Ducat ST2
May 2006 to present day

Introduction

  We bought the Ducati in May 2006, we'd been riding the Kawasaki for 4 years and needed a change. Long rides were uncomfortable on the Kawasaki, especially with panniers and tank bag. The seating position for the passenger is too hard on the legs and Karen had had enough. The weight on Dave's arms at legal speeds was tiring and we thought something more suitable was needed. With a list of interesting bikes to think about, we spent a couple of weeks looking at Suzukis, Hondas, Yamahas, BMWs, Triumphs and others, not a Ducati anywhere on the list. We found the ST2 at Thorne Superbikes near Goole in East Yorkshire and after a test ride and a bit of dealing we decided it had more character than the Honda Blackbird we'd decided to reject because it's just another big Japanese 4 stroke. We've owned a few of those over the years and wanted something different. A night in the pub and we'd made our mind up to become Ducati owners and so the deal was done.

  The Ducati in pristine condition, ready for us to take possession, alongside the Kawasaki ZXR 750 which we traded in.

Read about our 2006 tour here, or follow the links at the bottom of the page to see all of our bike trips in date sequence.

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Specification

  Seen here parked outside the Fountain Hotel in Hawes in 2007, the bike is pretty nearly standard and original, a 1999 model with 10500 miles on the clock when we bought it in 2006. The first owner had had alarm, chain oiler and panniers fitted. Since then, it's been serviced and had a Fender Extenda fitted to keep water from the front wheel getting to the radiator. It's also had a Baglux tank cover and bag fitted, along with the panniers that's a lot of gear for 2 people on a long weekend break. We don't intend to do anything apart from service and clean it. I've no idea what tyres it had when it was new, it's currently running Bridgestone BT020 front and rear. Oh, it's got one of those plastic headlight protector things as well, great for killing flies and it comes off when it needs cleaning.

  The engine is a water cooled 944cc Longitudinal 90° V twin, 83 HP, 4 stroke, 2 valves per cyclinder, desmodromic valve operation. It has a dry clutch, which is noisy and makes the whole plot sound a little bit 'agricultural'. The alternative view is that the noise adds to the character, people certainly notice when we ride past and we've had more people come up and talk to us about the bike than with any of the previous 4 strokes we've owned. Most people have a bad habit of asking how the electrical system is holding up, after all it is Italian, I'm sure we'll learn to live with it...

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Living with the Ducati

  The only things we've done so far are to top up the water and the chain oiler, check the tyre and suspension settings and ride. The seat is a bit hard and causes a bit of 'numb bum' until you get used to it so that might get replaced if we find anything suitable, so overall the bike will probably stay pretty standard.

  December 2006, 6 months later and the Ducati has been great, although not without it's faults. Riding it has been great fun, it handles better two-up than solo but that's probably because I can't be bothered to keep fiddling about with the suspension settings. Set it up and leave it is my motto. The brakes are much better since being bled during the summer, I think it still had the original fluid in judging by the colour. I did actually do that bit myself, after all it was nice warm summer evening so it wasn't too much hassle.

  We've used the bike for day trips, evening rides to the fish and chip shop at Bridlington and Dave even uses it for work a couple of days a week. Apart from a slight problem with the clutch and the electrics (see 'Servicing...' below) it's been faultless, and it is a Ducati as people keep reminding me. The performance and handling are great and it's nice to go out to the garage and think, "Were can we go next?", just because we enjoy riding it.

  March 2007, time to get the bike out of the garage and get it ready to ride. Guess what, all of the electrics where playing games, it wouldn't start except by pushing and it mis-fired badly when it did start. A quick call to the garage, one new battery later and it's back to it's normal perfect self. Good job really, there was a moment when I thought about getting another Honda. Having got it all sorted, the weather changed and it started to snow the very next day... Turned out that was the prelude to a very wet summer, still the bike behaved in all of that rain so we're happy.

  February 2008, over 14000 miles on the clock now and the ST2 starts 1st attempt after a damp winter in the garage, with the trickle charger plugged in every now and then. Unfortunately, the weather immediately changed and we've had 2 weeks of freezing fog. A ride towards the end of February has convinced me that the Bridgestone's are going to be junked for something which feels better. The choice seems to be between Pirelli Diablo and Michelin Pilot Road 2. I'm a Pirelli fan after spending the 1980s riding on Phantoms, however the Michelins do get a good review so I might chose them when the bike goes for it's MOT in April.

  May 2008, the Pirelli's won and very nice they are, they just need a bit more bedding in but they're already much better than the Bridgestones which came off.

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Servicing the Ducati

  Lets get this clear, I don't service my own bikes or cars these days, I pay someone else to do it for me. I find dealers I can trust and let them do it, I've had enough of cold dark nights fixing something in the garage whilst the wind whistles, the rain pours and my what-nots turn to ice...

  Shortly after returning from our May 2006 Welsh holiday and with just about 12000 miles on the clock, we started to have clutch and electrical problems simultaneously. Bleeding the hydraulic clucth didn't make any difference so it was back to the dealer for some warranty work. A quick change to the clutch seals worked for a few days, then it all went wrong. Heading for Whitby one sunny evening, we called in to see a friend on the way. The Ducati wouldn't re-start and the clutch was feeling a bit squidgy. Ever tried bump starting a Ducati with a dodgy clutch on a hot summer evening? Sweaty, that's what I was by the time it was running, very sweaty... Back to the dealer for a complete clutch overhaul and we emerged with new bearings, pushrod, seals and piston on the slave cylinder. Whilst it was in, they also sorted the electrics by fitting new regulator and rectifier and it's been brilliant ever since.

  Fitting a new battery in March 2007 reminded me why I don't service bikes these days, remove the lower fairing half, sort the alarm so it didn't blow up when the battery was disconnected, change the battery and rebuild the fairing without losing any of those screws and captive rubber-mounted nuts. It took a couple of hours, gone are the days of just lifting the seat and swapping a battery.

  May 2007 and it's time for an MOT and a service at 12600 miles. The service was fine, nothing more than oil and filters and a thorough check over. The MOT was a failure, but a new switch for the front brake light soon sorted it and we're back on the road.

  April 2008 - another MOT passed without problems, tyres replaced by a pair of Pirelli Diablo Stradas, Front 120/70 ZR17 (32 PSI) & Rear 170/60 ZR17 (36 PSI).

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Our Motorcycles	Portpatrick tour 2004

Pictures and text are copyright © Dave & Karen Petty- All Rights Reserved, please don't copy anything without our permission. Thanks, D & K.