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553 Posts
Pretty bike.
2006 Ducati GT1000 Sport Classic Road Test
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So real world motorcycles are more fun to ride in the real world than feet forward cruisers or a$$ in the air sport bikes? Go figure. Hopefully nicely styled standards such as this will find a wide audience and keep our expanding our sport with new riders.
Haven't ridden one yet; sat on one last weekend at the Tampa dealer and for a regular-sized guy (6-4, 235), it's a heckuva lot friendlier than the Paul Smart replica I covet. I must admit to a predilection for bikes that have a reasonable pillion; I've reached an age and a stage at which feminine company of my choosing is a critical concern.
And what is the deal with all of the stubby saddles lately? This Ducati is very comfortable for one, okay for two, but the saddle should have been 2"-3" longer. The Speed Triple, one of my favorites, is worse, as are any number of Buells. If you're gonna put passenger pegs on 'em, make the saddles long enough for two! I promise not to do anything stupid riding two-up. No, really, I do. But I wanna be able to tote a friend and have her come back again.
And what is the deal with all of the stubby saddles lately? This Ducati is very comfortable for one, okay for two, but the saddle should have been 2"-3" longer. The Speed Triple, one of my favorites, is worse, as are any number of Buells. If you're gonna put passenger pegs on 'em, make the saddles long enough for two! I promise not to do anything stupid riding two-up. No, really, I do. But I wanna be able to tote a friend and have her come back again.
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94 Posts
Re: I'm in love, sort of
I'm a big fan of sporty bikes with standard seating positions. I recently saw this bike in person and it indeed looks beautiful. Of course, it was a friend's early 1970s 750GT (in red, of course) that first got me hooked on bikes in the first place, so my brain was already wired to like this bike.
However, there are a few things I don't like about this bike. First, at 5'6" I find the seat on this bike taller than it needs to be. Slightly shorter shocks would have reduced that air under the rear fender look and made the bike easier for inseam challenged riders at the same time. This is correctable, but I can't imagine that there weren't better ways to make ground clearance... like making the pipes narrower.
The other thing is that there are a lot of cheap details on this bike that let down the styling upon closer inspection. The cheap plastic rear brake reservoir is one. This might be fine for a fully faired bike where this stuff is hidden, but the this crappy looking plastic stuff and undfinished details around the engine just look poor on a bike like this. I'm sure Ducati dealers and the aftermarket will have solutions for this in the near future.
I'm a big fan of sporty bikes with standard seating positions. I recently saw this bike in person and it indeed looks beautiful. Of course, it was a friend's early 1970s 750GT (in red, of course) that first got me hooked on bikes in the first place, so my brain was already wired to like this bike.
However, there are a few things I don't like about this bike. First, at 5'6" I find the seat on this bike taller than it needs to be. Slightly shorter shocks would have reduced that air under the rear fender look and made the bike easier for inseam challenged riders at the same time. This is correctable, but I can't imagine that there weren't better ways to make ground clearance... like making the pipes narrower.
The other thing is that there are a lot of cheap details on this bike that let down the styling upon closer inspection. The cheap plastic rear brake reservoir is one. This might be fine for a fully faired bike where this stuff is hidden, but the this crappy looking plastic stuff and undfinished details around the engine just look poor on a bike like this. I'm sure Ducati dealers and the aftermarket will have solutions for this in the near future.
Yeah, good solid frame/suspension/tires, pegs just high enough to not scrape the ground everytime you get enthusiastic, far enough back so that you can get your weight centered above them, bars just low enough so that the wind hitting your chest at seventy or eighty just about takes the weight off your arms and wrists. What's so hard about that that almost no one can get it right? Are they all just waiting for the Italians to show them how? It's probably not the first time. Long live Italy.
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4 Posts
I have to admit this was one of the reasons I decided to get a Bonnie T100 instead of the GT1000. The GT1000's seat just isn't quite long enough. It's kind of mystifying too, since there doesn't seem to be any good reason for it to be that short. Oh well.
Re: I dunno...
They did against the Duc that this bike harks back to, if I understand the history correctly...or was it just the brit bikes that got their butts handed to them?
Honda should build a retro parallel twin that runs rings around this thing...that'd ***** of the boutique bike crowd a bit.
They did against the Duc that this bike harks back to, if I understand the history correctly...or was it just the brit bikes that got their butts handed to them?
Honda should build a retro parallel twin that runs rings around this thing...that'd ***** of the boutique bike crowd a bit.
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4,129 Posts
I just got off the GT demo bike that we have here at Atl Triumph Ducati. 1- It is very nice up close. 2- It has gobbs of usable power down low. 3- It's geared wrong. I think that 2 teeth up in the rear would solve that. Sixth gear is basically unusable under 80. Just feels too tall to me. 4- At 240 the shocks are quite harsh on Atlanta roads. The fit and finish are great. If I were 50 or more pounds lighter the bike may feel quite different but as it is now it's to jittery. On smooth surfaces it's really fun. But I think I'll pass on a purchase for me.
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