Update 1.2.2019: The bike has SOLD! -dc There is no other way to put this: If you must have the ultimate expression of BMW’s iconic two-cylinder boxer engine, the 2009 BMW HP2 Sport is your only option. The engine has been in rafts of special, technologically perfect, desirable machines, but it was never so focused,…
I appreciate simplicity. Simple HVAC knobs on a car’s center stack. Black coffee. Bikes like the Ducati 900SS FE. Modern technology is great, but if you’ve seen the new Ducati Panigale V4 with the bodywork removed, you realize that the cost is massive complexity and the knowledge that, if something goes wrong once the bike…
The 1990’s were a heady time for Ducati, with the 851, Paso, 888, Supermono, and 916 all realizing their potential. Meanwhile, the sporty-on-a-budget 750 Sport that helped keep the company afloat in the late ’80s is all but ignored. This eastern Duc has been ridden extensively but probably not much lately. It has the early…
When you think “high speed touring” the usual suspects usually begin with BMW and then taper off quickly towards some muted, former sportbike, Japanese road missile (think Connie or otherwise). All good choices, to be sure. But if I challenged you to narrow your answer to cover the 1970s and 1980s, what would you say?…
The 1980s were a period of gestation for Ducati, hitting their sportbike stride with the move from the bevel drive motors to the now-ubiquitous rubber belt-driven desmo valve train. And while Japan focused on technology such as four valves per cylinder, liquid cooling and a constantly changing array of multi-cylinder configurations, Ducati stuck to what…
The ( original ! ) owner of this 900 SS/FE must’ve been at the dealer in late 1997 to have cadged chassis number 016 of 300. The end-of-model commemorative had mostly the best of the 900SS years, and where Ducati left off, this owner has updated to even better. 1998 Ducati 900 SS/FE for sale…
Update 10.18.2018: This bike has SOLD! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc If you gaze upon modern motorcycles today and think that they are all starting to look alike, you’re not alone. There is a certain #metoo movement in current motorcycle design. But cast your eye back a few short – like 40 – years…
Hard to believe it was just 1968 when engineering director Fabio Taglioni put Ducati’s street eggs in the desmo basket, having used the valve actuation technique in race machines for several years. The Mk.3 line included 250, 350, and 450cc singles, and while this last-year model hasn’t run in a while, its low miles and…