Featured Threads Archive

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

OK - it was 2007, and about 4 miles away in our old house. My 916 had been languishing in a mate's garage while I was busy with a car project and an XT500 rebuild. By the time it was dragged out of his damp shed into daylight the damage had been done and all the ally parts were furry and the fasteners rusting, the zinc plating long since gone. I felt really ashamed for allowing this to happen to such a machine, so I dismantled it into its component parts and packed it away into plastic crates until I had time to resurrect it. In a moment of rashness and unable to find anyone who could guarantee to replicate the dirty bronze paint on the frame, I had it powdercoated satin black.

Once we'd moved house I sold the XT500 and bought and rebuilt a basket case 1968 Triumph. It's now time to turn my attention to the Ducati and give it the love and affection it deserves.

Cases cleaned & painted


New mains and gearbox bearings fitted


Ready...

Episode two of The Wild Side of Ducati, the new six-episode web series on Ducati’s most adventurous bike yet, is here.

Now online at www.ducati.com, this second episode of the series illustrates, in just a few minutes, all the strength and reliability of the Multistrada 1200 Enduro. Filmed in Spain and Sardinia and packed with spectacular imagery, this latest instalment showcases the bike’s true spirit: adventurous, wild, more than capable of handling the stresses and strains of off-road riding and always easy to handle.
This episode also talks about the riding position and the riding modes on this new maxi-enduro from Ducati, as explained by those with first-hand experience of riding the Multistrada 1200 Enduro on every type of terrain.

The Wild Side of Ducati can also be followed on Ducati's YouTube channel and Facebook page, as well as on Twitter (@DucatiMotor) and Instagram (@ducatimotor) where there are three brief dedicated videos.

54,800 Ducati bikes delivered to customers in 2015
CEO Claudio Domenicali: “Ducati closes 2015 with record volumes plus a significant 22% growth over 2014”
Andrea Buzzoni, Director Sales & Marketing: “For the first time ever a Ducati bike has made it into the list of the world’s ‘Top 10’ best-selling bikes”

Borgo Panigale, Bologna (Italy), 14 January 2016 – Ducati closes 2015 with its best-ever results, confirming the positive trend of the last five years that has seen a constant increase in sales and production.
With 54,800 bikes sold during 2015, Ducati set a new record by delivering 9,683 more bikes to customers than in 2014, an increase of 22%.

“The record sales of 2015 are the result of our company’s courage and skill”, stated Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding. “Ducati closes 2015 with record volumes and also a substantial growth of 22% over 2014. During the year Ducati not only launched successful new motorcycles, but also a new brand, Ducati Scrambler,...

'Pastafarian' wins right to wear colander in driving licence photo - BBC News

Due to health problems I'm considering selling my sc1000s in red. I'm not to worried though as I have always intended to keep and enjoy short runs. Anyhows very high spec low miles very good condition.

Xmas at Noodle Towers (3 story house) good things came along, along with bad things too..

Parts bins from the kids was a great and very useful gift..

However, probably due to Mrs Noodles overloading the fridge freezer it went bang on Boxing Day, great! The wife and the fridge both in total meltdown..

New FF purchased.. Now I apologise to anyone connected to Bin Men in anyway as most are good..but ours are w$#%#$€... All year round they won't take this or that but come Xmas week and it's Ho Ho bloody Ho.. Knocking on doors for a tip and all that..

Anyway,I stripped out the shelves from inside the FF as per my waste not want not policy.. And dragged it to the edge of the pavement ready for the Bin men or Scrap men, whoever came first.. As I spun it around I noticed the cooling coils on the back and thought I can put them to use I'm sure.. So off they came.. Guess what, to use I put them me did..


A little cutting and modifying and they work a treat with the new parts...

I just had to tell people who understand how happy I am.... I bought a 1098 R today....
I have an early 916 SP and now a 1098 R.
I am ecstatic and trying not to wet myself.

Went over to Oz at Christmas to see my daughter and we were in a seaside resort called Noosa Heads when my Wife spotted "That bloke off the telly that you used to watch all the time".... bugger me, my all time bike hero 3 x WSB champion Troy Bayliss!!
Asked him nicely for a pic with him and he just slapped me on the back and said "Sure, no worries mate!!" absolutely chuffed to bits to meet him, WSB was never the same after he retired.
Had a canny little chat with him, and said the last time I saw him race was at Brands with his Superman leathers on ( 2009 / 2010 ?? ) to which he replied "Jeez, that was a lifetime ago!!"
He even went over to my wife, shook her hand and asked if she was having a nice holiday

While he was doing this I was talking to his wife Kim and said that I lost interest in WSB after Troy retired and hadn't watched a WSB race since, she came back with quick as a flash with "No, neither have I"

His young Son Ollie ( I think ) took the pic, he was better...

Took the toy out for its first ever ride today.
Feck me it's good.
Pop from the Akras is a blast and that's achievable even whilst capped at 6k rpm.
Rode a blend of A,B and motorway to see how it performs and was laughing in the bash hat all the way.
6 miles when it got delivered, 74 by the end of the afternoon.
Roll on post first service as I'm looking forward to riding it like I stole it, till then I'll be a good boy.
Or will I...

Merry Christmas Everyone

Got delivered today, sadly not had a chance to ride it yet but one happy bunny

To all of you on here, friends old and new. I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.I am totally humbled by your support and encouragement, you all made a very difficult year a bit easier to bear.
Love you all to bits xx
See you at the BBQ in June!!!!

Hi,

Had my 1098 just over a week now and have done 1000 miles. I wouldn't normally ride that much in a week, but had a bit of spare time and thought it would be good to get really acquainted with the beast after riding various models of s1000rr's for the last 5 years.

So, what differences have I found so far off the top of my head in no particular order;

1. Clutch (the obvious one) is very different to the s1000rr. Not as easy to use, but provides a certain character.
2. Torque is really good low down and in most gears. Makes a really nice riding experience.
3. Riding in town...well basically don't do it unless you are a masochist! I used to think I had good clutch control when filtering at low speed through traffic. Think again newbie!!
4. Comfort. Contrary to popular belief, I find the 1098 really comfortable compared to the s1000rr. The stretch to the clip ons is nice and not too low and doesn't make my back ache. It's a much bigger sized bike and, being 6'4'', that helps....

From da Management!
We hope that you and your family have a great Christmas and that 2016 is both happy and prosperous and a far better year than 2015 was!

Have a great time over the festive season

Bacon Butty at 07.00, outside the roads were dry so garage door up at 0755, covers off.

Left her on the drive for 5 mins warming up, just so the neighbours could feel part of the occasion, then off out to put a few more mile on the youngster.

Still stuck at under 6000rpm - but empty roads, full leathers and summer gloves in December was awesome fun.

Following on from the "Ask the Boss" thread Tim kindly pulled together the major questions asked and has answered as follows. We hope you find the answers enjoyable, informative and give an insight on how Ducati UK works within the global Ducati organisation. Enjoy.

================================================================

What made you want to do a Q&A?
At Ducati UK we regularly interact with customers in many formats but amongst them, there are a few of us who read the Ducati Forum. Since there are a lot of topics raised I thought I’d give the chance for people to ask questions. I’ve followed the ‘ask the boss’ post with interest and it appears that the questions fall generally into three sections; quality, product development and network/company.

I hope people will understand that there are limits to what I can comment on and the level of detail I can go into.

How did you find yourself MD of Ducati UK and any regrets?
I answered a job advert! I was appointed...

Hiya folks. I wanted to drop by and post the details of my build, which I've dubbed: "M944SS". After a string of mechanical failures I got the idea to have my favorite air cooled motor of all time fully rebuilt and blueprinted for a lifetime of performance and reliability, and for the overall bike to have as many NOS OE parts as possible as to have a "brand new" first generation carby Monster, but with the aftermarket upgrades I wanted.

Motor: '96 900ss, fully torn down to the case halves and bare heads & powder coated.

Motor/Performance/Electrical upgrades

- 94mm over bore and plating by Millennium
- crank balanced by Ducshop
- oversize valve install, head porting with matched intakes, and motor assembly by Racing Sport Services.
- Nichols light flywheel & Electrex pulse coils
- Ricks MOSFET R/R
- Shorai battery
- Keihin FCR 41mm carburetors
- Cosentino Engineering custom velocity stacks with K&N pods
- Ca-Cycleworks ignition coils
- Ignitech TCIP4 programmable ignition with...

This coming year perhaps?