paging Ducatisti or "how much is that Monster in the window?"

I'm vaguely considering buying a Ducati Monster S4R

Ducati Dealerships don't seem to bother with pricing information.

I really don't want to have to buy MCN.

Any ideas of where's good to buy from, price-wise?

I had a look on biketrader.co.uk, and there are a few apparently
ex-demo or 2004-with-delivery-mileage examples, but with a pretty big
price variation.

What sort of money should I be paying? I don't mind new-ish 2nd-hand,
but I'd prefer to buy from a dealer, and want a bike in warranty
(natch!).

 

http://www.ducatiaylesbury.co.uk/used_ducati.htm

[snip stuff for TOG]

 

ta.

 

****'s sake - that's pricey for a used italian tractor

 

Buy an old air-cooled one instead.

Seriously.

 

but...but...but...I like the look of the single-sided swingarm model.

Oh, and it's "the most powerful Monster ever", so obviously it's the
best sort....

 

sure.

A ****-load more stylist than the two-wheeled Fiat you've bought,
mind...

 

Fairy nuff. IMHO, the uncluttered looks of the air-cooled one are far
cooler. That 916 engine was never designed to be hung out in the breeze.
It just looks gash.

OK, fine, queen takes knight, checkmate

 

They'll all be around the same, but you can bargain hard
with a lot of them. Try the importers too - doesn't make
any difference with warranty and the like as it's all
inside the EU.

Any S4R will still have warranty as I don't think they're
older than 2 years yet. Go for a year-old on or something
that has scared the living bejesus out of a BornAgain.

The S2R is a very nice proposition as well - same idea
but uses the 2V motor instead, so much cheaper servicing
(like half the cost) and just as much fun.

Oh, and I've emailed you about a year-old bike with 700 miles
on it that the owner wants 6995 ono for. Knock him down to
6.5K and you've got a nice bike there at 2.5k off retail.

 

You do know that biketrader has a "new bike" section. Think i saw new ones
for £8295.

Also, have a look at

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/forumdisplay.php?f=10

 

Nobody in their right mind pays anything near list for a Ducati these
days, remember.

There are 2004 and even 2003 models still in dealers, if you want a real
bargain. Hardly anyone has bought the water-cooled Monsters, so the
chances are good.

 

what about the S2R - that's the aircooled engine, isn't it?

 

Really, though? I mean, there's going to be a noticeable difference
between 77hp and 117hp...

 

to related questions:

1) how are Ducati dealers with non-Ducati trade-ins?
2) roughly how much is my 'blade[1] worth, both private and trade-in
(against, say, a 2004 Monster S2R or something)?

[1] 2001 Y-reg blue/white/yellow, FSH, just under 12K miles (but had
12K service), almost standard (carbon/kevlar end can, but have
original; double-bubble screen).

 

Fair enough - if you want bhp figures then pay more for it!

 

I think Darsy was querying "just as much fun", not the different cost
of servicing.

 

well yes - the servicing costs don't worry me much.

 

Yes. I couldn't think of an adequate argument against
the power difference which I could be bothered to explain
in great depth, so just went with a cheap shot instead.

This *is* UKRM, after all.

 

Erm, I think so, yes.

Any air-cooled Ducati engine looks nicer in the open air than a
water-cooled one. The air-cooled ones were designed to be seen: the
water-cooled ones weren't.

 

Most are pretty cool. The pure specialist ones are like BMW or Triumph
dealers - they won't display non-franchise used bikes on their showrrom
floors.

About 4k.