Christmas Present

Sooo... I like Ducatis. I like superbikes. I've always wanted to own a Ducati superbike. There has always been a low-intensity program running in my background looking for a reasonably-priced 851/888, 916/996/998, or more recent superbike for sale, preferably locally.

One of the things I did was to regularly peruse local kijiji looking for likely candidates. Let me tell you they were few and far between! However, back in November, I came across an ad for a "2008 848 EVO" (sic) with only 9,071 miles, at a tempting price.

I tried to contact the seller but was ultimately unsuccessful in pursuing the deal, because at the time I didn't have a mobile phone and the seller was only interested in texting (!). So that fell by the wayside.

A couple weeks later I saw the same bike pop up on eBay! I contacted the eBay seller and found that he had bought the bike off the kijiji guy, but shortly after found out that he'd be losing his driver's licence for two years, and needed to sell. His eBay buy-it-now was quite aggressive, well over the price asked by the previous seller, and upon my asking he said he was sure he'd sell it for that. I wrote it off as I wasn't interested in paying that much for the bike.

About two weeks later, though, he got in touch again and indicated he was open to negotiations near the kijiji price. And it was on...

After seeing and hearing the bike a couple times we arrived at a deal. I ended up paying somewhat less than the kijiji price but the seller was quite happy to make the deal.

The package included a Ducati Performance/Termignoni exhaust and ECU, tinted windscreen, mirror extenders (all installed), a nice Ducati Performance bike cover, and a battery tender. Stock parts included too of course.

Funds were duly withdrawn from chequing account and the bike was delivered a few days after Christmas. It came in a Sprinter van and rolled off into my drive down a plywood ramp (!). The only problem with the bike was a broken internal part in the left handlebar switch - the fault of overzealous tying-down. I've repaired the broken internal bit with two-part epoxy and a new spring pin is waiting at Wildwood Sports for me - cost, $0.21. Yes, twenty-one cents. If only all Ducati parts were that cheap!

Right now the bike is slotted behind the Porsche and slumbering on its battery tender. Can't say that I haven't succumbed to the temptation to fire it up a few times though! It sounds fantastic through those booming Termis...

It may just be my bias but I find this bike to be absolutely gorgeous. If it rides half as well as it looks I'll be pretty pleased. I know that 848's are renowned as torture racks but I'm confident it'll suit me. After all, I did do a 2,100km long weekend trip last year on an R1 without lasting negative effects. Some sacrifices must be made for beauty!