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[Midnight Rider]

Happy that you are happy!!

Financial issues are never any fun, but things have a way of working out, most of the time.  I have never, and will never, have enough money on hand to go write a check for any vehicle, regardless of purpose.  That's just the way it is.  Most of the people I know cannot do so either.

Need some pics of the new bike when you get the chance and keep us informed as you get used to the bike.

[Buy early]

Congrats on the new scoot! Enjoy the ride!

[GtreetSlide]

Say what?    That has to be the strangest thing I've ever heard happening while riding a bike of any type.  Even the old air cooled Ducatis had ample power and response from 3500-8000 RPM.  That's a pretty wide margin of RPM with a 6 speed transmission, and I cannot imagine not being able to find the engine's happy spot with gear ratio and power band like that.  I think that had more to do with the rider being either unfamiliar with the bike, or simply refusing to downshift the bike when needed.  The same would be true of ANY bike...brand has nothing to do with it, and rider ability does.

He was in first gear at speeds between 5mph and 25mph most of the way. My HD did not overheat and I was right there with him???

[Phantom309]

Here's a shot at the dealer.

[Phantom309]

Here it was parked next to big blue with me trying to figure out if I could live with the different looks.

[Phantom309]

Another

[Phantom309]

Close up of the nose.

[Phantom309]

This shows the virgin rubber scrubbed in a little after it's one and only test ride. The tires saw nothing but carpet time on the showroom before I took it out.

[TinSpinner]

Very nice! Like that color combination and the nose looks wicked.

[Phantom309]

A close up under the tail ... look at all that suspension travel. If I remember right, I think it's 6.7" front and rear.

[Phantom309]

First fill-up, I also topped it off to the neck prior to this. Pretty impressive mileage considering I put it through 134 miles of city riding with a heavy wrist.

[Phantom309]

Only a little over 200 miles on the clock so far an every mile I love it more. Here's a few MINOR (and my only) dislikes so far ... Headlights light the road like a stadium at night EXCEPT for aggressive riding through the twisties, my Road Glide would shine further in the turns with the high beam. Nice thing is ALL the lights stay on when you use the high beam. With all the thought and engineering Ducati put into this great machine, they should've relocated the driving/fog lights to the lower fork area to alleviate this problem.

 Top box and bags require the use of the key any time you wish to open or close them, but no biggie ... you can't forget to lock them this way unless you would leave your key in one of the locks, lol. The latching mechanisms are tricky at first when you're used to a Harley, gets easier once you play with them a bit.

Lastly, I mentioned a slight buzzing or small vibration right at 3500 rpms. I was feeling around trying to locate it with no luck ... thought it might have been the springs for the windscreen adjuster but no. This is what impresses me when I took it up for my sticker the next day. I don't get the usual "they all do that, nothing to worry about" ... instead they tell me they ran into this maybe a couple other times. It's actually some piece of metal or shield poorly attached to the throttle bodies which can only be fixed for $2,2000 (under warranty) by replacing the throttle body unit. It doesn't bother me THAT much, I said no way are you taking this for a whole day and getting into my brand new bike for such a petty issue. I just speed up/slow down or go up or down a gear to stay away from the buzz.

I'm very happy with the bike so far and my first encounter in service. Good thing for the windscreen because every time I ride this my teeth would be full of bugs without it. You'll know if you see me because this thing will have your cheeks sore from smiling so much. Oh well, enough babbling ... time for another smile.      

[fresch]

Beautifull bike, lets go riding sometime, I'll meet you somewhere on rt40east in pa. Have fun, you took the wrong week off didn't you

[Phantom309]

Thanks guys, loving it even more with every mile. I just got home from this morning and headed back out again now ... no rain so I'm taking advantage of that.

[Phantom309]

Beautifull bike, lets go riding sometime, I'll meet you somewhere on rt40east in pa. Have fun, you took the wrong week off didn't you

I was just on rt. 40 today in pa. and wv. How's tomorrow for you? I'm still doing pretty good dodging the rain so far, a little over 400 on it now. I'm dying to see that streetfighter, mine isn't going to be sitting too much for a while. Let me know on here or leave a message on my cel.