Look here is the real deal. If you're a mechanic or are quite capable as a mechanic then you can own a Ducati with relative little expense. If you pay to have your work done then walk into the service department and ask to see the prices on the scheduled services and well hold on. Fact of the matter is that if you intend on keeping the bike forever do the work yourself. If you plan on selling it at some point and want to get the best dollar out of it then you are going to need to have the dealer do its scheduled services and the appropriate stamps indicating they were done. Trust me when someone comes along looking for a used Duc, the first thing that they are going to do is ask to see that the scheduled maintenace has been done and then they are going to ask for receipts and dealer stamps. I own both a Ducati and an Aprilia Mille R and they are'nt cheap to maintain. I do all of the work on my Mile but on the Duc it's a different story. The valve situation on my 999R is as close as you are going to get on motorycyle rocket science so look around. There is nothing better than owning an Italian motorcyle, 749,916,998,999, Mille R they are all nice but expensive.

 

nice bike, nice look, its a duc, possible mechanical fragility, comparable to ofur cyclinder 600s, and from i've heard - seat is like a rock.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by scottrnelson
If you live where there are lots of twisties (as I do), the 749 is a wonderful bike.

 

I just bought an '03 749 3 months ago. It is a supreme pleasure to ride this bike. I find this bike (and Ducatis in general) more fun to ride than the more powerful Japanese bikes. My last bike was an '02 Yamaha R1, which had almost 50% more HP than my 749. The R1 was undeniably faster in straight line acceleration, but the 749 is simply a lot more fun to ride. Maybe it's the visceral sound of the v twin, or the low center of gravity -- not sure, but it's a blast to ride, and very stable at relatively high speeds (~100mph).

For similar reasons, I am selling my '03 bmw M3 for an '04 S2000. The M3 was great for the first few months, but then it got boring because (in my opinion) it is too much car for driving around on public roads and freeways. Compared to the S2000, it accelerates faster, higher top end speed, quicker in the slalom, better braking. But simply put, the S2000 is more fun to drive. I also think the S2000 has a nicer interior, and the shifting is unquestionably superior to the M3.

 

sorry to say this, but, let's face it
749 is a v-twin 750, with all that money, you get get a 4 cyclinder 750 ( gixxer 750) and put some mods on it.
the only italian bike I want is MV AGUSTA F4

 

No reason to be sorry -- you're absolutely correct. The 749 is a v-twin 750 and, yes, I could have purchased a GSX-R 750 and added a couple of thousand dollars of mods on it for the same price as the stock 749. And, of course, the gixxer would be significantly faster 0-60 and 1/4 mile and everything in between.

But none of this changes the fact that riding the 749 is much more fun for me, not to mention that I find it more aesthetically pleasing than the Japanese sportbikes.

I also love the Augusta F4, but I heard that getting it serviced could be problematic.