Ducati 04 ST3 or 03 ST4

I don't neeeeeeeeed the panniers - but I have to have them.
You see I did two deals, one with the bike shop and one with the wife.
Her part of the deal was get the panniers or leave the bike - seems a good
enough payoff to me.
As for the money side of things - I've ridden for 25 years and never had a
bike over $3000.
Worked hard, raised a family and saved for years so now it's my turn.
Jarrett.

 

lot??

I'm talking to someone who's considering buying a Ducati... : )

I love my '98. Still hasn't leaked a drop of oil since new, paint is
top-notch even after years in the NQ sun.

Only bad thing about the quality is the some hazing in the screen (only just
started) and one of the two fake carbon fibre bits in the fairing is
peeling. I wanna replace 'em with real c/f ones when money permits...

Everything else is ace. Only reason I wouldn't buy a new one is that I
reckon the 96-01 models are the best looking.

Doug Cox.
Work to ride, Ride to work...

 

Dave, I think J5 is offering a franchise for the *eski* - low rates
too

John

 

A three-valve twin-plug V-twin! Let's see the Japanese copy that!

-----sharks (XLV750 ... sooooo 15 years ago ...)

 

CAV.Dott.Ing.HatzOlah® wrote;

I hate it when you get root-warts...
Clem

 

<chuckle> Shhhhh you'll upset Hatz....

JL

 

I did read it again
You still gave a motorcyclist CAR advice.
Despite the detail it was useless.
Others answered the question better than you.
Do us all a favour
Get a fucking bike and RIDE it then maybe you may get a bit of respect
when you talk bikes in here and not be the subject of constant ridicule.

 

....and i know that route warts and all

Ever consider getting glasses Clem?


Mike.S

 

glasses wont help warts...even pretty girls have em

 

Yeah I couldn't wait.
Paid the $19500 for the 03 ST4 and have a choice of any 2 new helmets at
half shelf price, with any other gear at 20% off. The open face I've been
using on the BSA is just plain dangerous. Although I havn't gone to pick up
the bike yet, the people at the Launceston dealership have been very
helpful. I guess this is to be expected during a sale, but they were never
pushy a didn't hassle me with follow up phonecalls while I was undecided. If
their service remains at this level after the sale then I'll be a happy
camper. I also got quoates for the servicing and have been told to expect
$250 for the 1000Km and $350 every 10000kms after that ( or was it the other
way around? ), although I'll change oil and filter every 5000kms myself.
This sounds cheap (maybe too cheap), compared to what others told me to
expect so I'll post here if they keep their word on these prices. Won't have
time for the Tassie toy run this year but next year will be a different
story ( havn't been since about 1989 ).
Gotta go take a panadol, I've had a stupid grin on my face all day and it's
starting to hurt.
Cheers
Jarrett.

 

congrats

get the service quotes in Writing as it doesn't
seem quite right and ask em about the 20K service

enjoy

 

Yeah good idea I will.
Is the 20K usually extra?
I've been told to expect around $600 plus for services (even as high as
$800) so the price quoted seems too good to be true.
Jarrett.

 

20K will include belts bout $200 for belts and depending on the service
schedule it might be the first valve check

 

You will be a happy man I've had my ST4s for about 14 months now,
and still love it more every day 11,000 on the clock, and it is
going the best it every has. After about 6000k or so I did notice the
motor loosening up a little (which was an interesting experience - this
is my first brand-new motor too, and I never really knew what people
meant by that until now The gearbox has been fairly stiff too, and I
had real trouble finding neutral when running for the first 7000 or so -
but since around 10000 it slots into neutral just fine (even if the
light occasionally doesn't agree) and feels wonderful.

I saw your other post on the panniers. I just (yesterday!) got a
"bagster" cover and bag for it. The cover looks good and fits well, so
I think it will spend most of the time on the bike protecting the paint.
A very nice system, and worth looking at for your trips. ~450 for
cover and bag, if I recall correctly - took about 10 weeks to deliver!

Mine is the 4s, so I think more expensive for these services. For mine,
the 1000 was "major" (I think that means adjusting all the valves), 5000
minor, with 10,000 and each following 10,000 major. I wangled the 1000k
service in with the deal, and only found it was an expensive one later

My recent 10,000 was $112 parts, and $595 labour (8.5 hours) - Moto-One,
Melb. I don't care - it is worth it New front tyre at $200 added
insult to injury - the Pirelli's they use are soft - the rear only
lasted 7000.

Interstingly, they replaced a rocker under warranty, as the hardening
had come of. An S4 Monster in the same day had the exact same thing
done. On the good side, (a) they noticed meaning they did *something*
and (b) they bothered doing it and making the claim. I would never
have known. They showed me the old rocker and it wasn't totally rooted
but should have been replaced - so all in all I remain happy.

If the service schedule is the same as mine, that will be at 15000, as
the dealer wants it at 1, 5 and 10. I'll be doing mine at 15, and back
to the dealer at 20. I haven't quite decided how to play things if it
looks like the 20 will come up much later than a year from now, but at
this rate, I wont have a problem.

Maybe that was just labour they quoted?

Get used to it - from my experience, it will still be there in a year

Mark.

 

See my other post. I *think* they told me the 1000 was the first valve
check - but I have the service schedule in front of me, and according to
that, the first valve check is at 10,000. According to that schedule
the 1000 is pretty much the same as the 5000 - so I'm not sure exactly
what I remember now (but certainly remember being told the 1000 was
major in some way).

According to that schedule, the belts are indeed first done at 20,000.
This is also the first time the air and fuel filter, coolant and front
fork oil must be replaced (others just say "check").

Note this is just the little one-page service sheet they gave me after
the service - not any kind of "official" thing.

Mark.

 

Thanks Mark.
Listen mate, if you work out a cure for the grin that doesn't involve
selling the bike, please let me know.
My kids think I'm on drugs, and strangers ignore me, then whisper to each
other.
Strangely enough other Ducati riders just give an understanding nod ;-)
Life is f*****g grand eh !
Jarrett.

 

Nah - they do the valves at 10,000 - a lot of the old time Ducati
mechanics are still saying you should check them at 1,000 still though.

Not "major" so much as "important" - its when they dump out the oil
you've had in there while you were running it in... All sorts of bits
inside your engine are wearing themselves in, and leaving the residue in
your oil... You really want to get rid of it as soon as its done its job
and get some clean oil in there.

Check out the owners manual - they used to be available on
www.ducati.com as pdfs...

cheers,

big

 

No no no, its an *L* twin, remember!!! Its not copying at all!!!

;-)

big

 

It's just a shame that Ducati copied the design from someone else
I believe the guys name was Ludwig Appelbeck, or something like that
I was looking at his book the other day, from the 70's, at a mates place and the
drawings
from this guys book and the ones published in Mottorad (German Magazine)could
have been photocopies. It's a shame that they were both in German
Ducati do it again

 

Hey Jarrett,

congratulations (you lucky bastard!). Did you get panniers? I have a pair
of almost new red ST panniers here that I no longer require - brackets
needed, as they were stolen with my ST2. If you're interested, send me an
email to deldridg at ozemail & you know the rest (in Australia of course).

Enjoy your beast and get them to write the service quotes down for you...

Cheers,
Dave ZZR600 => ST2 (stolen) => '03 XX