Ducati 999 - thoughts?

[Davie_GLA]

Been having a think about my first Ducati and like the look of these.

Seen this one fairly local?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281306419313?ssPageName=...

Anyone got any stories / words of wisdom on how they are to ride?

Edited by Davie_GLA on Thursday 10th April 09:29

[podman]

I know they are tipped to be future classics but I just cant get my head around the front end and certain elements of the side on look, the Rs can look pretty funky but im not a fan of the standard model...but what do I know, I like the look of my hayabusa and they are a bit marmite..

Main thing is you like it, I wouldnt care what anyone else thought, if the claimed "full service" included a belt change too, it looks to a lovely example...Is this price fair considering the mileage, condition etc?

[trickywoo]

They are quite a long bike having been designed around World Superbike Racing where the tracks tend to be long and fast and stability is king.

This doesn't translate into road riding very well and the 999 isn't Ducati's best effort.

However, if its just a sunny day bike and you like it why not?

I'd not want to use one around town or for 'mundane' riding.

[bass gt3]

lovely bikes, but if you can, get a 2005 or later model. Much much better than the earlier ones

[dibblecorse]

This is finally being delivered today, its on a van from JHP's as we speak

So I guess I rate them

[dibblecorse]

On the bike in the link, I'd rather buy a properly looked after 10k miles 999 than pay a premium on a bog standard 999 just because its never been ridden, also even the last service doesn't seem to have been done by anyone of note, wouldn't be for me.

[Stone Cold]

WOW never seen a Duke in that livery before (Williams F1 amongst others), looks stunning, just stunning. I think they are under rated and I would love one as a second bike but when I looked at them a couple of years ago they felt way to small for me (I am 6' 2")

[Fleegle]

I took a 999/749 out back to back quite a few years ago and actually preferred the 749 out of the two.

I think the fact the 749 needed ragging brought out how good they could handle straight out the crate compared to the 999, and the noise was better imo

[Freakuk]

It's turning up... finally!!

WRT the 999 I had an R for a couple of years, fantastic bike, I'd have another but I've moved on to a Panigale.

Just get one with decent/full service history... not that many common issues, ones I can think of:-

Coils tend to break down - usually the front one as it's exposed to the elements
Fuel pump relay - Ducati in their wisdom mounted this upside down so water ingress causes it to fail, they're like 50p from a dealer so buy a few (same relay as on the headlights)

Servicing isn't cheap if you go to a dealer, the 1098's service prices reduced heavily over the 999

[B@W]

trickywoo said:

They are quite a long bike having been designed around World Superbike Racing where the tracks tend to be long and fast and stability is king.

This doesn't translate into road riding very well and the 999 isn't Ducati's best effort.

However, if its just a sunny day bike and you like it why not?

I'd not want to use one around town or for 'mundane' riding.

I own an example of all the Ducati models from 916 series upto and including the 1098 and I'm not sure I can agree with this statement; there is a lot of adjustability built into the 999 chassis and its pretty straight forward to get both quick steering and stability if you know what your doing.

Possibly the best handling bike I have ever ridden was the 749R - I was racing a ZX6RR at the time which wasn't too shabby so that's a real compliment as to what you can achieve with a 749/999 chassis.

MD

[TimmyWimmyWoo]

OP: They're lovely things - I had an hour or so to test ride one last year and really enjoyed it. Grunty, loud, surprisingly roomy.

The one you've linked to is an early non-S model, so will be less powerful than an S of the same vintage.

If you find a 2005-on non-S, it'll be more powerful than the one you've linked to (along with loads of other improvements). These 2005-on bikes cost a fair bit more though.

My choice would be a pre-2005 999S. But either way, I'm sure you won't regret it! I keep coming <-> this close to buying one, but then I get on my Blackbird and realise it does everything I need for the moment. One day, one day...

[dukeboy749r]

dibblecorse said:

This is finally being delivered today, its on a van from JHP's as we speak

So I guess I rate them

Swoon

[AdamLoewy]

I had a black 05 999 for 3 years and when it worked it was a truly excellent road bike.

In stock form the chassis is pretty lazy but raising the rear ride height and dropping the forks made a world of difference. Additionally I added a higher foam seat from Pro-Twins, which I helped a lot with the ergo's.

A quicker action throttle from a 996,etc is worthwhile as the standard action is very sllloooooowww.

Engine was stonking, didn't really need anything do to it but a dyno, full system and power commander made it epic and shorter gearing really helped extend front tyre life...

The reliability on mine was pretty poor, at some point it had lived by the seaside and nasty salt had corroded a lot of the electrics, which made a poor starter frankly not bother 50% of the time. After replacing all of the corroded parts, the starting did improve but my confidence in it was tarnished by then.

Mine was at 12k when I sold it and it was the fittest the bike had ever been, so don't be put off by mileage. Photo of it below

[Mr2Mike]

trickywoo said:

They are quite a long bike having been designed around World Superbike Racing where the tracks tend to be long and fast and stability is king.

This doesn't translate into road riding very well and the 999 isn't Ducati's best effort.

However, if its just a sunny day bike and you like it why not?

I'd not want to use one around town or for 'mundane' riding.

My brother has a 749 and it handles extremely well on the road, it's nothing like the straight line machine you are suggesting. The 749/999 are a lot more comfortable than the previous generation machines, and no worse than many other sports bikes. It's also perfectly fine for mundane riding, he regularly uses his to commute to work on.

However, it has suffered from numerous electrical issues though which have been caused by corroded relays and connectors. I'd suggest anyone buying one of these strips off the fairings and gives the entire electrical system a thorough going over, replace the relays and clean the connectors and preserve them with dielectric grease. Since he's done this it has been fine.

One of the symptoms of a corroded connector on my brothers was intermittently dropping one cylinder (not always the same one). It's not fun when you have it wide open to get the remaining cylinder to drag you along and then the other one suddenly kicks in...

[John D.]

dukeboy749r said:

dibblecorse said:

This is finally being delivered today, its on a van from JHP's as we speak

So I guess I rate them

Swoon

I like the 749/999 looks. But lets not talk them up too much as I want to get one some day

[Outliar]

I'd say try one first. Never ridden the 999 as it's looks never appealed, but the design is aging well IMO. You must get a well loved one, with full history.

But try a 996/998 and 1098 first... These are both racier bikes, and great to ride. I now own a 996, but had a 998S as well from new in the past. I tried the 1198 before buying the 996, but preferred the more classic design which was also fast enough for me. I had mine blueprinted by Snells, and reconditioned. Looks lovely and rides like new, despite 17k mikes. Total cost around 7.5k for a cracking bike.

These are not commuter bikes though. 999 is probably the most comfy sporting duke you can buy for this money. But not reliability is not as good as the newest Ducatis, and they don't like winter salt etc.

Good luck.

[GTIR]

dibblecorse said:

This is finally being delivered today, its on a van from JHP's as we speak

So I guess I rate them

Nice.

That bloke on the right looks like he likes them a bit too much, if you get my drift.

[Outliar]

GTIR said:

Nice.

That bloke on the right looks like he likes them a bit too much, if you get my drift.

Hee, hee. Well spotted, I was too busy admiring the bike.

[dibblecorse]

GTIR said:

dibblecorse said:

This is finally being delivered today, its on a van from JHP's as we speak

So I guess I rate them

Nice.

That bloke on the right looks like he likes them a bit too much, if you get my drift.

Ha ha ha, thats Mark 'Mr No Limits' Neate, I cannot speak ill of that man, he is a star

[anonymous-user]

dibblecorse said:

This is finally being delivered today, its on a van from JHP's as we speak

So I guess I rate them

I have never seen a 999 in Martini colours, looks superb, well done!