Spot on Glidd.It's not worth saving a few bob and end up losing something you would really like to have.I have done this many times in the past and regretted it.Always worth remembering that there is no such thing as a bargain,and anything worth having will not be selling for peanuts.
Ian, you are clearly keen to have it in spite of some of the reservations that have been posted. As an ex owner I sympathize. I rue the day I sold my SP4. Good luck.
It's far too expensive. There was a mint one on gumtree a couple of weeks ago for £5700 Ono Be patient. They come up now and again for under 6k. Try a wanted ad on the 851/888 forum.
I'm keen to have it but I'm not going to pay £2k plus over the odds - even if it is a dealer. In my opinion if he will knock it down to about 6 I'd seriously think about it, in fact I'd probably have it but not at the price he's asking. Thanks all who's posted opinions, which all seem to agree on the fact it needs 25% knocking off. I can't see a dealer agreeing to this to be fair, but ill ride up and ask. He has emailed me more close up pictures, and while it seems immaculate it is still an import...
They all are, last time I looked they were made in Italy :wink: Seriously though, whilst the status of UK bike or otherwise 'might' make a difference on a new, or nearly new bike with regards to warranty etc. I can't see the relevance on a 20yr old bike. It maybe overpriced but it does look nice and it's only money, after all.
I went to see the bike today, mechanically and cosmetically it looked in very good shape. However. Its not actually UK registered as yet. The back tyre had been squared off quite well, and was down to the wear bars. (I asked about this and it was turned into a selling point, as the bike obviously hadn't been thrashed! Brilliant bit of spin I thought!) i mentioned the cans not being real Termis and the bloke looked shocked. He asked how much I thought it was worth, and when I said £5500 he replied that £8000 was the price of them on eBay. (He's right I think on this. 100% of the one on eBay is at £8k.) He mumbled something about speaking to his manager, disappeared and didn't reappear. After quite a while (having looked around the place a few times,) I took the hint and left. I didn't even get as far as mentioning the lack of proof for servicing, pillion gear or anything else. Oh well. Fish, sea, all that! thank you all for your input. It may have saved me a few thousand!!
Shame it didn't work out but if you want one they are out there, it just might take a while. I have just looked on ebay and it is the cheapest one on there of the 4 listed. Prices being asked are silly at the moment, I guess the dealers want to have show rooms full of bikes rather than sell them? I don't know if bikes are still going to Europe a lot and that's giving dealers an inflated view of pricing? Having said that the prices of the European bikes on the 851/888 Forum seem similar to our prices. The SP5 in P&Hs (Ducati main dealer in Crawley) on ebay is the only one that doesn't look absolutely stupidly priced (although still top-end), but they can't even be bothered to write an advert for that so maybe it's a bit crap? On the plus side, if you keep looking you might be able to find a white framed 851 which look even better......shameful bias again there I'm afraid...... Good luck in your continued search, it'll be worth it when you find the right bike.
I can only echo stang`s commonsense thoughts on this. I guess that perhaps one philosophical point to offer would be that even though prices are high right now, back in 1990 I paid 10500 for an 851 when an exup or similar was getting on for half the price. Some things don't change!
Okay so I bought it almost a year ago....seller was good to deal with..honest enough ..was registered, serviced, mot'd, taxed, new tyres, have since removed exhaust decals, had forks re built, chain n sprockets fitted, inspected, confirmed chipped, airbox mod etc, need to renew front discs as vibrate through hard breaking but overall very happy..nice bike ☺
Didn't realise how old this thread was Nice, glad your enjoying it - nothing better than finding a bike your happy with :Happy:
