Newbie, with question
 

Hi Guys n Girls, Looking to take my first plunge into Ducati ownership, Im currenty on the hunt for a 916 with a budget of £4k. There does seem to be quite a choice with varying age and spec at circa that price. So main 2 questions are... What do i look for when buying a 916? & any well known faults?
And i do need to know is the reliability thing part mith?
For sure they are the best looking bike on the road and with myself being 5'6 and 11 st I find i dont look like a Pea on a Drum!!!
Any advice most welcome
Cheers

[Edited on 17-11-2004 by Mr C]

Welcome, Mr C.

This is a topic that's obviously been floated many times.... have a read of this thread with a very detailed post by a wise man known as Shazaam

http://ducatisportingclub.com/xmb/vi...d.php?tid=9331

Also, if you give us a clue where you are then maybe, if you're really really lucky, someone will volunteer to come look at a bike with you.

good choice of bike btw!

welcome aboard, I am sure youll find one for that amount and now the time to buy. good luck with your venture and keep us informed how you go on. ;)

Jezz that was quite a comprehensive list of things to look for, Bit scared now Hee hee (NOT) Think as soo as i get one i'll taake it to a main dealers and get it checked over.
I'm in Chorley Lancs BTW

no need to be scared of that stuff shazaam talks about, it's just a VERY comprehensive list! If they're looked after properly then they shouldn't be any more expensive than the jap 4's

Main dealers.... hmmm..... imo it's often best to seek out a decent independant chappie, but that's just my opinion so take it however you like!. Don't know of any up your way, I'm on the south coast, but someone else might have a recommendation.

Where did you hear about the DSC?

Welcome ..
 

.. recently bought a 1994 916 and have been refurbishing it.

As long as the motor has been looked after the rest of it is a dream to work on if you need to. Plenty of specialist secondhand parts suppliers on ebay too.

You won't regret riding one :D

Henners,

Love your 916 and would like one similar.

Question - before you bought it, were you able to check condition of rockers / cams etc. ?

If not, how did you know that the motor had been looked after ?

Cheers

Bear in mind that you can only check the rockers by taking the cam shafts out and taking the cam shafts out isnt part of the official Ducati service schedule. So a bike that has a full Ducati service history might actually need quite a bit of work doing to it.

Thanks Rockhopper, I think that's the point I was trying to make.

No worries. Mine had flaking rockers after 18,000 miles yet there was nothing in the strainer. It was only when we pulled the cams that we could see what was wrong. If you leave it long enough then the cam shaft gets damaged which will then damage the closing rocker as well.

Unless i was 100% sure that the cams had recently been out then i would walk away or be prepared to spend another £1000 on work.

Welcome and good luck....

Buy one with a TL1000 motor fitted :devil:

I was chatting to someone about that the other day. There was one on ebay a while back. Lovely reliable motor and more powerful than the Ducati although i have heard of a few cases of exploding gear boxes.

:o

STONE THE BLASPHEMER!!

I had a TL1000S two years ago but I didn't have it long enough for the gearbox to explode, as I wrote it off after 6 weeks and nearly myself with it.

Good motor though.

Mr C
At £4k you're not gonna get a bike with super low miles, but the rocker problem is related to poor oil feed when the engine is first started so miles could be irrelevant, its more about warm up procedure. Worse case scenario is it needs some rockers and at £100 each that can be expensive, but worse case I've seen (at Cornerspeed) was like £1000 worth, Nelly managed to aquire some SPS heads complete with perfect rockers and fitted them for about £600, so its not that bad and a performance improvement. My SPS needed 4 rockers at about 6k miles even with good warm up procedure, so just budget for it. If you buy from a dealer get a warranty and get Nelly at Cornerspeed to check the rockers while its still under warranty.
The regulator will fail (£100 odd) the neutral light switch will pack up (£20) the oil pressure switch will go (£20 off I think) the clutch will need replacing at some point (£100 odd) and other stuff will vibrate loose but its all part of the charm ! Go for it - the riding experience is worth it !!! :puzzled: ;)

£1024.55 to be precice Rob! But £600 notes for the replacement heads was a proper good result! :D
And as a result of that I'd agree with what's been said about making sure the rockers have been recently checked.

[Edited on 18-11-2004 by NBs996]

It's not always that bad!

My bike's only needed one rocker in nearly 40,000 miles. And no neutral or oil pressure switches either!
Pattern reg/rect's are about 75 quid.


TBH, I'd have thought that the number of bikes with a "recent rocker history" was very very small. though.
I've seen people on DSC advise: "If the rockers haven't been checked recently, walk away". Surely, if you do that, you're walking away from 99% of the bikes on the market?

From my experience then you have been one of the very lucky ones! Just pop into Nellys one day and look at the pile of dead rockers on the work bench! Mine had three at its last service (but it hasnt needed an oil pressure switch yet!!), robs had a couple, TP had about 8 i think and there have been many others. Just treat it as a consumable but as i said, budget for a few if your buying a another bike unless you are 100% certain.

Buy one, you will never go back to Jap ever again.

That is very true, despite the running costs! I wouldnt swap my bike.

Brilliant bits of advice thanks. I've found one at a R Plated one at a dealers. £3699 yes its cheap and heres why. It has new clocks on it showing 476 miles, so they are unable to Guarentee the mileage. Service history shows belts done at 6000 miles then another service at 9000 (Date stamped sometime 2003) They are selling it sold as seen so no warranty. I'm sure the previous owner can spread some more light on its History.

"sold as seen no warranty" :o

it's Your decision but it could cost you big time if it's a lemon

Yeah i know :puzzled: making me abit twitchy

if they have the log book then ask to see it and ring last owner up cos hes got nowt to lose. I live in blackpool and theres a lad called andy at fylde superbikes and he is a true ducati spotter and does a good job, there is others who work there but demand him. at the end of the day if you aint sure then walk away. the rockers is one of them things I have a 52 plate 748 and needed 2 rockers and theres guys on here with older stuff and never needed any. just keep looking and the right one will come along.

If the dealer is selling it as a road bike, it must be "fit for the purpose" i.e. capable of being ridden on the road without blowing up within a reasonable timeframe. Defining "reasonable" is why we have courts. You'll be protected in law from a complete lemon, but it may cost you time, money and effort to have your consumer rights enforced.
If the dealer won't offer a warranty, he probably feels the thing is a bad risk. Offer £2000 - if the dealer smiles and says "Sold!", just run! :devil:

Mr C.

3 months warrenty is standard at most dealers, if they aint offering this think twice. There are loads of bikes out there waiting for you, take your time like i did and you will find the one with your name on it.

The last owner may say its all legit but the dealer may have raced it, check how long the dealer has had it. No clocks eh, well they are usually the first thing that come off when a bike is raced.

Turn around and walk away. Remember, they are passionate bikes and sometimes this clouds purchasing decisions.

It's a buyers market and there are plenty more of them about

Well im going to have a look and chat with the dealer tomorrow. He wants £3699 for it and says he wont take a penny less as its what it owes them. I actually dont believe him on that one. Anyway Im pretty willing to pay that price just aslong as i can get a warranty.
Im not entering in to a Sold as seen Senario with a dealer.

Welcome aboard Mr C
:sing: