If you swing by Race Tech and have the fork internals swapped out on the 796 would you have a clear winner? What about maint costs? I assume the valves are due every 7500 miles on the Duc? Upgrading the fork internals is a lot easier on the Duc than it is for the Aprilia to lose weight.

 

I don't think that trading about a grand for fork work makes the Duc a "clear winner". It makes it a modified winner, however. As for maintaining the Duc- I think the new interval is 10k but I bet someone can confirm it post haste.

 

Great Point Counter Point Video

Great Point Counter Point Video Guys. These two bikes match up well for this comparo. Both manufacturers are offering outstanding bikes across the product lines. A Motard looks like a great choice for a toolin around machine. Keep up the good work.

 

Great Point Counter Point Video Guys. These two bikes match up well for this comparo. Both manufacturers are offering outstanding bikes across the product lines. A Motard looks like a great choice for a toolin around machine. Keep up the good work.

A 'Tard is a fun street machine, but so are their brothers, the new Monster 796 and Aprilia Shiver, which are a bit more versatile It comes down mostly to a matter of style preference.

Glad you liked the vid!

 

Still like my City-X better....err. that is the X City-X....city-city-bang bang?

Nice shoot out. I see the Fonz is back.

 

Still like my City-X better....err. that is the X City-X....city-city-bang bang?

Nice shoot out. I see the Fonz is back.

Fonz never really went anywhere. Although he's no longer on salary, we're proud to have him shoot us whenever schedules allow!

 

Mr. Duke! Jeez, seven hundred bucks for valve adjustment!?!? I've bought whole running nice motorcycles for less than that...I don't know, call me a cheapskate, but that is kind of...err...'spensive.

But as an old riding buddy who pilots an ST4 says "The Ferrari of motorcycles" guess to ride one you have to pay.

I hate to fall back in time again, but I remember when Ducati's where ultra-rare unobtainium with funny shaped gas tanks and giant finned oil sumps. Now they're the coolest thing going. Nice to see something from Italy that doesn't blow up every few hundred feet (FIAT?).

 

Mr. Duke! Jeez, seven hundred bucks for valve adjustment!?!? I've bought whole running nice motorcycles for less than that...I don't know, call me a cheapskate, but that is kind of...err...'spensive.

But as an old riding buddy who pilots an ST4 says "The Ferrari of motorcycles" guess to ride one you have to pay.

I hate to fall back in time again, but I remember when Ducati's where ultra-rare unobtainium with funny shaped gas tanks and giant finned oil sumps. Now they're the coolest thing going. Nice to see something from Italy that doesn't blow up every few hundred feet (FIAT?).

Hey, Matt! I believe the 7500-mile service includes more than just the valve adjustment/inspection, such as oil, filter, and numerous other inspections/adjustments.

And to your falling back in time, mechanics can no longer feed their families on $10 per hour!

 

Yes, with ball-bearings getting blown out of exhaust pipes like a 12 gauge shooting 00 buck.

A buddy of mine had a 250 single that actually exploded bad enough to send shards of aluminum into his ankle. We called the the "250 frag" after that. Of course he never maintained it, and tried to rev it like a 50cc road racer most of the time. Then he blew up his Isetta the same way, along with his 650 Triumph. The destroyer of machinery Jeff was.

 

Loved this review and love the bikes! I particularly liked the back-and-forth banter in the video -- made me chuckle. I was surprised to see the Duc hang with the 'Priller on the dyno chart.

Great. Now I have to add two more bikes to "the list". These bikes are awesome!

 

Loved this review and love the bikes! I particularly liked the back-and-forth banter in the video -- made me chuckle.

Fun for us, too, Doc.

 

Kevin, I didn't see any claimed dry weight for the bikes? Side note my City-X had a claimed dry weight of 386 lbs. I weighed it on the scales in Sunland at the recycling center (maybe should have left it there) and it weighed 430 lbs with a half-frame of gas. Pretty good for a 998cc bike with a Sportster motor.

Probably they're around 400 lbs, right?

 

Kevin, I didn't see any claimed dry weight for the bikes? Side note my City-X had a claimed dry weight of 386 lbs. I weighed it on the scales in Sunland at the recycling center (maybe should have left it there) and it weighed 430 lbs with a half-frame of gas. Pretty good for a 998cc bike with a Sportster motor.

Probably they're around 400 lbs, right?

"The Hyper's... considerably lighter dry weight<nobr style="color: darkgreen; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" id="itxt_nobr_41_0"></nobr> of 366 lbs compared to the Dorso's 410-pound dry weight."

We didn't weigh the bikes ourselves, but another publication measured full-tank weights of 419 lbs for the Duc and 468 lbs for the Aprilia, showing the Dorso is a bit of a porker.

 

These look like fun bikes! I bet the Duc sounds nicer with some cans on it. That is all I care about

Surprising the Duc really has a better power curve for the street. They have really dialed in the 2 valve motors.

 

"We didn't weigh the bikes ourselves, but another publication measured full-tank weights of 419 lbs for the Duc and 468 lbs for the Aprilia, showing the Dorso is a bit of a porker."

Almost 500 lbs. for a Sooper Motard? Man, I must be living in a some anti-universe where everything that makes sense is thrown right out the window.

They could make a lighter bike, with a smaller motor, making less horsepower, and be just as fast, or faster. I really think that innovation in design has stalled out, with factories content on pumping out quasi-racers that look the part, but have the same old technology from around 1980 (the electronic gizmos and fuel injeciton not withstanding).

At close to a quarter ton, and with that seat height, slow going in traffic must be ponderous. My City-X was the same way, a few degrees of center at 5 mph and it's "abandon ship!" time.

 

The new Ducati shop in Pompano Beach has 2 of the 796's in white. The word "minimalist" comes to mind; saddle, bars, motor, wheels. It's a sweet bike, but so limited in capability that it would have to be Bike #3...

 

Or, bike number 18. Bwahahaha!