• Parts For Sale

• 748 SPS

If looking to purchase your dream Ducati, be sure to take some precautions, to avoid ending up with a nightmare. There are really only two ways to buy, either from a shop or private purchase.

Both have their good and bad points, but the private purchase will normally cost less but potentially carries many more risks.

Firstly if you are thinking of buying from a main dealer or general bike shop, your purchase falls under the sale of goods act, this gives you the right to expect the dealer to repair or replace your bike if you run into problems. This is a very general law and normally common-sense prevails, the one thing you should definitely get is some recovery cover.

When you negotiate a price, be sure to get the warranty in writing, you may get a longer warranty period if they are firm on there selling price, the other big advantage is that the dealer will have saved you the trouble of checking if the bike has been stolen is on finance or an insurance total loss.

Even if at a later there is a problem, the dealer is obligated to give you a refund. You can expect your purchase to have been serviced (if required) and checked over prior to sale, and should be completely road worthy. Obviously with all these benefits the price will be normally 10-20 percent higher than a private sale.

You may think that purchasing privately is too risky, no warranty, possibly stolen or with a dodgy history? Well, if you take some time and look around it is possible to get a really good bike, which will be good value for money.

Firstly, if you reply to a private ad, make sure to go to the sellers address, never meet in a service station on the motorway with handfuls of cash because it saved you going an extra 100 miles. Use your nose, go to the sellers address, is the bike as described, does the bike look cared for? Are the tyres and oil levels as they should be.

If all the above seem OK, start really digging, ask how long the person's owned it, see if the log book tells the same story, if you are told it's just been bought, the seller's probably a trader, most Ducati stay with their owners at least 2-3 years, most a lot longer.

Check the frame and engine are uniform and match the log book. Service history is very important, if the bike has missed any or needs a major/cambelt service this can cost up to £500 and be sure the stamps for the previous work are Ducati main dealer or a known independent.

If you are happy with the bike and feel confident, agree a price and the leave a small deposit, make sure to get the reg. no on the receipt. We recommend you get an HPI or similar type of report, this will give you record of any outstanding finance/damage/or stolen history, they will also cover you in the event of anything coming to light later (only certain types of checks).

So you identified your potential bike, now check its condition. Most Ducatis cover low to average mileage with few doing big despatch type mileages. Most of the rarer models (sps and SP) will have been well looked after, these models costing at least £10.000 -£15000 new with some getting front room status.

Monsters and SP2-SP4 are more practical and normally get more day to day running. Early alternator problems should have been rectified by now, with all electric's being decent quality.

Cambelts are the most vital part of any bike, if one of these fails the engine will need at least one head removing, or a complete engine if at high speed.

Many bipostos have had SP seats and other parts fitted, this is fine as long as you have the original parts, be sure that a converted bike is not being passed as its more expensive brother (proper sps and SP have different engine parts and suspension).

Hydraulic clutch slaves can fail, this is a simple job to repair. Don't be put off by a lot of clutch noise, Ducatis have a dry clutch , the clutch can also be quite snatchy this can be sorted with removal and cleaning.

SP and sps were supplied with a set of termmis, these pipes were fitted at the factory, you should be given the original unused standard pipes as well with a matching ECU chip.

Suspension wise look for leaking fork seals and sloppy rear shocks, rear ride is very important on the supebikes, the proper adjustment can transform the handling.

The standard settings on all bikes is normally fine for most people, get to know the bike before you start playing with this.

I hope this gives some help when looking for the right bike, take your time this will be a big investment, and choosing a good one is easy if you use your head and not your heart!

True story:
Last year I bought a 1997 916 SP3 this was described as in mint 4000 mile condition with no disappointments.
I went to view this bike, the owner had owned it since new had all the right paperwork, and was the in the best condition of all the bikes I had looked at.
I paid £7450 (top price ) I then did 3000 miles in one year inc. 6 track days and the bike never missed a beat, I just sold this bike to friend of a friend because of a new 748 race bike.
Of all the bikes I have owned, this is one I would buy back tomorrow, and miss it in my front room!

Good luck.
Andy Caddick