An increase in the amount of oil being deposited on the garage floor prompted me to take my "new to me" 2003 999 in to the workshop last Monday. While it is there they are also going to replace the battery cables with copper ones, attend to the poor idling, stalling & cold starting issues & then spruce up the aesthetics by painting the white patch on the nose fairing. Luckily the book "Birth of a legend" by Alan Cathcart & Marc Cook arrived & I have been reading with interest the design & development of the 999 in the early 2000s'. Unfortunately the ugly duckling did not achieve great sales success (I wonder if this is why Terblanche is no longer with Ducati) but on the race track the story was just the opposite. The Testastretta engine was voted The greatest V twin by Performance Bikes magazine (March 2013) & the subtleties (quirky to some) of the 999 are now understood & appreciated by me. 10 years after my bike was built, it still looks fresh, different for the right reasons in 2013 & the build quality shines through, paint still looks good, there is no corrosion anywhere & the operating controls are still pleasantly tight. I can't wait to get the bike back this week.
Do you ride yours during the winter? My 06 looks like shit in some areas! Headlight housing and engine casing have flaked like crazy.
I haven't had the bike long (2 months) so from what you are saying I can only assume it was well cared for & garaged. However as I have just come to realise its not what it looks like, it's how it goes. Seems to be a lot of issues right now & am feeling a bit dissappointed.
Hes getting flashbacks to a disturbing time in his life! It's ok fig, just sit in the corner and take a few deep breaths and you'll recover!
Fair's fair, the fugly was a cracking bike to ride, but who on earth signed off that design? It's one thing a designer coming up with a wacky new look, another thing entirely for a rational man to say, 'Yes, build it'.
I got '999 Birth of a Legend' a while back. Interesting insight into the inner workings of the factory and not full of bullshit and clichés like some of Cathcarts books that I've read. My 05 999 has done 25,000 miles with no problems so far.
grass needs cutting and some lawn 'weed and feed' would not go amiss p.s. enjoy another view Fig.........
My 05 999 has also done 25'000 miles with no real issues (erratic speedo in the wet hardly counts). No flaking on my engine. But then the thing is garaged and not ridden on salty roads. It's seen plenty of rain, but I don't go looking for it. And I'm not an obsessive cleaner either. It still looks fine to me.
The 999 is a tasty machine. I always liked the detail where you could see the rear cyl head under the tank.
I saw one of these on sunday and couldn't help comparing it to an ugly woman where you look them up and down, round the back and from every possible angle looking and hoping to find a good point but then just give up in despair concluding what they lack in looks must be made up for in the bedroom but you're not going to even contemplate taking your chances in that department! :biggrin:
