- Jun 3, 2011
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so,
I mentioned I did my recent test. as you know I used to have a license, it expired, I never renewed it, it disappeared in the bowels of Italian bureaucracy.
And I did my driving test on two Suzuki SV650. One of them had a really rough engine down at low revs, and under that basically no power at all, which is horrible when y' tryin to do a U-turn test. Genuinely could not drive the damn thing, stalling at traffic lights, bike goes straight on bends, etc. Like I had never ridden before.
The second SV650 was not as bad, but it's still kinda of a bad bike. I had a buddy who owned one oif the first series (these are relatively new models) and that one wasn't any better, although the suspensions are not complete **** now.
But, my point is:
I don't like the multistrada, but once you've driven a ducati, nothing else feels like it. And I would even pick the multistrada over just about anything JUST to have a clutch that works as god intended.
I've been pretty lucky in my life, having driven the 748R (amazing), Honda Superblackbird (also amazing), and honestly the only bike I didn't like was my ridiculously-expensive MV F4 - for a 750 with 120hp, it had no power at all during most of the range, and very hard to handle in any situation that isn't max-rev.
My GPz and Guzzi were honest, hardworking bikes that were totally satisfying (even though they would occasionally lose a piece or two), but the ducati is just on another level. EVERYTHING is perfect, the chassis, the brakes, the gears, the power band, the clutch.
Believe me, I really, really want a 848 or a 1098. But I cannot afford them (coming in at around 6/7 grand used), cannot pay for the maintenance (not trying to further those myths that ducati costs 3x the rest), and I know that they are exactly the kind of bike that gets stolen.
I mentioned I did my recent test. as you know I used to have a license, it expired, I never renewed it, it disappeared in the bowels of Italian bureaucracy.
And I did my driving test on two Suzuki SV650. One of them had a really rough engine down at low revs, and under that basically no power at all, which is horrible when y' tryin to do a U-turn test. Genuinely could not drive the damn thing, stalling at traffic lights, bike goes straight on bends, etc. Like I had never ridden before.
The second SV650 was not as bad, but it's still kinda of a bad bike. I had a buddy who owned one oif the first series (these are relatively new models) and that one wasn't any better, although the suspensions are not complete **** now.
But, my point is:
I don't like the multistrada, but once you've driven a ducati, nothing else feels like it. And I would even pick the multistrada over just about anything JUST to have a clutch that works as god intended.
I've been pretty lucky in my life, having driven the 748R (amazing), Honda Superblackbird (also amazing), and honestly the only bike I didn't like was my ridiculously-expensive MV F4 - for a 750 with 120hp, it had no power at all during most of the range, and very hard to handle in any situation that isn't max-rev.
My GPz and Guzzi were honest, hardworking bikes that were totally satisfying (even though they would occasionally lose a piece or two), but the ducati is just on another level. EVERYTHING is perfect, the chassis, the brakes, the gears, the power band, the clutch.
Believe me, I really, really want a 848 or a 1098. But I cannot afford them (coming in at around 6/7 grand used), cannot pay for the maintenance (not trying to further those myths that ducati costs 3x the rest), and I know that they are exactly the kind of bike that gets stolen.