The new Ride Talk Share bike
My last motorcycle was an Aprilia Mille. It is by anybody’s standard a brilliant bike, it has a stonking 1000cc 60 degree 130bhp V-Twin engine with loads of grunt through the rev range. Excellent handling and brakes, thanks to it’s development through world superbike racing and a pleasure to ride.
They are also fantastic value for money second hand, you get an awful lot of bike for not much cash!
So why was I looking for another bike? Well there are several reasons but the greatest of these is that it is very easy to go very fast on the Mille. As a matter of fact the Mille doesn’t really like going slow, as it was not designed for this. It was made to go fast and is really happy in that state, as am I. Not crazy fast but fast enough to put my amazingly clean license at significant risk. Tuck in behind the fairing and wind it up in the first 3 gears and your speedo is all too soon in triple figures while the bike gives the impression that it is just jogging along. It’s all too easy. Add to this a little run in recently with the boys in blue where I was very happy and more than a little surprised to be let off, possibly more of that story another time.
I have therefore decided that a naked bike would make it less easy to go license eating fast but which one? I had owned a generation two Honda hornet which was a great bike but I really wanted a twin or a triple. A Triumph street triple possibly? Again a fantastic bike but its postage stamp rear seat a little too uncomfortable for my pillion who also would like to ride the bike sometimes as well. We both like the current retro styling trend so it really came down to two possibilities, either the Triumph Street Scrambler or the Ducati Scrambler. I rode the Triumph first, I remember the old Bonneville’s in the late 70’s and early 80’s, you could always tell where one had been parked by the small pool of oil it left behind. They were usually ridden at the time by a certain type of rider.
We were all into Japanese fours at the time and the old bonnie was not really on out hit list. Indeed it was the butt of many jokes.
The new Street scrambler looks at first sight, like the Triumphs of old, but look closer, and then ride one and you will find that under the retro façade it is actually a very modern bike. No oil leaks here and the bike go’s, stops and corners without any of the vices of a bike from the late 70’s. It’s a really nice bike, but for me it’s just a little too much like the original in styling and I was never a big fan of parallel twins, although the Triumph’s sweet engine almost converted me
If however you love the Triumph “look” then you will really enjoy this bike.
That left just the Ducati, My test ride of which you can read here. Choice of bike decided we set about looking for a nice Scrambler. I had a pretty good idea what I was looking for, a Scrambler Icon less than three years old with less than 2k on the clock. It would also be great if it had uprated suspension and a nice aftermarket pipe. I was in no real rush so I could take my time and find exactly the right one. I looked in the usual places, Ebay Bike trader and local bike shops. A really good yellow icon came up on Ebay with an Ohlins shock and other goodies including the really nice Ducati LED indicators but unfortunately I missed out on that one.
Then a month or two later I saw another good looking candidate on Ebay. It looked like it fitted the bill and even better it was only a short distance away in Walton on Thames in Surrey. I called the dealer MD Racing and it was still available so I arranged to go and see it the next day.
MD Racing is a little tricky to find as it is not on the main road but tucked away up a small side alley. At first I thought it might be a bit “Dell Boy” but nothing could be further from the truth. I emerged from the alley into a large courtyard with a very professional looking car MOT garage and a separate motorcycle workshop with excellent facilities and Ducati factory trained engineers. I was greeted by Mike who I had spoken to on the phone and taken to see the bike.
I must confess that I had pretty much made up my mind to buy the bike after about 30 seconds. Let me give you a description and see what you think.
A red Ducati Icon from 2016 with 1457 miles on the clock. One previous owner who had done a few and I mean a few of these miles in the rain as it needed a light clean. Nothing that couldn’t be restored to better than showroom condition with an hour or two and a bit of a polish. Sounds good so far but here is the best bit. The previous owner had lavished this bike with some seriously nice extras. Shall we begin? It’s quite a list!
- Dealer fitted Termignoni slip on exhaust and engine remap to suite. Click here to see the price on Amazon
- Ohlins DU505 rear shock with adjustable preload and rebound damping. Click here to see the price on Amazon
- Andreani replacement fork cartridge kit with adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Mustang custom seat. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Ducati headlight trim and headlight protection grill. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Ducati Plexiglass fly screen. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Ducati heated grips. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Ducati Tank protector. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Ducati Engine bars. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Ducati Aluminium chain guard. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Ducati Oil cooler guard. Click here to see the price on Ebay
- Ducati Aluminium belly pan. Click here to see the price on ebay
Ducati Side stand support plate. Click here to see the price on Ebay - Garmin Sat nav mount.
- SW-Motech Legend Gear Pannier mounts. (no panniers though) Click here to see the price on Amazon
Oh and Datatag too.
Both keys were there and all the correct paperwork with receipts for all the extras.
(I will put my reviews on the above extras in separate articles when I have used the bike more. i don’t think that will be too long. Just waiting for the weather!)
It started first time and ran perfectly as you would expect for a bike with such low mileage. I took it for a little test ride with a big grin on my face. If you added up the price of the bike and all the bits, the original owner paid over £10k!
I had to wonder why you would spend this much on a bike and then sell it so soon? The only thing I could think of was that he or she was not short of a few quid, Possibly relatively new to motorcycles and wanted a bike to do some serious continental touring on hence the sat nav and luggage. Combined with a bit of off road travel. They then kitted it out for this with all the goodies but possibly later realised that the Scrambler was not the best bike for the job and went out and bought a fully kitted out BMW R1200GS or similar, Taking the expensive panniers with them for the new bike and leaving the mounts on the Scrambler. This is only my best guess but in truth I am just happy that they did and I wish them all the best in whatever they are doing as I have now got a great bike fully loaded for a really good price.
Needless to say we put a deposit on it then and there and arranged to collect it the next day.
Home then, to arrange some insurance which is another tale in itself. You can read about that soon. It’s actually a bit of an eye opener and not what I expected.
Very happy and grinning like a crazy man!
