For me it was literally my heart. Had many Japanese bikes and for 20 years loved and rode Harley's also had an old Norton when I finished work just to keep the spanners from going rusty. Then in 2012 had a double heart bypass and a plastic valve, so the heavy Harley and the BMW GS both went and I bought a Ducati before it was too late. Never regretted it, love it. Stuck in traffic the other day in the car and an older 916 filtered pass, the sound of it was fantastic.
Aberdeen, circa 1997/8 I was painting a set of railings and Armco. A guys pulls up to park at his work on a yellow 996..... After I passed my test, didn't have money for a bike and I was on the phone catching up with a mate I hadn't talked to for a number of years. He said, why not take mine for a bit until you get sorted. Monster 900...
For me it was 1998, emmett and Reynolds on red bull Ducati's coming towards us at Thruxton off the back straight and then flipping through the chicane and out on to the straight, could feel the ground shaking, especially against reasonably flat sounding 4cylinders. I was 12 I think at the time, the love affair kinda went on from there. I had my first one in 2005, a yellow 748 and then a break and an 848 Evo in 2013, and now a 899. My buddy has just bought a 748r and I still tingle when I see it.
Always liked them but didn't buy one until my 998 about 5 years ago, rode out with Seward many moons ago when he had his 888 and liked how it went and sounded, that was probably the first endearing moment with a Ducati - took me a while to succumb
Had a fella on a Suzuki the other day telling me how bad Ducati reliability is. He got on his bike pressed the starter, nothing. Felt nice helping him bump start his bike
I remember going on the back of my dads blade (my feet just touched the pegs) to the Ducati dealer to look at some special expensive bikes. I don't even remember what I saw there, but I knew one day when I was a big boy I would have to own a Ducati.
I was also in love with the look of the foggy bikes in the 90s but I was on numerous fireblades at the time and a bike was my only form of transport. In 99 my buddy bought the 996 ( last of the gold frame model) and I had a quick ride on local roads and hated everything about it. Stiff, cramped, snatchy pickup etc, 2 months later on a trip to the ring he gave another go on the perfect roads around the track, suddenly it all clicked into place and was perfect, I was doing 30kph faster though corners than I thought possible with my 99 blade at the time. Sold the blade the following week and ordered a brand new 2000 996 and haven't looked back since
Why not buy another? Apologies in advance if that's an insensitive question, I appreciate that in some way this could probably be horrendously politically incorrect.
Don't apologise I'm ok with any question within reason I would love another SS I don't think I would find one as perfect as dizzy I have shoulder injuries that can't cope with an SS stance The scrambler would be perfect I just need a good job or a rich man or I wouldn't mind bike sharing with anyone who has one
I've now had a 748 a S2R Monster. a 848 and a 796 Hyper which is currently being re built into my own custom NCR.. I remember I linked up with a group of Ducati guys at a meet one day when I had my 748 .. On the A14 I went from front of the Q or pelathon if your into Lycra! To the rear in one movement... And the sound was amazing! I had a 888 in my gun sights for a bit and every time he opened it up I could feel the reverb on my chest.. People in cars as we passed had mouths all agape ... I hope they keep a copy of that V twin sound on tape in heaven.. Should I ever be let in..
I had a poster of a 916 on my bedroom wall when I was a kid, I've lusted after Ducati bikes ever since.
For me it was EICMA Milano 2009. I was 22 years old at the time. Up until that time I was riding a 125cc Modenas Kriss II for 3 years with no real plans for upgrading, often remembering that one time my uncle took me for a ride on his Yamaha XT500 '89 so I was planing to buy a newer XT660X. One day, browsing the interweb, stumbled upon a news piece about a motorcycle show in Milan. Nothing better to do. Lets click. Huge photo gallery of really nice bikes but nothing really clicked. Until I saw her... I could not believe in my eyes how beautiful she was. Tall and thin and that amazing Iceberg White colour... Right click, save image, set to desktop background. The picture of the bike stayed on my screen until March 2013. It was replaced by a picture of me next to the bike... I'm still young and hoping to buy more Ducatis in the future!
1977 and I was 11 ... My Dad had a Honda 750 four K which he took me on the back of. My elder brother and I shared a C90 field bike. My eldest brother bought a brand new TY50 on HP when he started his apprenticeship ... and on his bedroom wall he had a poster of a silver 900SS. My love affair with Ducati started there but it wasn't till my 40th birthday and lots of Japanese and British bikes later that I managed to get one - my 996SPS - which I still have 10 years later
