Thinking of buying a Ducati 400

[popelli]

I'm still unsure where this myth of Ducati unreliability originates from......

we have 2 ducatis in our shed

both are far more reliable than any jap bike I have every owned

[jrandom]

He is also responsible for designing... the Ducati 1098, 848 and 1198 bikes.

Eh? Surely not.

Just looking at a 1098 should tell you it wasn't a Tamburini design. Why would he so blatantly and slavishly pay homage to earlier designs of his own? (The 916 front and F4 rear, etc.) All the bikes he has designed have been fresh starts and new looks.

*checks Wikipedia*

There y'go! Apparently the design is by one Giandrea Fabbro, a Ducati employee. Presumably he recognised that sticking together elements of existing Tamburini designs was a smarter move than trying to be original and ending up with an ugly duckling.

[Kickaha]

McJim, you know i respect your bike and riding, but i would never recommend a ducati to anybody.
i think they are common, unreliable, high and expensive maintenance, and overpriced.

I wouldn't agree with that apart from common,but the rest seems to be a popular myth among the uneducated, although personally I wouldn't buy a 400 if a 600 was available

but it seems to me that a lot of people decide they don't want a jap bike so they take a giant leap backwards and buy a ducati.

Not so much different than buying a Buell then

[McDuck]

748/749. difference?

Spelling...

[hospitalfood]

Not so much different than buying a Buell then[/QUOTE]

some of us like 1930's agricultural technology in a motorcycle engine, and i never have to do valve clearances. very low maintenance.

they do say the only moving part is the person pushing it.

[McDuck]

they do say the only moving part is the person pushing it.

and even then they are barely moving....

[SteveC45]

I recently gave up my Ducati 400 F3 for a Suzuki 600 Bandit. reason, the Bandit I can commute to work on everyday in comfort.

If I could fit the Duc in I would...... was brilliant for week end riding, handled really well, and the sound, mmmm yummie!!

[mikeey01]

400 thinking of buying one ,first road bike in 15 years anyone own one or still riding one.

Kahn the 400, 600, old 750 sport and 750ss's are great bikes, are easy to ride at a surprisingly quick pace, hours of fun can be had on them and the best of all it's an Italian machine.
I think the following fits in this case!
I would say go for it!

Re-printed w/o permission but I thought it's worth it

Italian bikes are about emotion.

If you want the fastest, sharpest, trickest bike on the planet, buy Japanese and follow the crowd.

But if you want a bike to stir you deep inside every time you open the garage door,
a bike you will spend hours cleaning just for the sake of it,
a bike that will make you shudder every time you hit the starter button and grin like an idiot behind a dark visor on the open road, there is none better.

[Bullitt]

McJim, you know i respect your bike and riding, but i would never recommend a ducati to anybody.
i think they are common, unreliable, high and expensive maintenance, and overpriced.
I have to admit that your model is not that common, but it seems to me that a lot of people decide they don't want a jap bike so they take a giant leap backwards and buy a ducati.

i hope you ducati owners i know will still talk to me after expressing my opinion.

Ive now owned my Ducati for about 18 months and have done almost 20,000ks. In that time Ive had a problem with the rear shock and with a loose connection on a wire to a coil, hardly ducati specific problems and both easily fixed.

Every 10,000 ks you have to check the valve clearances, on mine they didnt even need adjusting. Every 20,000 ks the cam belts need replacing, I just had that done and including a WOF it cost $380...hardly enough to break the bank.

As far as being common, you could probably make that argument for a monster but theyre still no more common than lots of other bikes. Of all the other types of ducatis if you except the ones Ive seen in Motomart Ive probably seen less of any individual model in total than Ive seen of certain Japanese models on large group rides.

I only know the figures for supersports but worldwide the total number of 600SS's was only 757 for my year (1995) and 4376 for total production. Over 9 years of production they only made 3651 400SS's. Hardly Japanese production numbers.

Ducatis have a reputation for being expensive to own, and perhaps the 4 valve motors do somewhat deserve it (I dont know having not owned one) but at the least the 2 valve air cooled motors are no more expensive or unreliable than any Japanese bike. I suspect most of the rumors are perpetuated by people who have never owned one.

[Paul in NZ]

Hey don't get me wrong - I'm not anti italian or ducati, hell I ride an old pom bomb and an old wog shitter myself BUT unless its cheap as chips I would avoid a 400 ducati. They made sense in Japan but not here unless you are going to do the servicing etc yourself and are prepared to hang onto it for yonks as its going to be hard to shift. If you want a 'better' italian lightweight look out for a moto guzzi monza 500 (avoid the 350's, they are OK but fairly slow)

My approach is always to set the budget for a bike, allow a % to fix stuff, tyres etc and get the best deal I can within the parameters of what I want. Brand should not matter unless it is one of the prime intial parameters.

[kahn]

Thanks for all your replys ,
I,am looking at the bike as a starting point and have always loved the look and sound of the monsters.
Hopefully i never have to sell it has i have four kids (two of each) which i hope one or all of them may use it when they are older.
I,am not so much into the speed side thats what the dirtbike is for.

[kahn]

Thanks for all your replys ,
I,am looking at the bike as a starting point and have always loved the look and sound of the monsters.
Hopefully i never have to sell it has i have four kids (two of each) which i hope one or all of them may use it when they are older.
I,am not so much into the speed side thats what the dirtbike is for.

[Rob Taylor]

You wont look back getting a Ducati.They stir your sole & passion for motorcycles...We have a 749r & 999r race bike,they get thrashed and are trouble free.We even had a test rider smash one at nearly every event and it still ran like a charm...Give Kerry Jeffs a ring at KTL motorcycles in Morningside 021765912 work 09 915 8384.Real nice guy no pressure and knows his Ducati's......

[piston broke]

more than happy with mine.
aside the leaky front fork and the fuck that broke the screen.
she's now 5k over the 20k service.only let me down once when it was pissin rain by the bucketfull.goin again less than 2 mins later.
a beauty ride,i'll never look back