Thinking of selling ??? UPDATE ?
 

After only managing to do about 900 miles in the last year due to ill health I am considering selling my 749R.
I have ME along with a minor heart problem that leaves me absolutely wrecked after being on my bike and with a lot of weight being on my arms I am finding it very hard to ride any distance without severe discomfort.
I was going to buy some bar risers to see if that would help but do not really want to spend any more with the bike costing virtually £17,000 !!!! when I might be unable to use it anyway.
The spec is as follows,
Ducati 749R 2004/04 1800 very dry miles, Full carbon model.
Polished Termignoni exhaust with carbon cover, ecu and filters, Sargent carbon look seat with Italian flag logo , Alloy Fuel Cap, Carbon fork top adjusters, carbon hugger,carbon front mudguard, carbon tank pad cover,carbon seat hump cover,carbon sprocket cover, carbon heel plates, carbon exhaust guard, Dark tint DB screen, white front number board, clear lights set with LED rear light,Hand made Ducati Corse frame plugs , Alloy clutch cover with window, Fast By Ferracci Slipper Clutch, small alloy number plate holder.

I have listed the bike here to try,
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/49617.htm



[Edited on 6-9-2005 by iang]

Ian,

Very sorry to hear about your health problems. I contracted (caught? acquired? Whatever) ME back in 1996. It took me over 5 years to get back to anywhere near the state I was in before-hand, but I am now 99% recovered. I'll send you a U2U with some details of things that helped me (Apologies if you have "heard it all before").

Regarding the bike, can't give you much idea of the value, but I hope you decide not to sell...you CAN get on top of ME, and a 749R sounds like a pretty good incentive!

All the best,


Ian

Cheers Ian, yes would appreciate any advice from a fellow sufferer.
Doctors says do a bit more each day but when i do try and do a bit more I am completely wrecked the next day.
Even going on the bike,once I get home and 'try' to get my leathers off I feel drained and am more often than not asleep on the settee in front of the tv by 8.30.
I will see how it goes and I would like another bike, its just having the sort of bike that makes me so uncomfortable after every ride just doing nothing most of the time makes me think of buying something more comfortable and cheaper

Its a gorgeous bike, if it was mine, I'd be gutted to sell it!

Now...if only I could spare some cash! :D

I've just bought a new 749 and would like some goodies. Would you sell any parts seperatly? Are some of the original 749R parts you've replaced better than those on my 749? A slipper clutch is at the top of the list if you'd sell me one.

I would also luv some of those bits for my 749r especialy the sargent seat its a top item but i do understand if u want to sell it all together and im also sorry to hear about your health props.

Good luck , I've been advertising mine for £10k for weeks now , not one phone call :sniff:

£10k and no takers ?????????

On a bike that was £14k only a year ago, apparently the most desirable model in the range, limited edition,sought after, full carbon ??
What is going on with Ducatis, does no one want them any more or what ?
My local dealer has one up for £11.5k completely standard and has just sold one a couple of weeks ago for the same price, another two were in MCN for £11,995 at dealers, so how come at £10k you have not sold it ?

Even a proton keeps its value better than that !!!

[Edited on 1-9-2005 by iang]

I know of one or two 04 models which were sold for 11K new with a full leo vinci system in the deal.

Unfortunately it's a buyers market, weather has been crap and it's verging on autumn too I guess now, as has been said previously if you can afford to persevere with it, it's a great bike :D

I've seen secondhand bike prices drop hugely this year, you can get early ZX12R's, 02 plate R6's and mint Hornet 900's for as little as 3 grand. Older bikes are almost worthless you can pick up decent Ducati 900ss's for under a grand.
By the way I'm still interested in some of your bits especially a slipper clutch if you'll split them.
Sorry about your illness, if I was you I'd keep the Duke and enjoy it when you can. It's a hell of a bike even just to have in the garage.

Out of curiosity I emailed a few dealers today just to see what they were offering in the way of p/ex for something more comfortable.Most did not reply, some would not touch a Ducati for some reason and a couple were taking the p**s
I was offered a new Honda CBR1000RR ( uk ) plus about £1200 back for my bike from one dealer with all the bits taken off, which I think I could possibly get about £1500 or so for. ( Subject to them all selling )
My brother has a new blade and it is much more comfortable on my arms with nowhere near as much weight on them but after looking at my bike in the garage I personally do not think anything would look as nice as the Ducati so I really do not know what to do, get something more comfortable and some cash back, try and sell the bike privately, or get some bar risers and hope I get better sooner rather than later.
I really am dissapointed in the way Ducatis seem virtually impossible to sell when at one time people would do anything to own one, what the hell is happening ???????

They are not winning as many races , the races they are winning are not being televised live by the beeb anymore and the japanese competition is so much better now.

Back when the 916 was king it could hold it's own on the road with blades and ZXR's , todays 999 is still too expensive compared to a K5 or an R1 and miles behind on performance :(

oh , it also doesn't help that everybody (including Ducati) is offering interest free finance on new bikes , why buy a 2nd hand bike with your own money when you can have a brand new one with free money from someone else , leave yours in the bank and collect the interest ;)

Yeah the 999 doesn't represent great value for money even for a Duke. Acceleration's about the same as a 749 and top speeds only up by 10mph. Handling, brakes etc are the same so for an extra 3 grand you don't get much for your money.
Anyway I'm still interested in some bits, you havn't said wether or not you'll sell any of them.

If I do decide to sell the bike I would prefer to leave it as it is as it would be a shame to take it to bits again, but if someone made me a decent offer for it standard I would sell all the bits separately.

Just thought, If I sold the clutch I will need an old standard clutch off someone as I sold my original clutch that came with the bike ? or p/ex it with the buyer.

Still do not know what to do, The dealer that had offered me a blade and £1200 back seems to have backtracked I think, even then it was only working out at £9000 for my bike as he had offered me the blade for £7800 anyway.

then how much will you loose on the blade in one year :barfy:

I have been offered a Repsol blade plus £3000 cash for my 749R, the Blade is nice and is more comfortable than mine but I do not know if I will be making the biggest mistake of my life ( apart from women ) or whether it is a good deal financially as the blade is much more saleable apparently ??

Just a thought, but if you were going to give up riding altogether, I would say sell the 749 and swallow the loss...the last thing you need at the moment is "Shall I sell it? Shall I keep it " stress...do the deed and move on.

BUT...

If you still want a bike , because riding gives you pleasure and you need all the positive vibes you can get, then surely its worth a couple of hundred pounds punt trying out some cycle-cat risers or similar?

If the risers don't work, and you still think a UJM is going to be more useable for you, recent posts seem to suggest that you could sell the risers on via this forum at a minimal loss, and you could then go down the UJM route.

I can't help thinking that you have lost most of the depreciation on the 749 already...if you do a swap to an IL4, the only one who is really going to benefit is the dealer. When you get on top of the ME (sorry, my "how I beat ME email" is on its way...its just harder to write than I thought) A 749R in the garage will be better than a Fireblade.

Best of luck whatever you decide, but it is a rotten market to be selling a bike at the moment and, if you can do without the cash, that 749R is going to be worth more in a few years time than a 2005 Fireblade.

I've never bought a slipper clutch before, but the ones I've seen have been between 500 and 600 quid new. How much was yours and what sort of money do you want with my standard clutch?
How hard are they to swop? I've changed them on jap bikes which was a doddle, but never on a Duke.
Where do you live? I'd be willing to ride to you with cash and either swap them myself or we could roll them into your local dealers to do the work which I'd pay for at the right price.

I'd also be interested in the carbon hugger, sprocket cover and exhaust guard.

Well, you all know that I have been considering selling this 749R because of the discomfort I am experiencing and I had been offered an 05 Repsol Blade + £3000 cash for it.

I had the chance of a 30 mile try on a Repsol balde yesterday and here are my thoughts.

The bike looks nice with great build quality and when sitting on it stationary it feels comfortable with a soft seat and reasonably high bars.

Once on the move I immediately was aware that it feels 'big', my knees were pushed apart by the very wide tank and I felt that I was sitting on top of the bike rather than 'In' the bike like the Ducati.
Accelerating away it was very smooth and pulled away at warp speed but to be honest I much prefer being able to use all the power of the Ducati rather than the blades surge higher up especially when exiting corners, on the Ducati I can power on about 3/4 round the corner while on the blade it felt twitchy until it was up straight then it easily spun the wheel which was a bit scary, especially when it is not your bike !
Coming into corners I personally felt as though the front was a bit vague and I felt nowhere near as confident as I do on the Ducati, maybe this is why I can virtually go underneath this bike in corners when I am on my Ducati.
Also every time I braked I slid forward and felt as though I was going to end up on top of the tank which again felt strange.
As for comfort I found my arms were a lot more comfortable but the footrests were very high and as I said my legs felt pushed apart and were constantly up against the sides of the tank.

Overall the Blade felt nice and rode quite well but it was not in the same league as my 749R.
Maybe like all new bikes it would only take a short while to get used to it but I do not want to do a deal and think later "What the f**k have I done "

My wife saw the Blade and my Ducati next to each other and she said that in her opinion the Ducati looked 10 times the bike that the Blade was and that if I was that sure of what I was doing I would not be hesitating which should tell me something.

When I look at the figures, the guy wants £8000 for the blade and says that he will give me £3000 cash so £11000 for my bike sounds quite good ( well as good as losing nearly £6000 in 12 months can be ! ) but what I have been trying to figure out is what would my bike be worth next year ?, would I ever get the chance of £11,000 again ?, then again what would a Blade be worth next year especially so a race rep which seems to be unwanted once the colours etc change and is it worth the £8000 asking price now ?

I am very drawn to keeping my bike and hoping that the market for the 749R picks up as it really is a very special bike and probably something I might never be able to afford again with this spec, but I will have to buy some bar risers or I am in the same position as before so these will cost around £200, plus the bike is due its 1st year service so that will probably be another £200 to £300, so If I look at it this way it might work out at near enough £11,500 for my bike if I done a deal.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????749R

[Edited on 6-9-2005 by iang]

I think the market for 749R's may pick up, but not until the market for all bikes picks up.

What we're dealing with is normal economic cycles, not exactly boom and bust, but a cooling of the housing market that was in turn fuelling a big remortgaging and credit boom that was enabling people to go shopping.

Now the High Street retailers are reporting their 5th straight month of downturn in sales (so they are officially in recession then) which goes to show that people are pulling in their horns and are either refinanced to the max or trying to reduce things like credit card debt.

So if the bottom has dropped out of the market for Marks & Spencer's pants (fnarr, fnarr) then it's not surprising that big ticket items like motorcycles will REALLY be suffering. That's why all the dealers and distributors are slashing prices and offering interest free credit, in turn knocking the stuffing out of the whole secondhand bike market.

But, put it this way. If you cash your bike in for a Fireblade plus a bit of cash and come next spring there is a turn in the economic tide (we can only hope) what will the Fireblade be worth then? Two parts of sweet FA I would guess.

You say you've already lost £6K on the 749R on an 11K deal :puzzled: I thought they were only around £13.5K new which would suggest that the extra £3.5K you 'lost' was in trick bits? Could be wrong about that but the sad truth is that bikes that are tricked up to the nines are never worth what the extras cost you...better to flog the bits seperately.

If the driver for taking the deal is health then you may have no choice, but if you can hang on to the R that's what i would do. How much for a full carbon 749R compared to a Blade of the same age in a couple of years?

[Edited on 6-9-2005 by Jools]

Keep the 749R. You know what a fantastic bike it is. Otherwise you would have swapped it straight away. Like somebody else said above, it can be something to look forward to when you get better.

I would rather ride 30 miles on a 749R than 150 on a blade.

I hope you GWS

2004 blades are now changing hands for £6.5k, and 2003s for £4.5k. The three grand in cash will be long gone in two years, and you'll be left wondering how your pride-and-joy 749R turned into an unwanted £4.5 IL4.....

The 749R is one of the most desirable bikes you can buy, regardless of cost, but the depreciation was always going to be savage. As an example, the 911 turbo is possibly the most saleable porker ever made, has reliability and resale values Ducati can only dream about, but they still drop £15k in the first year. Owning a new piece of luxury is an expensive business.

I'd say keep it if it won't nail you financially. It's just a world apart from anything produced in the far east, not only different but genuinely better in the real world. If it doesn't fit then do what's necessary to make it fit, it'll cost next to nowt and you'll be 100 times happier.

Just my £0.02.

Cheers,

Ali

might be a touch more than that on a 749R at a dealer

Keep the 794R.

If it's confort you want get a cruiser, not a blade

Personally I hope bikes continue to get cheaper as that means I could keep my 749 and have more bikes. I'm up to 3 at the moment, you can't have too many to play with.
And I'm speaking as someone who's had 6 brand new bikes in the last 12 years so I'm no stranger to depreciation, but since bikes have been generally cheaper over the past few years overall I've found that it has worked in my favour. No way could I have bought a Duke at the prices they were a few years ago.

Well I have turned down the guy with the Repsol Blade and have decided to stick with the 749R and fit some bar risers.

I like the look of the cycle cat ones, they are $355 and come with replacement reservoirs ? ( I think )

They have a uk distributor ( spareshack ) who is getting me a uk price which will save postage but I was also wondering if anyone else was interested and I will see what deal he will do for multiple/bulk purchase ?

Wise move i think, BTW i don't think the Blade (repsol or not) would have been worth anywhere near £8000. Heli bars transformed the comfort of my 996 which are supposed to be more uncomfortable than the 749/999's

[Edited on 7-9-2005 by BDG]

Hi Ian,
We may have crossed paths on another thread about bar risers. I am definately looking to get the cyclecat ones for my 999 see thread - http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/xm....php?tid=22944
I have been in contact with cyclecat directly and their sister company. No adjustment to the idle is necessary BTW.
Let me know the cost of them through Spareshack. If they are cheaper in the states and you can wait until early November, u2u me.
KP
:roll:

KP, I have seen the other post and left a message there.
As soon as I get the price from Spareshack I will let you know, he quoted about 2 weeks for delivery.

BDG, You are correct about the price of the Blade, I thought that with it being current ltd edition that £8,000 seemed fair but when I have asked around the dealers want 05 model Blades for around £6,500 to retail at under £8,000 Repsol or not and a couple also said that race replicas are usually poor sellers once the colours change although with the Blade being official it might not be so bad. Apparently the guy had been offered £8,000 against a brand new 999S so I suppose if he is buying a £14,000 bike then £8,000 is not a lot really ?

So maybe if he had offered £4,000 + the Blade I might have been tempted but as my Ducati dealer said if I got the Blade to get out of the Ducati then wanted to sell the Blade straight away what the hell would I buy !!!!!!!!!!

[Edited on 7-9-2005 by iang]

iang. If you think a Blade is the anser to your problems forget it.

The build is iffy to say the least and the dealers are totally unable to solve even the simplest problem. I've been in your position and made the move to a Blade. DON'T DO IT!!!!! Keep the 749R (unless you want to swap??)

:burn::burn::burn::burn::burn::burn::burn::burn:

Macclad,
So did you go from a Ducati to a Blade and what were your views on changing to an IL4.
I presume by your remarks that you are not happy with the Blade but still have it ?

Iang, I've had a couple of Ducatis, the first a 916 had for three years and 18000 trouble free miles, that went for a 996R which I loved, but bled me dry, so off she went. So yep, now I;ve got a blue RR5. Can't say I'm really unhappy with it cos it is a great bike, just had a spot of dealer trouble yesterday that left me a litttle grumpy!

To be honest the Fireblade feels a little like a 916/996 to ride, slow to turn but incredibly stable, Its got all the power and torque you could need, great brakes and looks good (although not in the Ducati sense!).Its also very cheap to service which means more cash for trackdays/tyres etc.

After a stealth K5 now.:):)

Macclad,
The black K5 is like rocky horse turd to find and there are apparently no K5s left in dealers, my two local dealers are waiting for the K6 to arrive october/november but the colours are not great compared to the black.
My local dealer has a black/yellow one for sale £8k but personally I think it looks crap in that colour, needs painting all black and a Racefit exhaust fitted. They sound like a GP bike, I have never head anything like it !!

[Edited on 9-9-2005 by iang]

Iang
Sorry to hear your news.

I too have had health problems but in a twisted way it has done me the world of good. I now appreciate my family and life in general much more than I ever did before. Even now, if I feel a bit down, I go into a churchyard and say to myself '' well at least I'm up here and not down there!'' Works every time!

For what it's worth my advice would be to never try a deal similar to the one you were offered. I did this a few times in the past and ended up with either a another bike which I could not sell, or just plain worse off than if I had simply sold the original bike for the best price I could get at the time.

Would a monster be the answer, or something with a fairing to keep the windblast off? I had a wing for a while and found that I could ride for far longer than with an unfaired bike. ( Not sure if I should have admitted to that one on this board )

Good luck for the future mate, as I know how serious illness can change your outlook on life.

But like a few people have already said, having something to keep you focused, (ie a fab Ducati), really helps.

For what it's worth, i would say youv'e made the right choice in keeping it!!!

Good luck mate!!:cool: