Hello, From An Old Timer..

It's 40 years this summer since I got my first Ducati, and steadily downhill since then (joking). I tend to keep my vehicles a (very) long time, so since I joined the Italian fold all those years ago, it's been 860GT (one of the first in the country), 350 Mk3 ('cos I wanted something light & flickable that didn't throw big-ends daily), Laverda 750 (very strong, but rather agricultural), 900SS bevel (absolutely gorgeous, but mechanically frail), two belt 900SSs, and finally 851 SP3 which I still have. It's a '91 and I've had it going on 23 years; "turned the clock" over years ago. Who said Ducatis were unreliable? Most of those miles were on continental trips, but it has had a few "hiccups" in recent years, so I thought I'd try something a bit more recent (my mates were getting a bit scything about getting home without a breakdown!) In fairness, such issues were always minor, usually a sensor, relay, or suchlike. Anyway, I settled on a 999 Bip (a couple of mates had sub-frame failures with mono's), and found a 2005 registered (actually 2003 model) with barely any miles on it. So far it's had tyres (they were original!), battery, new stick coils, a couple of coolant pipes, injection relay - all age-related stuff. Crap weather, so only had a couple of rides, but I'm STUNNED at the tractability of the motor (after the 888). What I'm not so taken with is the mirrors, which are useless - dangerous in my opinion! I've heard that Ducati Performance items sorted this out...? I'd really welcome any advice on this. Thanks very much, David.