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Ducati 748 discussion forum:Paul, some pointers on buying a duke |
| Paul, some pointers on buying a duke |
| NN said 2003-09-06 01:19 |
| Paul, get one get one get one get one get one !!! You didnt say what type/size you are looking at, let me know and Ill try to help you out with the differences. The only advise I could give you is look and look at them, there are loads about, just dont fall into the trap of buying the first one you look at. If it dont tickle you straight out then walk, Also take a good look at the owner and the bikes surroundings, most duke owners love their ´cats´ as much as their wives/family/pets etc! As why the current owner is selling up, many of them sell coz the bike is too uncomfy or too expensive to run alongside their other bike. (Nearly EVERY ´cat´ owner I know has another bike for normal use, the cat only come out when the sun is out on a sunday!) The service history thing is a bit of a personal interest, if the bike has covered a few miles then make sure it got its ducati first service, if not then it could suggest someone bought the bike to ´show off´ with. The whole belts thing is a bit of a scare-mongering/lack of knowledge kind of tactic in my book, the belts are made from the same stuff as the belts you get on a diesel engine, they cover some 60 thousand miles before they need replacing so the overly eager changing of belts that everyone raves about is not really that justified, but its better to be safe than sorry, I do all my own maintenance so I change the belts once a year ( it depends on how many miles you put on it as to how often, i do about 3 thousand miles a year on mine). Many duke owners change the belts yearly instead of at the required milage, just dont be too scared if you look at one and the belts havent been changed for a while, as long as its no more than 12 thousand miles since the last change, this is the official milage for change. the only other things to look are on the pre 1998 dukes have a single nut that retains the alternator on its shaft, this needs checking, (again scare-mongering with rumours of them all coming loose and killing engines are by and large unfounded, just ask when/how long ago it was checked/tightened). The duke is a track bred bike so it doent have the mile after mile after mile reliability of, say a fireblade, bear this in mind when you look at them, this is one of the reasons many owners love and care for them as much as they do. I hope all that wasnt too much for you! happy hunting Doug oh, one more thing, once you get used to at cat, I promise you EVERY other bike you ride after just doesnt cut the mustard!, these thing ride like they are on rails and you will out-ride nearly everyone else! mine is a 748 (see the pic for my actual bike), I regulary have to slowdown to let the R1 and Gixers catch up! they then eat me in a straight line like but the cat is built for handling and like its nick name its as nimble as a cat! Nearly forgot too... the 748 is as fast as the 916/996/998´s in the bends, it only looses out (marginally) in a straight line upto about 100 mph, after that the bigger ones keep pulling where as the lil´748 starts to wheaze! ´dugcati´! :O) |
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