New To Ducati/Forum

[Old Squid]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum, and new to having a Ducati. I haven’t actually picked it up yet, but I’ll be picking up a V2 on Friday.

Being new to the Ducati world (apart from riding and babysitting friends’ bikes), I’m really not sure what to look out for, so any advice is appreciated.

I’ve had a ton of inline 4’s (BMW S1K’s, Suzuki’s, etc) but the bike that gave me alllll the feels was my V-Twin RC8 which I stupidly sold. So I thought I’d go back to an updated twin, not really needing that 200 hp rush anymore, and just wanting a flickable and fun thrasher for some mountain and city riding.

I’m pretty excited, got a killer deal. The previous owner dropped his bike at like 5 mph, didn’t like the bike as he thought it was too much for him, had already put 1k into aftermarket stuff (simple bits), and then decided he hated money and traded it with 280 miles.

Good for him really, but better for me .

 

[duc]

Welcome! And congrats on your upcoming V2!

 

[Ds760]

Gratz on the bike! Nothing specific you need to look out for. They see extremely well engineered bikes.

 

[Vbreeze]

Hello all,
...
Being new to the Ducati world (apart from riding and babysitting friends’ bikes), I’m really not sure what to look out for, so any advice is appreciated.
...
Good for him really, but better for me .

Hot ..... will throw themselves at you, you can park on the sidewalk in front of any very important building and it looks perfectly normal; in fact if you park in the living room, it will look pretty cool. Sometimes you'll get pulled over by motorcycle cops who just want to talk. Children will flock around you when you park.
You should go to the racetrack. You should definitely go to the racetrack.
You'll ride around all mind blown for a while having realized the evolution of the things is on a new level entirely. You'll just be getting used to it but think, "I don't know, seems like there's more to this..."
Then you go to the racetrack and all of the sudden the horses come out. Thunder lightning, clouds part, shaft of light descends, an awakening happens in you. Inexplicable to family and friends, you'll feel the urge to write a book with new perspective on manhood.

Oh and they get really hot. This is normal. Wear leathers.

 

[bp_SFV4]

Hot ..... will throw themselves at you

No, dudes will come up to you at gas stations. You'll get more ..... with a two seater scooter.

+1 on the track thing. That's the best thing I ever did with my bike.

 

[Vbreeze]

No, dudes will come up to you at gas stations. You'll get more ..... with a two seater scooter.

I don't know what you are talking about.

 

[bp_SFV4]

That seems about right lol.

 

[JarheadJim]

Congrats and enjoy! I'll agree that kids do like the loud, red bikes and like to come up to you or wave at you from the school bus or playground. While the rare woman will say "nice bike" or something to that effect, it is the men who will regularly approach and strike up a conversation. In my experience, they either think every Ducati costs $100K or they're an experienced rider who tells stories about their "friend who had one back in the day" and all he allegedly ever did was take it in for required service intervals. I had a V2 as well. Its a great bike and a lot of fun. Enjoy!

 

[thomasmryan]

Great comfortable and capable machine.

Out of the box, the suspension preload wa quite excessive for my weight.

There is better DOT 4 than the factory fill that doesn't need constant bleeding.

 

[Agouti]

Late to the party, but I went through the exact same transition you did (and could be of a similar age group, too).

There's a couple of things with the V2 that you will probably discover:

1. The stock rear suspension is pretty underwhelming, particularly if you've come from S1000RRs and GSXRs. Depending on your weight it'll be both undersprung and overdamped, and with no way to get the right amount of static sag dialled in. Going aftermarket to Ohlin or K-Tech rear will make a huge difference.
2. It takes a while for the bike to break in properly, valve train clatter, taking a while to start, occasional false neutrals (particularly 5th to 6th) will slowly resolve themselves over the first 4k miles / 6k km.
3. It's a pretty peaky power band and don't feel bad if you hit the rev limiter a few times. The Apokrovic exhaust from Ducati comes with a bump of the redline to 12k which almost makes it worthwhile. Also regarding exhausts the whole behaviour where it goes silent at a particular gear and RPM can be disabled by pulling the plug on the actuator.
4. The quickshifter is amazing but the free travel in switch linkage can take some getting used to, and upgrading to a strain gauge one is well worth it if you (like me) have trouble adapting or get annoyed with it.
5. There's no heated grips for the V2, and there isn't even any wiring for them if you try to fit the V4s. Pretty much the only Ducati without them in the whole lineup, but heated gloves are better anyway.
6. The rear pegs help keep seat temps down in hot slow traffic so I'd consider leaving them on if that bothers you.