which were sorted by the local dealer. If you have a decent Dealer reasonably close at hand, you'll be fine.
Thanks, I didn't want to say that, but yes they were telling me about all the new Yamaha's etc etc etc. I have never been a Yamaha person, I love their bikes but not for me...i prefer Honda more so which was my first bike. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience; i have a few Duacti dealers near me so hopefully I should be fine...i wont buy a bike outside of warranty as an extra piece of mind. I am sure I will be fine but good to hear it from someone else. HR
Yamaha's are great (the MT09 Tracer is a lovely bike), Honda's are bullet-proof (my 1993 Fireblade (CBR900RR) is still immaculate and super-reliable)....but they're just Hondas and Yamahas aren't they? No-one says "Oh! Cool!" when you say you ride a Honda! ;-) Not that that kind of thing is important to me, you understand. Ahem! ;-) By the way, buying a bike still under Manufacturer's warranty is a MUST if you're at all unsure. Have fun and watch out for teenagers in F350's! (They were a menace as I remember!!)
Welcome. Reliability: yeah - id say ducati were now up with the rest....coatings & Fixings: someone at ducati still needs educating with a large bat...engines being the worst. They will peel and tarnish if not kept clean. If you do end up with one then (and either a. plan to keep or b. like to look after your stuff) then I would suggest replacing all of the stock fixings with either st steel or ti and any sizable mild steel or alloy parts (Subframes, footpeg hangers, brake line guides etc etc) and get them painted or (my choice) powder coated. That way itll be easier to keep it clean, and will reduce tarnishing considerably.
Odd this as my 5 year old 30K bike has had no such problems. I Keep it clean, Occasionally douse in WD40 if it's going to be stood for a while but nothing fancy. Don't ride in winter very much but do occasionally. Certainly gets ridden in pissing rain etc. Strange that there's so much variation on this.....
my last hypermotard 1100 evo on an 11 plate was delivered to me with 4k miles on the clock and the front cylinder head starting to peel - the rocker cover on the front havin peeled quite badly (at this point id not ridden the bike) I don't have the pics at work with me but the rear subframe was starting to rust and also on the top of the fuel tank under the seat all the electrical fittings (bolts were rusted solid) the front exhaust studs resembled a bike that had done 50 and were rusted into the barrel. There are users on here (a panigale owner from recollection whose chain had turned orange (with rust) in the first 1k. Front brake caliper bolts had gone white/chalky....I could keep going on...great bikes but shite coatings and fixings... In contrast one of my current bikes (2014 zed 1000) I collected with 4.5k of shitty, all-the-way-through-the-winter riding by the owner who happily confessed he knew nothing about bike and just "rode it" and just wiped the panels down. It needed a few of the mild steel parts recoating and that was it. From memory the exhaust guard, front indicator hanger and lower exhaust hanger. And that was it. So, while not brilliant it had faired better than the hyper. My rsv4 has 9k on it currently and the only thing that is going to need attention is the water pump cover and the top rad mount. That's it.
Hmmm...maybe left out in all weathers by previous owner? Or a bad day for Luigi in the weatherproofing part of the production line :-(
