I went to the motorcycle shop yesturday just to kill time. The salesperson showed me the 2001 748 and I am in love. I know very little about Duc's and was hoping someone could tell me how good they are.

How is their realiability?

How easy are they to service?

How much more/less are they to maintain compared to a Jap bike.

The bike would be used for daily commute to work and for the twisties out west of me

As far as the reliability i dont know.but they will be more expensive to maintain and service.The 748 will get spanked by any of the big 4 jap bikes 600cc espec.the gsxr 600 and the r6.In my opinion they are over priced and dont offer anymore than the jap 600s(handling and performance.For the money id go witrh the gsxr 750 or 1000.I own a gsxr 750 and love it.It is faster and outhandles the duc 996.

Been there done that, Quack.

Ducati is a status symbol.  You pay for the name, and not only do you pay through the nose, you sacrifice performance and reliability.

Those Desmo engines require alot of expensive maintenance.  Who wants to pay hundreds of dollars for a valve job every 3k miles??  LOL

Get a jap bike, and when the Duc rider raises his nose to you on the street, fill his elitest nostrils with your dust as you leave him looking stupid way behind you, wondering why his shiny $12,000-$20,000 strap-on-johnson just got shredded by a $8,000 jap bike...  hehehe

And while he is getting his bike worked on and tuned up every other weekend, you will be out RIDING yours...

Ducks are very expensive status symbols.  You need to go back to the shop every other week.

Ducat's kinda sounds like harleys

89 Saleen,

What are you going to use the bike for?  I've had a Honda VFR700 for 13 years and it was my only transportation for six of those years.  If it is to be your main transportation get a Japanese bike.

But, if it is to be your fun weekend ride, by all means get the Duck.  I have never owned one but I have ridden a couple and will own one someday, a 900 Super Sport.  They are art forms. The sound is amazing, the ride is better than any jap bike, and it just feels different than anything else.  The desmo is tricky and best left to a dealer mechanic but only needs done every 6k miles, same interval as my honda.

Performance is a bit down from the Jap competition but there are few people who actually ride bikes to their potential.  When I was younger the guy who kicked ass in our little riding group was on a BMW K75, hardly the performance leader of the time.

Follow your dream man and don't look back.

Had an '87 Paso.

Trusted it for 1k/days.

Did a track school at Mid-Ohio. Turned out saved mine, and girlfriend's neck when hit a ladder on the interstate at 70+mph. Front washed, but kept driving. When front came back, was still up, and wasn't steamrollered by ambient traffic.

Status symbol? Maybe. Got the Paso because of the "Built for Speed" poster. That blonde was reproductively fit!

Yeah, jap bikes will write their signatures all day long around you. Harley guys will turn to look and wave, but freeze mid-motion, when see it's a "rice-burner." But when parking at Daytona, it's an instant party anywhere. But then, this was before the rich yuppies made it mainstream. Today's equivalent would be the the Apes(Aprilia).

Service? Know guys who set their desmo's, but it's not like a Honda. Luckily, a Feracci wrench (from the Doug Polen WSB days) opened up shop in a nearby small town. To watch him work was truly beautiful. He'd go over the entire bike lovingly, wash then wax, and charge me 0.5hrs shop time on top of parts.

Should be fine for commuting, but you will see your service guy (about 10x frequency jap maintenance). "Dance while you can."