What element of Ducati do you like the most?

endodoc said:

LOL, jeez Craig I can work miracles but I’m not that good. I wouldn’t put any of those bikes anywhere near the same category as the 1299...

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Ha, understood.

Interestingly, I never really cared about Ducati since the 90’s and the introduction of the 916, and they were way outta my price range back then.

I got back into riding when I bought my track only 07 gsxr 750 and a 2013 Hyperstrada back in 2016. Last year, I got the itch to upgrade the track bike with something more modern. I nearly pulled the trigger on an R1M but then I stumbled across a deal on a 19 v4 base on the old WERA classifieds (13x), and the rest is history. Less than a year later, I bought the 15r off a member here, and I’m completely smitten with the twin.

Paul G said:

The Ducati twin has a long heritage, they persisted, refined and I believe have perfected the big bore sportsbike to the nth degree. They changed to a 4 because the twin had come to the end of the road as far as maximum performance package was concerned. Arguably the 4 is a better bike, more power, better handling etc but does it deliver the "experience"? I keep coming back to that 44t blogger test between a v4 and a 916, at the end of that track day despite describing the 4 in superlatives such as "mental" and fastest bike Ive ever ridden, best handling blah blah blah- they still preferred the 916 for the pure enjoyment of riding.

Isn't that what its about? The biggest problem with Ducati is the cockgobblers who think owning the brand compensates for their lack of whatever. I enjoy the brand when people admire it, but in the end its all about hitting the twisties on a bike that sounds, looks and feels good.

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Very well put.

Despite being more than happy with my V4 and loving it to death, the 916 and its variations will always be my dream bike. The entire reason why I ever got into motorcycles is because many moons ago, I was a youngin watching the second Matrix movie and the scene with Trinity riding against traffic on the 998 was forever etched in my mind. My father, who knows literally nothing about vehicles of any sort, turned to me and said, "That's a Ducati, one of the fastest motorcycles in the world."

I'd bet that moment is the reason why I'm drawn to the brand despite their machines being far from perfect.

Gonna own one of them ......' Matrix 998s someday.

Vbreeze said:

The marketing is top!
Sorry tough crowd.
Everyone knows the red ones are fastest.
The community, the design, the philosophy of their engineering (long conversation), the abilities they deliver, and the sound.

There are a list of things that need improvement too. Do you want that list as well?
Baffling production decisions, industrial /production design by ....... in the plastics, baffling ergonomic conundrums...

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I would love to hear more!

First thing that caught my eye (2012) was her ass. Those pani tail lights. Then I noticed how narrow the bike was and that it was a big twin. That’s what got me to the dealer to consider buying one. Then I threw my leg over it and felt how light it was. Then I found out it didn’t run like a big twin but quite the opposite, more like a 2 stroke or turbo. I hate red but that’s what color the R was and I had to have one.

V2 tail lights are even sexier : )

The breaking down is the best part.

The one element?
is that F.T. has worked for them.

I would say owning one was always a dream, its like owning a Ferrari.
My first Ducati was a 959, from there my purchasing continued.
I would say after owning them, I am a huge fan of its torque, looks and that nasty big twin engine.
After owning several inline motors, I must say the appeal, feel and nature of a Duc is more tangible when describing enjoyment.

youpaiyou said:

The Ducati clubs. I never see a group of Hondas, Yamahas, etc. riding together at least where I live.

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Well, there are Grom Squads, but they're always crashing or doing stupid sh!t.

And then theirs the Ducati Grom club

Yep now the fan boy club can add one of them Gromducs to there collection lol

endodoc said:

And then theirs the Ducati Grom club

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Damn, I thought the first 3 gears were crazy on my bike. Imagine the last 3 on that thing!

Love what he did to retain the oem fuel pump tho : )

I imagine that means these stupid things know what is on the other side of relay and it better be stock?

I see Ducati's history as strong innovators, I like that best. First to the racetrack with a long list of innovations, desmodromic development with Ferrari, trellis frame and engine block as stress memeber/ single sided swing-arm, first to use aerodynamics, L2 with big-bang for better traction, the Desmosedici, first to use down-force aerodynamics in MotoGP, Desmosedici with Twin Pulse firing order...
I'm an innovation guy. I worked with Apple, IDEO, Y Combinator... I helped make electric cars & even flying cars, all kids of silicon valley tech. So, I get it. It's hard.
Ducati is the David in the world of Goliaths.
I admire the brand for that. It takes a lot to cultivate a culture around an object. Most people that I meet on a Duc are interesting intelligent people. Not all Ducs go to good homes, but the squids usually go Japanese. That says a lot. That's not nothing. That's a f*k-ton of effort to cultivate, and decades of maintaining that. To compete with huge companies & produce a competitive street bike version of a race bike, there has to be some compromises, making it affordable is the biggest challenge. That starts with creating that brand that talented people want to work for getting paid less money than at another companies. That keeps bike prices down. There are a 100 layers of reasons why every part is like it is. That said, none of it is perfect. But the fact that so many of us expect it to be says a lot about the design, the history and the brand. When you look at its beauty, it looks like it should be perfect.
Call me fan-boy, or whatev. I'm not idiotically following marketing videos. I'm appreciating the guts of the guys in Borgo Panigale figuring all this out, maintaining, under VW. Which started by stacking Ducati's ownership under Lamborghini, who's owned by Audi, who's owned by VW, and not giving up. It stayed Italian, It stayed in Borgo Panigale. I just spent the weekend riding with a guy who can do 1'49" around the Mugello track who was explaining the soul of the Panigale design and riding techniques that go with it. There was a whole lot of, "Let go Luke, use the force..." Blew my mind. To produce a thing that can be driven so intuitively is generations of work. This is not a "product." It's not just a bunch a parts to measure and judge against other parts. How it all goes together is the soul and the majority of its value IMHO. It's not going to work for everyone. Everyone has bias, preferences and their own thing. That's cool. But when you buy one, you make it your own. We're all free to do that.

Flying cars don’t exist. Sure you see mock ups and ones that are tethered operated at some wasteland of industrial parks…but that’s it.

Not to get too sidetracked, however, I beg to differed having hauled those f'ing motors back and forth from california to china more times than I care to remember.
You can learn all about them here:
https://www.jobyaviation.com/It will be piloted in commercial taxi service, however it can fly unpiloted. Production prototypes are running since 2019, way beyond prototypes.
150+ miles on a single charge, @ 200 mph. We made the lightest most powerful electric motors in the world and reinvented the propeller to meet FAA city sound requirements. Many X quieter than a helicopter so they can vertical-take-off and land in city centers.
Awkward genius founder explains how awesome the project is after deal with Toyota was sealed for several hundred million, later second partnerships sealed - current evaluation is in unicorn land, going public soon on the NYSE. So ya, pretty real.
https://www.jobyaviation.com/news/a...and-ceo-joeben-bevirt-founder-and-ceo-joeben/Joby just bought Uber's flying taxi wing this year as well. It's going pretty fast now after 10 years.
This was one of the early drone prototypes in Santa Cruz, 2009:
Google bought that for package deliveries. It was originally going to be high altitude wind energy, but it was problematic, very political and got squashed by investor wavering.

DCPanni said:

Flying cars don’t exist. Sure you see mock ups and ones that are tethered operated at some wasteland of industrial parks…but that’s it.

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Until they enter regular service and no longer only FAS certified as experimental…nope.

So you can watch a video of one flying and say they don't exist?
You think over a $ billion has been invested in this by companies like NASA & Toyota and no one asks these questions hahahaa

Have to agree with DC on this one. I visited Moller’s factory in Davis many times. Decades and 100m in investor $$ gone. Joby is much the same from a reality perspective only they raised a lot more capital, still the tell tale signs are there of investor dollars being spent on luxury homes and vehicles. There have been a slew of “air taxi” failures. The Eclipse jet was supposed to be the Uber of the sky. Epic failure. VTOL and the Joby platform aren’t the problem.

The mechanical aspects are sound. The problem is overcoming the massive terrestrial infrastructure obstacles that get lost in the luster. You’re very simply never going to be picked up at a random corner in a flying machine that you paged minutes earlier. Not to mention the FAA hurdles of autonomous flying taxies and the unobtainable carrier insurance as these things hurl over populated cities.

All that problem solving would take billions of dollars and there goes your Uber pricing. It’s a sexy business. One that makes the company and its founders wealthy with investment dollars. It ain’t going to happen at the scale they are selling the dream at.

There have been flying cars since the 50’s. Not one of them was ever remotely successful for the same reason. The feds ain’t going to let you take off or land from any random highway and the other drivers and people who live in the area weren’t supportive either That same type of infrastructure problem exists today and like then, is never addressed “rationally” just as it hasn’t been for the last 70 years

This topic is interesting for the fact that much like the discussions on this board that center on the bike “look how fantastic this bike is” all of the infrastructure surrounding how great the bike is, is rarely the topic of conversation like you’re a ...... rider on a bumpy road with a 25mph speed limit. Probably not going to see the same amazement as the test team at Mugello. Much like the Joby platform is a cool little commuter. If only it had a realistic infrastructure to support it. It just doesn’t and regulations and terrestrial completely will soon nuke it. For Toyota it’s all PR “look what we’re doing for clean energy” and the tax write off.

Well said. They exist only to take in money from fools. As of now they are experimental marketing toys. The FAA and FCC can’t get together for non DOD drone command and control let alone hundreds of low flying air vehicles buzzing around. Then factor in the NHSTA, and you get even more headaches. Sooooo, yes they exist and I suppose you can get permission to fly one at an industrial park or training range….but none are certified for actual commercial air usage and never will be. It’s a big toy.