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I did a wheelie today!! ok .. so probs only about 3mm.. or that’s 1/8th of an inch to our fine US chums. ….But it still counts!

The Ducati Scrambler has been an interesting strategy for Ducati to attract a new market without having them commit to being Ducati Purists (whatever that is) or diluting the purity of the main Ducati line (whatever that is). I am happy to see the Scrambler strategy working for them. My first bike was a "Modern Retro Classic" type-thing back in 1990. With 51,000 miles on her now, I rather doubt Honda would make that mistake, again . . . "Ain't she sweet?"

That's a sharp shot, @LowRyter!

I am sure that this is not most people’s cup of tea, and yes it is deco and decadent and those 900cc jugs are audacious, but this has grown on me: For a retro bike I would be inclined to just buy an old bike, a loop frame or Norton Commando or Pan/shovel FLH, but for a new bike this might be fun to ride to the next Oktoberfest. I have not ridden one but have heard that they ride pretty good for being as big and heavy as they are, albeit a pretty low seat.

I'd have the Ducati Scrambler, just because I had a Jupiter 450 waaay back in a previous lifetime.

Not as bad as you think docc. I owned a Ducati ST2 for a few years that I'd bought off a friend and he's always complained about it's vague steering and asked me to take it for a ride and see what I thought. I suspected it was an unevenly worn front tyre. Anyway I ended up buying it from him and used it to commute to work for a bit and it started to display varying front brake lever free play. Come to a stop at the lights after a straight road and a previous straight stop and the lever was fine. After a few bends and use the brake and lots of lever free play. Had me a bit confused until I pulled the front wheel to replace the tyre and noticed with the callipers off the wheel had about 1-2mm of lateral movement at the rim when you tried to twist the wheel. The bearings were badly worn but not falling apart. 1-2mm at the rim is probably only .2 or.3mm in the bearing which means it's totally gone of course but not spitting balls out or anything. Anyway new front tyre and wheel bearings the steering's perfect and the lever free play back to normal. I'd say 90% of the steering issues and 100% of the brake problem was wheel bearings. Badly shot rear wheel bearings on a V11 Sport = clattery off beat vibration/feeling through either foot peg on a floating throttle. Ciao

Always had a weak spot for Scrambler,, flat track looks. There were 3 very beaten up Ducati's in the pile of 180 parts, junk bikes I bought early 90's in Florida. We had a joke, just weld them to the outside of the container. Thought hard to sell, was I wrong, instant gone. Very decent Comando's, Bonnevilles's ++ coud be bought for 1200 1500$. Good times . Cheers Tom.

It took me a frankly embarrassingly long time to understand what was going on with the start relay fix. I refer to it as a royrelay in due deference.

thanks for posting it Docc. It's part of our local Bike Night.

I would definitively get one of those if I could;

Hey Docc, Tks but that's not it,,,, the ones I've seen had sleeker smoother lines on the Kawi green,,, it might have been an older model. idk edit, Hey Docc I took a look online for the model I've seen,,, it's the Z900RS Cafe in the Kawi green with a little fairing. The lines may be a little different or just the color makes it seem that way. For whatever reason. the rad doesn't seem to be as in your face idk

Yep, happened to mySport back in 2014. Ba wheel bearing made the brake pedal weird:

So I brought home my old Italian made mini bike to the house last weekend.

I fell in love with the Guzzi's sound first, at the Vintage Days at Mid-Ohio. A guy with a 70s Ambassador was riding with a guy riding a Vincent Black Shadow and they shared a parking place with me at one of the hotels. They looked as relaxed as me having covered similar distances as me with my GS1100. The Guzzi guy was talking about the V11 as they were newer then. I thought to myself; someday....

So I took the rear brake off, found that it heated up enough to melt the rubber. So I got it cleaned up enough for a rebuild kit. It also left residue on the rear disc and wheel.

Took the “grape ape” V11 for its annual MOT roadworthyness test today. A pass so it’s back on the road after the winter hibernation. Oil & filter changed, but it needs a good tune up,

@FreyZI's sunset Tenni deserves a place here:

This Ciao

Thanks, my man! True to the neo-retro design, when new they were accused of being out of place, under-powered, over-priced, and equipped with obsolete cycle parts. What a delight she is, though! (Both to ride and behold.) And what is the currently available equivalent?

This the best modern retro bike on the market. Smooth, reliable, excellent quality, and amazing value. This is mine. Ciao Ciao

They say you end life the way you started: -Not making much sense -wearing nappies...