Beautiful
Show us your Motorcycles
- Thread starter Styx_II
- Start date
BMWCCA
Addicted Member
Yeah, I thought it was kind of striking for an unrestored 40-year-old bike. The seller said "not a collector bike" but I'd rather ride it than be afraid to.
grillebilly
Empty Head
Had the Buell out for some stress relief today. I can't think of a bike that's better for weekend warriors on tight, hilly, rough backroads. 400 pounds and over 100HP, gobs of torque.
I picked this up last week off of Craigslist. It's a (mostly) original 1982 Suzuki PE 175. The cylinder is on the original bore and the cases have never been split. It starts on the first or second kick and runs strong. Needs some TLC but it's great fun to ride. I'm on the fence, do a restore and put it correct or just clean it up, tend to the mechanicals and ride the heck out of it...
Pio1980
AK Member
Make it safe and reliable and enjoy riding.
PhotonJohn
Active Member
I have my eye on a Ducati Street fighter V4, lightly used @ $18,000, but I can't see it being any more fun than my Ninja 1000.
grillebilly
Empty Head
I have been eying Ducatis for 20 years. The Ferrari of motorcycles. The Buell power band is over at 6500, before most sport bikes get in their sweet spot. For riders of average skill like myself it inspires a lot of confidence.
Pio1980
AK Member
Check local customer support quality, chances are one is much better, depending.
Dtdh
Well-Known Member
Ducati is in more than one way like Ferrari: I know two owners, one of a Ferrari and one of a Ducati.
They both found the engine to be very good, but other parts were made with 'Italian precision', especially the electronics, that failed soon after purchase.
The Ferrari owner soon changed back to Porsche.
grillebilly
Empty Head
If it was 10 years older I would vote for a restoration and have a collector bike. By the late 70’s everything changed, and bikes like yours handled great. So have fun with it.
grillebilly
Empty Head
‘74 Pursang? Didn’t get much better back in the day.
ALL Italian electronics will eventually fail. Beware anything marked " Magneti Marelli", especially engine control & management.
Roger that. Ducati dealers, like Triumph, are few & far between compared to kawasaki, h-d, yamahaha, etc.
Ducati, like Lamborghini, is now owned by VW via Audi. Modern Ducatis certainly aren't as reliable as Hondas, but they're vastly better than they used to be.
Modern Triumphs aren't as reliable as Hondas either, but they're pretty close to Suzukis.
KTMs still suck.
Not my experience with my '05 Triumph Speedmaster, bought new, still have. In 48+k miles, other than tires, chain/sprocket sets & 1 battery (going on 10 years for battery 2), the only unplanned problems have been an ignition module & the trigger pickup coil under the alternator cover. Admittedly it could use a clutch but it's still very usable.
No leaks, no Lucas electrical fiasoes, no wicked vibrations, no noticeable oil consumption & I've heard " damn, that's a good-lookin' ride, what year?" more times than I can ever keep track of. I've never even had the carbs off & apart except for rejetting about 11 years ago.
