10000 Km or 6000 miles on an ST3
 

Ducati opened a new showroom in Dublin a couple of years ago. 2 lads in work bought monsters and both have had only minor problems. I stayed well away from the showroom as I knew what would happen. However last summer I wanted a tourer that was above all reliable. Heart was saying Ducati, head was saying Honda VFR or BMW. I tried a VFR, very impressive although the Vtech banging in at 7000 rpm on a bend on a wet road was worrying. I had a blast on an ST4 and while the suspension is better it was hard work to ride in town. After some deliberation in the showroom (all of 5 minutes!!!) the deal was done and I was the proud owner of a new red ST3 with panniers.

I thought the speedo was reading in kilometres on my first spin. Grinning from ear to ear in the ****ings of rain over the Dublin mountains, what a bike. Open the throttle at 30mph at 3500 rpm, the torque sends a shudder right through the bike and you, that gorgeous exhaust note deepens into a growl ( I don’t wear earplugs any more), you wait that millisecond for the power to transfer to the rear wheel and you are gone. You quickly change up at 6000 rpm because it’s still running in, don’t what ever you do look at the speedo and fire it into the next bend! Life is not meant to be this good.

The engine is dead tight for the first 500 miles but soon loosens up so you don’t have to slip the clutch in town. In 8 months I have travelled to London and toured Wales on the way back, did Scotland and all over Ireland. The bike is also used for my daily commute. She uses no oil, does 180 miles to reserve and has never failed to start. The only problems were very minor, a bolt fell off the exhaust, started on one cylinder once, started it again and everything was bang on. The lcd screen tends to mist up slightly in the wet. The numerals on the leaver adjusters show signs of rust. I have left the suspension on the standard settings as I never felt the need to change it. It’s a sports tourer not a 999.

Comfort is first rate. The new 204 seat, peg and riding position allow you to do 250 miles in comfort. I have done Dublin to Cork in a day, a total of 380 miles. Wrists were a bit sore. Faring gives great protection in the bad weather. Needs heated grips. I keep it clean and use wurth chain wax which does not fly off onto the back wheel. I have only adjusted the chain once. I use Shell advance silicone spray on the paintwork and plastics. Tickover seems a bit low at 1200 rpm, I will get it raised at the next service. It takes a while to get used to the dry clutch and it does rattle away. But it is part of the character of the Duke. The tyres have still a fair bit of thread on them.

All in all I am delighted with the ST3 and would highly recommend it to anyone. It looks terrific, goes like a rocket and has never let me down. But most importantly it still gives me a smile from ear to ear when I wind that throttle open!

Micko.

Great writeup Micko - sounds like you're really enjoying it!

:D

i want one:P

I thought the ST3 used a wet clutch,or is that new on the '05 models?:puzzled:
Good report tho!:)

Apparently there have only been 80 ST3's sold in the UK so far.

Nice one
 

Excellent Micko - good to know you're still in love :lol: This month's Bike magazine do their year end write up and some interesting facts emerged. The tester loved doing 10,000 miles on his and couldn't understand why over 1000 VFRs were sold and less than 80 ST3s - I can't either :puzzled: Haven't done too many miles on mine yet but I love that engine. Bike marked the bike down for the value Taz motorcycles gave it as a 'trade-in' which is a shame because they aren't Ducati specialists, they're noted for selling as cheaply a possible and the mileage was very high for a bike less than a year old.

The clutch on the 04 model is dry and is being changed to wet for the 05 which gets better forks and 5 spoke wheels so they're even better value:eureka:

This is what I thought the ST3 would be like. I imagine it is a jewel in the rough and hasn't been discovered by the general public. I love my ST4 so far, but I don't think I could have gone wrong with the 3 for the very same reasons Micko mentioned.
Keep the info coming!

Good writeup Micko-I still love my 'pannier equipped racebike' too(ST4S). I think the ST range are Ducati's secret, most of us who have them love them and keep them. Anthony(Club Sec) is coming up to 40,000 on his ST2 with no major problems-just tyres, wheelbearings etc.

John

I love my ST2 as well.

Could do with the extra power of an ST3 though, sounds like just about the perfect balance of power for the ST chassis.

Actually, never mind about the extra power, I could just do with mine being back on the road....not long now though!

ST's have such poor residual values compared with the rest of the Ducati range its worth waiting a while and picking up a used bargain. My bike lost nearly five grand in three years making it a cracking value used bike.

Yeah But. Even ST's have a value which they won't go below, I've never seen one for less than about 2.5K.

In any case, I intend to keep mine until it falls apart so monetary value is not an issue. It's value is in giving me the thrills, experience and (sometimes) heartache of Ducati ownership.

jools its not falling apart thats the problem.
its you breaking bits then spraying them the wrong colour thats killing the resale value:D

The resale value (according to Bike mag), is a real ****er, in that I accept Im gonna be shafted with servicing costs if I get an ST3, but a 4K drop in value in the first year ? This seems ridiculous.

Is it really that bad ?

Only if you ..
 

.. a) do 11,000 miles b) do £2500 worth of damage by throwing it down the road c) pay full price d) get a silver one :lol:

Who cares. If it is a gem and pleases the owner for several years, that is what matters. I didn't know we rode Ducks for their resale value.

Poor second hand demand doesnt help the used price either. The new price is quite competetive but with only 80 sold customers are hardly falling over themsleves to buy them hence the trade in price suffers which, like i said before makes them a cracking used buy.

Everyone i know with any of the ST bikes loves them to bits, loads of people i know who have never owned one hate them. Its our undisovered secret guys!

Right on Paul!

And what's wrong with orange?

Orange, I didn't know there has been a Ducati Orange since about 1965....

I bought my ST3 new in October last year. I test rode the VFR Vtec before deciding on which to buy.

I must admit I never looked at re-sale values on the basis that I intended to keep the bike for a minimum of 5 years.

Whilst the VFR was a good bike I just felt it was a bit too sterile (and common).

I certainly feel I made the right choice. The ST3 is superb. Sporty yet comfortable and a bit of a head turner into the bargain.

The wife loves going pillion as the seat is really comfortable with a better grab rail than on the VFR.

MCN have rated it the 3rd best sports tourer, behind the VFR and the new Triumph so this could help with the new sales figures and future residual values.

There is also a group test in the next issue of Bike magazine so it will be interesting to see how it fairs against its peer group in that test.

Don't forget you have to take the magazine test's with a pinch(handful sometimes) of salt-they have to be mindful of where their advertising comes from.
EG: when one of the mags(can't remember which one) did a group test of all the sports tourers 4 years ago when the ST4S had just come out they loved it. They had a technique of giving the bikes scores out of ten for all the different parts, handling, comfort, engine, etc etc. Anyway when you added up the scores the Ducati won(by quite a distance)................but funnily enough in their overall rating at the end the VFR was the best bike-go figure.:o

John

aaaaah, how sweet, all the old people together having a chat ..... its just like the "recreation room" at the nursing home .... bless em ....

:lol::P:lol:

Japan is just about to allow two up touring on the expressways. April 1st is the big day. Now I have a young lass who wishes to join me on some of the tours I did and the ST 4 is really the way to go......If that means I am an old geezer, so be it, but she prefers the comfort of the ST to the sportiness of my "younger" SS.

Mad Dog>

Never thought to ask about that before: didn't Japan have laws that made it very difficult/expensive to run a bike over 400cc?

How do you get round that?

Are there many big bikes (apart from the police:o) in Japan?

[Edited on 16-3-2005 by moto748]