I spoke to a rep from Ducati USA at the Chicago IMS and he said more or less the same thing as Neshotosam. Bikes that have actual orders placed with deposits down get filled before general dealer orders for the showroom. That makes sense to me. I would hate to have to wait to get a bike I put a deposit down on because some dealer somewhere ordered 10 to fill up their showroom.
When I placed my order they took my full name and contact information. I am not an insider, but it would not surprise me if Ducati did have a name associated with a bike that was ordered by a customer through a dealer. Or maybe they just have it assigned to a dealer and have them sort it out upon arrival.
As for the timing, we discussed placing an order versus waiting until after a demo ride in late March / early April. His best estimate at that time was that bikes ordered over the winter would start seeing deliveries in late March to early April and they would be at the head of the line. He said if I waited to order after a demo ride, it would likely be summer before I saw the bike.
I have no idea how many people have a bike on order here in the US. I do know where I stand on my local dealer's list and I was shocked at how short the list was. I recently e-mailed him for an update and received a call back the next day saying the computer showed the order "pending." According to him that generally means it is in transit or sitting in customs somewhere and he has no idea when it will arrive.
Does anyone else want to share their dealer info with us to either confirm or refute the above? The dealer I am working with has always been a stand up guy in the past, so I will take him at his word.
