I'm lucky enough to own a nice condition 2004 749r, carbon model. It's 10 years old, and has just over 10,000 miles on the clock. I know this is low mileage for a 10 year old bike, and some people will cover 10,000 mile or more in a year. But, I'm starting to wonder how many miles on a 'R' is seen as acceptable, should I ever consider selling it. I've had a few comments about the mileage being high for an 'R' regardless of how old the bike is? Just curious, if you were looking for an 'R' would a mileage of 10,000 and over put you off? Am I devaluing the bike by putting more miles on it? I know there will be some that say ride it till the wheels fall off, and others that think it should be in a glass case ..... Just curious what the general contentious is?
I regard low mileage on 749/999 models as an indicator of a problem bike. If it's got a high mileage then it must have been working for quite a long time!
Having just last week bought an '04 749R, I bought on condition and service history: like any other Ducatis, Rs thrive on being used hard and serviced on the nail - the ones that give trouble are the garage queens that get rolled out every couple of years for a couple of hundred miles. Someone who is looking for a bike purely as part of a collection - i.e. not to be used - might be looking for a v low mileage example, but I'd be a little wary of using such on the road without extensive checking. I looked at bikes ranging from 700-18000 miles on the clock - the former almost certainly being a heavily tracked bike that's been run with the odo disconnected and the latter an entirely honest bike that showed signs of use but with a v good service record. So there's something of a U curve here - I'm a tad wary of bikes that have covered <1.5k miles/year and probably wouldn't be too keen on one that had covered 40k miles. So my sweet spot lies somewhere in between, where condition and care is much more important than recorded mileage.
Yip . If I was to buy another I would buy the one with the least miles on it I could get . If there was a 25k miler serviced every 3k and a 2k serviced once I know which one I'd buy .
I know a man that knows his onions regarding dukes and his advice to me has always been service over miles always!
Live for the moment. If you want to ride it...ride it. If you want to sell it...sell it. No point in worrying about future value if it limits your enjoyment of it.
To be honest, I was unsure about the bike, keeping it / using it etc etc Just picked it up from Cornerspeed after it's belt and oil service. Also just had new clutch basket and plates. Ride home was fun and I doubt if I had an 848 / 899 etc the ride would have been any better. Decision made, it's a very special bike, I'm gonna hang on to it, use it and enjoy it.
I've bought a my02 748r last May. It is tracked and ridden well. Service, as usual with track bikes was good and the last in 2013 was well over 2000 quid. I'm not to worried. During track he'd kept the odo it's saying around 15k now. The real advantage is that the fairings are as new! Go for it!!
In my experience you only save the miles for the next owner to enjoy so why not go out there and enjoy your 'R' for what it was made for? I wouldn't be put off with high mileage on bikes as long as there is some service history to back up with the mileage. Bad bling is the only think that make me think mmmm? But that can always be changed. Bikes that are kept in glass houses look fantastic but I can't help but think what there owners are missing out on.
Forget about mileage. They are designed to be ridden hard and using an R on a road, as I do, the bike has a relitively easy life...unless you ride J.McGuinness style, and none of us can or we would be at the TT. It's better to self teach and learn about the bike and understand how to do basic preventative maintenance along with the usual service intervals. Look after it and it will certainly look after you.
Agreed - used hard and regularly, then serviced meticulously and they'll go on forever. That's always been the case: my ST4s has 50k miles and only ever threw an electrical hissy fit when I stored it for 18 months. It's fine again now.
