FOAK - Ducati's

1992 Ducati 750SS - is this a really dumb idea?

Early ones had poor QC and single disc front ends.

Go for a late model carb version: 1996-98. And they're probably the most
solid bike that Ducati have built for decades.

*Don't* buy a 96 model. That was the year Ducati became virtually
bankrupt and was then bought out by Texas Pacific Group. Build
quality was patchy to say the least. Get a post-97 bike.

Mine's a late 1997, and has been brilliant.

So not a 96 model then. QED,though my last sentence should have been
"post-96", as anyfule no.

But my 96 600SS has done 35K miles and then got
raced without any problems...

You silly man. If you'd bought a post-97, you wouldn't have a busted
collarbone.

Go on then, prove me wrong!

Exception that proves the rule then! I guess any 96s still going
should have had any problems shown up by now. I'd still be cautious
with a bike from that period though as I was told by one of the new
TPG management team that Ducati had been buying from a variety of
suppliers of variable reliability as their lines of credit ran out
with their older established suppliers.

Asssuming theres evidence of service history whats likely to go wrong?

Spark plugs, based on a UKRM sample of one :). Make sure it's serviced
properly and has the belts changed every 6k and it should be OK...

If I rode it during the winter would it disintegrate?

Most likely, yes.

Why are they so cheap?

Because they have a reputation for being very expensive /if/ they
grenade. Plus, they're not that cheap to look after and there are a lot
of dogs about that push down the prices even of good ones.

Hi Steve,

I like that.

Don't be put off older Dukes - I have a '90 851 with 40k miles and it's well
put together and still pulls like a train. One guy has over 120k kms on his
without a whiff of anything major!

Dukes are stronger than most would have you believe - and build quality
generally better than my Jap bikes - esp. the RG500 - which is *really*
rough and ready in places...

Go on - you know you want one!

All I know about them is that a work colleague had one. He took it off
the road every winter and did a full frame/engine rebuild for the next
summer. The thing always looked immacculate and sounded beautiful. He
rode a CG125 while he was rebuilding his SS during the winter months.
MSOTHP.