I'm always interested in people's thoughts on the originality of their Ducati. Ducatis have always been well served by aftermarket mods, including quality items from Ducati themselves, race teams and 3rd party companies, but also lesser quality stuff from lesser known suppliers. My thoughts have always been, if a mod is genuinely a quality item, especially from Ducati or race teams, that are a quantifiable improvement over the original part then I will probably buy and fit it. Due to this my bike has morphed into a recognisable, but highly adapted 916. Having spent loads of cash on it (don't tell my wife! :anguished, which realistically I will never recoup, I really like the end result. I find it interesting and unlike most other 916s out there. I have known others who have the same approach, but also others who have a completely different idea of bike ownership. So, what do people think about this subject? Do you prefer to leave your bike with, arguably, lesser quality, original parts in order to maintain the originality? Do you stick any thing on it as long as you like it? Also does the resale value of the bike influence what you do to it?
I do what I want, I understand the purist thing but that's not for me. My 996/1098 mongrel, awaiting next mods.
i love modding my bikes but they can always go back to standard if i decide to sell or they become classics and are worth more standard.
Ultimately it's your bike and you should do whatever you feel like to stay in love with it. My personal view is that I would never make a mod to an iconic or future classic bike that could not be reversed e.g. the seeming mania for chopping the rear of Monsters! Such mods would definitely put me personally off buying such a bike and will almost certainly affect it's resale value. However, if it's definitely a keeper, then why should you not do what you like with it?
Personally I like to mod and love looking at modded bikes over stock,unless it's a high spec stock bike.
For me, I think there is a cycle to the modding / standard argument. When the bike is new, I would & do, mod the bike and enjoy doing it. But, as the bike gets older, I think the focus then turns to how original the bike is. Anything over 15 years old, starts to look better in almost factory trim. I'm reaching that point now myself. My baby R is 13 years old this year, and has quite a few mods to it, but this will be the last year like this. My winter project at the end of this year, will be to return the bike to 99% factory. I will keep the 57mm system on it and possibly a few other subtle DP parts, the rest will go back to factory.
All my bikes are modified to some extent. I don't worry about originality, I modify them to suit me which is to make them perform/ride/turn/stop etc. better (may also include a little bling ) but the primary reason for me is 'improving' the bike and virtually all the mods are done with this in mind. Of course not everyone has the same ideas so, in the unlikely event that I may sell them I keep all the original parts - except for the Monster as I never had the original parts. At the end of the day I buy bikes to ride, not to look at and I want to enjoy them as much as possible.
I always mod my bikes, it's like a drug I can't stop it !! My 999 has quite a few mods to it, some done by me and some by previous owners, but that's the way I like em. I have my 999 just as I like her now, so at least I can stop spending money.....for now ?
I have just gone through the process of returning mine to a more original state and think it looks far better for it Having said that, at the same time I had the wheels painted and fitted some number boards to the original fairings before they went back on. The bike had aftermarket fairing kit on it when I bought it which I liked but I like putting my touch to things... I think it looks well now and the modifications it does have are fairly subtle and not too loud (apart from the Zards )
I have had quite a number of conversations over the years with bike owners about the pros and cons of mods. One quite recent one (probably what prompted me to start this thread) , with a guy who I bumped into at a tea stop, was about the colour of my mirrors, which have been painted red. He politely turned his nose up at them. He didn't mention all the other stuff changed, just the darned mirrors. I asked him if he would consider buying a bike if it had several thousand £££££'s worth of brakes and suspension upgrades, he said 'no', even if the overall looks of the bike did not change. He surprised me with his unbending approach to keeping originality. This guy had an older Triumph, which had grips well past there sell by date. When I suggested (cheekily) getting some Progrips I received a lot of sucking of air and shaking of head. He would rather have crappy grips than to spend loads of money on the OEM items, or spending 14 quid on some Progrips. As others have said, they are our bikes and we can do what we want with them. I just find other people's tastes interesting. Personally I will spend gazillions getting quality functional mods done, I dispose of the, arguably, substandard OEM stuff, and don't worry about what others think.
My bike has changed a bit since the attached pictures were snapped. I must remember to take some new ones the next time I go out.
