Please enjoy this guest post from Marty who is a regular commenter on the site. He takes on a brief departure from the regular low mileage living room examples we typically post and presents two budget entries that you can ride and enjoy as-is. Thanks for the writeup Marty! -dc
Now that Ducati is being pursued by Audi, its renaissance seems complete. Many people now consider owning a Ducati as proof that they are a connoisseur of motorcycles, believing the company to be able to do no wrong. They point to the company’s ability to repeatedly produce highly desirable bikes such as the 750ss of the 70’s and the 916/996 of the late 90’s, etc.
But for those of us who can still remember the early Ducati’s of the 80’s and 90’s, the tale is a bit more inconsistent. For every 851 and 888, there was a 750 and 907ie, plastic wrapped bulbous bikes with fairings you couldn’t see through, bikes that seemed to be trying to straddle the sportbike and touring lines. Produced when Cagiva owned the brand, most of my friends considered these bikes “too weird looking” at the time and with an “Italian” reputation when it came to reliability, they weren’t given the respect they should have been.
Here we have auctions for two of these era bikes, a 750 Paso and a 907ie. Both show evidence of having actually been ridden as opposed to being a garage queen like many modern Ducatis are. Prices are pretty low but are in line with KBB estimates so maybe a RSBFS reader will take a bit of leap and revisit these along with their youth?
-Marty
I actually rode a 750 Paso once. ick! That Webber carb was a disaster. I cannot remember the last time a rode any motorcycle and did not enjoy it on one level or another. I think the manaufacterers in the game stopped bringing BAD bikes to market 3 decades ago. Never the less, I was shocked at how bad the driveability was on that Paso. And that was a bone stock well maintained example. The owner babied it and was in love with its looks. He was the most unaggressive rider I ever met and the performance was acceptable to him. Switching from my CBR600F3 to that paso was bitch slap of a reality check.
My understanding is that the 907 was the remedy to 750 version. I would consider the 907 but that 750 needs a new owner with some engineering talent in addition to the requested cash.
These have always been “Love ’em or hate ’em” bikes. I’ve always been the latter 🙁
Joel
Actually, people figured out the problem with the Weber carb- there was no need to go to the expense of a Mikuni. All you had to do was upgrade the fuel pressure regulator!
Had one with Dellorto’s…….rode the hell out of it for many years. Had an NCR pipe on it and I still say it was the best sounding bike I ever heard in my life. I really enjoyed it. The first of many Ducatis for me as a result.
Definitely need to adjust or ditch the twin-choke Weber if you get a 750-906 carby model. 907 Injected don’t have that problem. This was basically the forerunner of the ST models (specifically the ST2 – liquid cooled, 2v motor which began with the 906)
Once fueling is sorted they are pretty decent if not spectacular. Some crazy folks have tuned them for serious power, the 906-907 motor is a good base for mods.
I find they have aged well; they have a sort of proto-851 look to them that I like. Then again I like cinder-block 80s styling in general, so what do I know.