Congrats! Where you able to negotiate any off the MSRP?
Finally arrived!
Well, after months of waiting for the bike to arrive, followed by 5 agonizing days waiting for the dealer to assemble it, I finally received my new Duc! 
I took the long way home on the two lane roads rather than the interstate and came away with a very good impression. I was able to take it out again today after work for a little more than an hour and covered some back country roads to get acclimated to my new beast.
My bike is a red S model. I noticed one big thing that was different from the base model I did a demo on a couple of weeks ago, and that was the transmission. I have been reading about the difficulty finding neutral, but the demo bike did not have that problem at all. It had about 300 miles on the odometer at the time and the transmission was flawless.
On my bike, I can only shift into neutral if the bike is in motion. For example, when slowing for a stop, I can slip the transmission into neutral with no trouble. However, if the bike is stationary it will go straight from 1st to 2nd and vice versa. Unless I turn the engine off, then it will go into neutral. Is this what other people are experiencing as well?
Could it be that the transmission on the demo was well sorted out after 300 miles and mine will be better soon, or do you think the quick-shifter may be playing a role since that should be the only difference between the demo base model and my S model as far as the transmission is concerned?
I am keeping the rev's below 6,000 RPM and find that there is still plenty of fun to be had. I am taking it easy on the corners until I can get the tires scrubbed in, but they should be ready for a bit more lean angle now with 150 miles on the odometer.
I have read about the heat under the seat and notice that mine gets warm too, but it has not been a problem. I like to think of it as my bike giving me a nice warm hug. Heck, I had to pay extra for heated seats on my BMW, it's nice to know Ducati throws that in as a standard feature.
I do like the quick-shift option and find that it is very quick, especially when upshifting under power. The down-shift is not quite as smooth, but it is faster than my manual shifting with the clutch.
I really love this bike and hope to have many happy years and many thousands of miles of riding it in the future. This weekend I plan to scrub all the bugs off and get some good photos. I'll post pics at that time.
I took the long way home on the two lane roads rather than the interstate and came away with a very good impression. I was able to take it out again today after work for a little more than an hour and covered some back country roads to get acclimated to my new beast.
My bike is a red S model. I noticed one big thing that was different from the base model I did a demo on a couple of weeks ago, and that was the transmission. I have been reading about the difficulty finding neutral, but the demo bike did not have that problem at all. It had about 300 miles on the odometer at the time and the transmission was flawless.
On my bike, I can only shift into neutral if the bike is in motion. For example, when slowing for a stop, I can slip the transmission into neutral with no trouble. However, if the bike is stationary it will go straight from 1st to 2nd and vice versa. Unless I turn the engine off, then it will go into neutral. Is this what other people are experiencing as well?
Could it be that the transmission on the demo was well sorted out after 300 miles and mine will be better soon, or do you think the quick-shifter may be playing a role since that should be the only difference between the demo base model and my S model as far as the transmission is concerned?
I am keeping the rev's below 6,000 RPM and find that there is still plenty of fun to be had. I am taking it easy on the corners until I can get the tires scrubbed in, but they should be ready for a bit more lean angle now with 150 miles on the odometer.
I have read about the heat under the seat and notice that mine gets warm too, but it has not been a problem. I like to think of it as my bike giving me a nice warm hug. Heck, I had to pay extra for heated seats on my BMW, it's nice to know Ducati throws that in as a standard feature.
I do like the quick-shift option and find that it is very quick, especially when upshifting under power. The down-shift is not quite as smooth, but it is faster than my manual shifting with the clutch.
I really love this bike and hope to have many happy years and many thousands of miles of riding it in the future. This weekend I plan to scrub all the bugs off and get some good photos. I'll post pics at that time.
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
Thanks, guys, I will keep that in mind. I normally use Mobile 1 when I do my own service, but I know the shop that will be doing my 600 mile service uses Motul. At least they have in the past. I remember the funky green color when checking the level in the sight glass on my old Duc. I plan on taking it out for about 200 miles this afternoon as soon as I get done typing this message.
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
