new member introduction and looking for bike

Just registered and thought I would say hello
The names Paul and I live on the Isle of Man
Scratched a Ducati itch last year with a 999 and am converted
I was looking for a more upright naked bike for blasting round the badly surfaced country lanes over here where the super bike is a bit of a handful
Was looking at fazer/hornet/bandit when my missus bless her suggested a monster
Budget is around £1700
If anyone has a bike or knows of one please let me know,still new to all things Ducati so would prefer to buy from enthusiast if possible
Thanks for now
Paul

[Stuart42]

Hi Paul

Welcome.

I can confirm that a Monster is great on the roads you have over there, as have taken mine over a few times.

Do you know Bonzo on the forum, lives just off Quarter Bridge?

Good luck with the search and keep your eyes on the forum as bikes often come up for sale.

Cheers
Stuart

[Darren69]

Yea, good luck and happy hunting there are a couple listed in the for sale now that I've just seen. A nice S2R and a 696, both around the same sort of price. Depends what you're looking and how much for the monster comes in many flavours

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...ad.php?t=49980

Local dealer has 2001 S4,
10k miles
Carbon parts-covers,mud guard,pillion cover
Termis fitted,standard included
He is asking £3100
Bit above my budget but no travelling to mainland to view/buy etc,plus no trade in to be taken into consideration may bring it down
Anyone have any thoughts on bike or price
Dealers website is Paul Dedman Performance
Thanks

[Darren69]

Wouldn't hurt to go and have a look at it. 3100 sounds reasonable with that mileage.

[Dirty]

Hello good evening and welcome

£1700 should get you a decent M600 or a reasonable M900. As you say though travel and shipping will soon bump that up. S4 sounds very fair but if it needs belts and a service you can add a lump to that as well, less if you DIY of course. Advert doesn't go into much detail. Looks clean enough.

http://www.pauldedman.com/Locator.aspx

[Tosh]

Hi Paul and welcome. A monster is indeed a great bike for over here. I'm from Foxdale and have a 2001 M900. I can honestly say it's the best bike I've ever had. Good luck with your search.

[steeevvvooo]

Hello and welcome. As dirty says 1700 gets a good M600 (carburetor) maybe a reasonable 620 (injected) and even a m750 or m900 (both carburetor).

If you want mint, go for a 600 at that price. If you don't mind higher mileage (25-30k maybe) and a little less "pretty" consider a 750 or 900 as there have been bikes for sale in that price range.

Travel and shipping costs may throw all that out of the window though for you unfortunately

[Darren69]

Looks nice and clean.

Prices seem a bit all over the place Pro Twins want 5.5 for this one:-
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ducati-S4-...item3a95cec901

Yet this one is lower miles and only 3.4

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-DUCAT...item20ebfc404b

There are a couple of others on ebay both for 2.7 one with 12k miles and one with 25k miles

thanks for the input guys,have books a test flight on the S4
One more question,do people ride these bikes all year round in all weathers,if so how do they cope reliability wise and cosmetically

[Albie]

We can all meet up next year at the TT then can we. About 6 of us deffo coming over again if not more.

[Darren69]

I don't run mine all year round so I'm not 100% qualified to answer. I'm sure there are some that do. I think reliability wise the S4 is pretty good so should not be too much a problem, the 916 engine is pretty robust if looked after properly. I've had mine for 3 years now and only had a couple of minor things fail. (HT coil stick in rear cylinder breaking down when hot causing misfire, I think it was probably excessive heat killed it) Fitted oil cooler and side ducts as they do tend to run very hot in the summer, winter should not be a problem for that, but front coil stick may be exposed to road salt/water but that would be the case for any Ducati model front cylinder, potentially more of a problem on other models using HT leads as the S4 does not have HT leads and runs a low voltage ignition.

Cosmetically I don't think any Ducati stands up too well to winter use in this climate, salt and water will
soon cause the engine paint to flake off. But it does that anyway, it will just speed up the process.
If you keep on top of cleaning and maintenance you should be ok.

Greetings Paul,

As Stuart42 & Tosh have already mentioned, a Monster is ideal for the IOM.

Its my 16th bike and by far my favourite. Its the engine that gets to me every time . Sure, the bike doesn't like bumpy, badly surfaced roads (& there's plenty of them over here!), but the smooth ones more than make up for it. Not too heavy on the wrists & having no fairing keeps me out of trouble (60 feels like 80).

Let us know how you get on with your demo

Bonz

[Albie]

I had my s4 for I think 5 years nearly. Never any engine issues. Flakey paint an issue with all dukes sadly. Good one rare not to flake. Front cylinder does get water ingress into the coil stick if not checked and advise to check both spark caps. These are the ignition coils.They are £120 plus each so check them for rust inside them. It will only be the front really. Good servicing on the engine is a must with double the amount of valves and cambelts too .
Much else is standard monster stuff other than the Radiator needs a good look for leakage signs. And front fork seals etc
Being a dealer you should be ok hopefully.

[Darren69]

One thing you may notice on the S4 is the cast block handle bars are a bit weird. I didn't like mine at all (looks wise and position) and you can't move them about like normal bars. I ended up ditching them and switching to clip on bars with risers in the end anyway. Its easy enough to switch the top yoke for one with regular bar mounts so you can use conventional bars or you can fit clip ons without changing the yoke.