supduc10

Hey sorry you have to walk now but you did have it good. I envy any of you guys out there that can have a decent ride just going to work. I also only live a couple of miles from work,so dont have that luxury. Fuck it,i"m moving house.

Dickgrande

I live in Az in the winter. What and where is Pavillions ?

efna

...yes, and afterwards myself and 3 other unfortunate fellow Ducati owners rode to Mill Ave in downtown Tempe and flirted with all of the beautiful college girls who kept begging for rides. Afterwards I enjoyed taking one particularly entertaining young lady on a beautiful ride in the warm evening air to Bartlett Lake where we sat and enjoyed each others 'companionship' under the star-lit sky. Yes, owning a Ducati is such a misfortune.

Can't wait to do the same thing next Saturday night. Oh yeah, total miles ridden that night, 165 (1 tank of gas)

efna

Scottsdale. Indian Bend road, 1/2 mile east of 101. First light, turn right. Can't miss it. Hundreds of cars and bikes almost every saturday night. The bikes congregate in the row behind the McDonalds.

efna

I'll send you a shout out and a link to my Instagram this January when I am out riding in the 80 degree sunshine and you're shivering in the smog filled shadow of Gary Indiana shoveling soot ladden snow from your driveway.

efna

I was going to ask if that was the best you can do then I saw where you were from and my question was answered.

Jafasaffer

I bought my 1199 S for the sole purpose to ride the crap out of it. In 3 months Ive done 4000km.. (It rained a lot there)
Ive owned:
2006 Yamaha R6,
2007 Yamaha R1,
2008 Honda Fireblade,
2009 Suzuki GSXR,

and now a
2012 Ducati 1199 S ABS

Ducati is a soul bike... The enjoyment I get from the Ducati is unlike any of the other bikes above. it really moves the soul... :-)

AntiHero

Low Miles?

elitesoldier357

Having the "Will" to ride and enthusiasm for the machine I think has a lot to do with it. Most of the guys I ride with do not share the enthusiasm I do for these machines and average roughly 3,000 miles a year. I have been without the bike for a couple warranty issues for about 2 months and I still managed to put 9,000 miles on it over the summer.

Some of us love to ride, love to race, love bike nights +ladies on the back from said bike night and love to learn more and understand the machine in order to tame the power.

Others, would rather make it look better, see how fast they can make it (but can't take anything other than a straight line), only care about dyno numbers or quarter mile times. They invest in all this money to fulfill their fascination with it being unique and criticize Duc riders for investing so much money, but yet they have invested just as much to make theirs as fast, light, nimble, appear unique, they still fall short of the light weight and suspension and technology invested even after matching the power.

But it is all obsolete anyways, if you don't learn to maximize the power from it than you may as well be on a moped! Too many people argue over power, performance and price, but they don't realize how important it is to just have a bike that suits or fits you. They choose the bike others believe they should get instead of test riding them and CHOOSING which one the lust for. Ducati is not the ultimate bike for everyone, but each rider should be riding the bike they want, not what the magazines, the media or the peers think they should get.

This is why I am proud to be a Ducatista! I am very passionate about the riding, adventure, and racing experience.

RSR racer

Probably all dyno miles, I am sure

RSR racer

Werd.....

jjsC6

This is an interesting thread for me. I have the bikes listed below in my signature, and am seriously considering a Panigale as a third bike when the Goldwing sells. I would get down to the BMW 1600 as my weekend bike and long trip bike, my Ninja 1000 as my primary Saturday bike (I love that bike - 140 hp dyno'd and decent ergo's.). I ride 300-350 miles every Saturday, and most Sundays I ride the other bike that I don't ride Saturday's for about 140 miles early Sunday morning. I only ride backroads as much as possible.

I have wondered if the Panigale really makes sense or would just be a trophy bike for me. I did test ride one a couple of weeks ago. I'm friends with the owner of a Ducati dealer and he told me to ride his personal "S" demo as far as I wanted. I had to ride about 35 miles on the freeway first and was about ready to take it back as I was getting uncomfortable. Then I hit the back roads and before long I was really enjoying the ride. Due to weather I could not push it too hard, but did find a few chances to nail it in third gear up to about 115mph and pushed a little through some curves. I rode a total of about 110 miles including over 30 more freeway miles back to the dealer and had gotten pretty comfortable on it by then.

I'm still not sure it's the smart move for me....maybe I'd be one of those guys who buy one and let it sit, although I don't think so. After all, I do have a little racing experience (not track days, but actual WERA/AMA Amateur racing). But I'm still not sure....maybe I should point out that I just turned 60 years old and my racing experience was nearly 30 years ago!

At this point I'd say there is a better than 50% chance I'll get one. I'm just waiting for the Goldwing to sell before I make the decision - even I'd be embarrassed to own five bikes.

TricoloreSF

Jim, I think it's great that you're approaching the potential purchase in a pragmatic and thoughtful way (unlike the OP). You're clearly an experienced rider that could/would likely take advantage of the potential of the bike but also seems to understand that it may or may not be what's most enjoyable to you at this stage.

The one comment I have is that you clearly have kept a sportbike in your quiver to get your speed and adrenaline going on weekends and I think you'll find that there isn't a better bike to accomplish that than the 1199 at the moment. In my opinion, having ridden sportbikes from the big 4 Japanese as well as the S1000RR, there's no better bike to allow you to push the limits a little but still keep it sane, all the while stirring the soul at the same time. If you haven't already, a test ride of an Aprilia RSV4 with APRC may be a good comparison as I liken those two to each other over the S1000RR.

Only you can make such a personal choice but I'm sure it'll be the right decision regardless.
PS - nothing wrong with 5 bikes and its just temporary since the gold wing and concours are going!

jjsC6

Thanks for your thoughts. The Ducati is my primary choice for a couple of reasons, but the most obvious is that the owner of the dealer and I go back over 30 years now and it means a lot to me to buy a bike from him. He is a Honda dealer also, and the CBR1000RR is an interesting bike, but I fear if I buy one that in the next year or two they will update it with the latest features. I'd rather buy a bike that is up to date.

Interestingly, my dealer roadraced for many years and over the past few years he has owned for himself both a Ducati (1198s before the Panigale) and a CBR1000 so I get a lot of honest advice from him. And having the other bikes - especially the Ninja 1000, the Ducati doesn't really need to serve me other than my short rides (a short ride for me is a 140 mile loop I do).

BTW, here is a picture of my Ninja with a full Akrapovic exhaust & PCV. The Concours is the second bike and the BMW the third.

Thanks again for your thoughtful comments.

devilsnight

+1

quack1199

I have an 08 R1 with 25k on it and an 1199 that is a month old. Completely different feel between them. If I had to choose I would take the Duck.

VA Panigale

I've had my 1199 for 3 months and have put over 4K miles on and I can't wait for spring to get here to have better weather. I can't stay off of it as I absolutely LOVE the ride. Buy the bike that gets YOU excited and you will always want to be on it.

DucSyd

I am the same, I can't stop ridning it, I now have just over 6,000 ks on mine, my R has 60,000kms on now.

TransNone13

8300 Miles since May 2012.