First Ducati
 

A mate of mine found this old photo of my first Ducati - an 851ds from 1990, what a top bike that was, one of those 'wished I'd kept it' but it had to go to make way for a 996 of course.
Anyway what was your first Duke and was it a good experience? Has to be better than my first set of 1-piece leathers!! :D

Hi Rob,

Nice outfits, you both still look cool in them...

My first Ducati was my trusty 900ss that I still ride regularly today. The guy started her up in the showroom (nearly blowing the windows out!) and I did the deal there & then...

The Yamahaa was my second ever bike, many-many years before, check out those boots ;)

Andy

Nice pic Rob!

My first Duc wasn't very long ago. We bought it from Ali as a blown up mess of a thing and rebuilt it in the workshop. Despite being slow and not liking wet weather, it made me fall for Ducati's and I've had them since :)





#31 is me :)

111

My first one is my 900SS - a keeper. Like Andy, I got hooked on the sound before I'd even ridden it! Wonder how many other Ducati owners that applies to?
I'll probably spend some time getting it into the A1 condition it deserves this year.

I'm still on my first Ducati although I've had it over 7 years now. As above, it was the sound that told me I wanted one, I remember staying at a friends house just outside Shaftesbury, just off a road leading out of the village, and hearing some guy on a 916 nail it... Sold!

Is that you on the back or the front Rob?????

My one and only Duc was my 748E. It stayed standard for about 20 minutes until I met a guy selling some carbon out of the back of a van at a trackday (I didn't ask) and it went from there to Ohlins shock, single seat, red mirrors, white number boards, Termi's and on and on until it became a full time track bike - 26,000 miles, expertly fettled by Nelly, it was running better when I sod it than it was when I bought it brand new - no kidding!

You'll have Chris Bushell, Monty and Skidlids along in a moment and the longest thread in history if they start listing their bikes

WeeJohnyB

My first...the ST in this pic. Still got it, but it's not quite as clean now as it is in the photo, because it wasn't quite a year old when that pic was taken.

Same as grib my first was my 620 race bike bought from Mr Spencer, this is on my first outing on it not long after I bought it at the end of 2005 and it was freezing cold but I got the bug for them from that bike :)

wouldn't be that long a thread as I've only had one first Ducati which was a 916, maybe I should write something for Pronto about my initial ownership of a Ducati and where it has lead to.

I think that's an excellent idea Kev, be a good article reading about your love affair with the brand and all the bikes and bits and fettling you do. I always imagined your garage to look like a 1950's spares shop with hundreds of bits n pieces everywhere and only you know exactly where everything is....."yes I've got a left handed dopple flange you can borrow, it's here somewhere, oh yes, there it is"

WeeJohnyB

Sal's gonna kick your arse all the way back to John o'Groats for that mate :lol:

LOL. oh dear, what have I been and gone and done now!?!

No chance of digging my way out then? Maybe it's you thinking the worst Nelly - I was only commenting that if it was him on the back, then he must have lost lots of weight....ok, I'll stop digging

WeeJohnyB

Bit like locating The Corse header tank for Dave998, the one I took off the 998R when making it road legal again, Its probably in one of the big plastic storage crates under the stairs.

Due to this topic I have thought about doing a article or seven for Pronto
based on my years of ducati ownership, 2001 to now, all through that time I have continued with my club racing as well including DD from its inception.
In 2002, 2003 and 2004 I also assisted Adrian Crossan at the TT. attended a few Trackdays, Mega Meets, BMF rallies, Dinners Rideouts etc and even watched some idiot race a TZ250 at Silverstone and Pembrey, well racing it at Pembrey may be a bit of a reach :)
and over those years I seem to have aquired numerous types of Ducati

Chaperter 1 - 2001/2002 My First Ducati (916Bp and 916 Strada racebike)
Chaperter 2 - 2003/2004 The TT years (955 Corse & 996)
Chaperter 3 - 2005/2006 The DD 583 Years (998 Hybrid, M600 & MiniTwin)
Chaperter 4 - 2007/2008 The DD 620 Years (998R , S2R and 1989 project bike)
Chaperter 5 - 2009 An Update

Hope Jools is making notes for Pronto #42!
Btw, was it not Crossan who sponsored Robert Dunlop in some of his 125cc campaigns at the IoM? Any relation?

Yep :cool:

she's more likely to get pi**ed off if I tell you about her boots, they were ex Rocket Ron Haslam and had holes scraped through to the toes! Of course there was still plenty of wear left in em after I applied liberal amounts of gaffer tape and some black polish :D

nice bikes guys ;)

Steve that'll be Pronto 42, 43, 44 and 45, take me a month or two to write each chapter.

Crossan racing did indeed sponsor Robert Dunlop but sadly Adrian isn't related to Crossan Racing.
I did here the Irish lads comment that it was called Crossan Racing as the boss was always crossan the road back and forth to the Pub :)

My early ones....

750ss


916


996

Bet that 851 cost a few bob back then mate..Still got the receipt for my 888...a 1098s is cheaper now !!!!

Here's my first Ducati.Its a 1990 900SS.Pic is from Cadwell '91 at a round of the New Era clubs 'Battle of the Twins'.

Is that a passenger peg I can see
Nice bike for its day

I was thinking it looked like a period piece. You know the kind of thing, "If you could have just one picture symbolising the European sports motorcycle of the early nineties, what would it be?"
Nice pic, Keefy.

Cheers folks,.....yep that is a pillion peg you can see.The bike is bog stock.All I did was unbolt the no.plate,indicators and mirrors,...tape up the lights and go racing.:)

Dug out a piccie of my first......

500 Pantah (well that's what it started life as), ex racer built and ridden by Paul Klatkiewicz. Light as a 250 with about 60ish bhp. Returned back to road trim (ish) by me.
Great bike, stunnin prep' by Paul, amazing sounds and char'd knees when the 40mm Dellortos spat back :)

That was my first duke too!

My first was my 900SS in 1996, followed by a new 996 in 1998, the ST4S (new) in 2001, and the 1000SS (Sparky) in 2006, oh and the 450RT in 2008-still got the last 3.

John

Mine was a 916. I had no interest in bikes at all, and when the old man came home with his first Ducati I fell in love with it. Foolishly he said that if I passed my bike test I could have it. So I did a quicky 4 day course and went home with a full bike licence to make my announcement. And won a brand new Dave916. He was as pleased as punch. Very generous! I couldn;t quite believe my luck going for my first road ride on a superbike! Lucky me!

Started with a '93 900SS in 1994, black wheels gold frame. Never liked the earlier white frame n white wheels models, rather be riding than cleanin' and polishin'.
Still got 2nd one, a '94 900SS and fourth one '98 916SPS, never had the bottle to race or ride a trackday, but clocked over 125,000 Ducati miles now.

Good Man SteveB, get yourself to the DSC trackday at Cadwell - you really will love it and are guaranteed good treatment on & off the track during the members only day.

Here is my first that I have sweated, bled and yes, cried over....

When I found the frame was cracked......it still is !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





But I'll never sell her :)

Frank, that is a beaut! 944cc....that is the same as the ST2, right? Is that how it came about?

I do miss him a lot Steve but, I dont feel comfortable riding him without the frame being welded up properly or even renewed in some way.

The bike had a 944cc big bore kit fitted when I got it, last thing I did before riding him last was to fit Dyna coils and some 41mm FCR Kehins, but that is a whole different world of pain :lol: