Well its been a year now and still no luck selling the Ducati.
Its incredible! I’ve got a beautiful 2006 Ducati Multistrada 1000DS in scorching red. Its got a few tasteful mods like flat bars and risers. This gives a bit of a more super-moto riding position and looks way cooler. The bodywork is immaculate for a bike with 18,000 miles on the clocks. Only a few light scuffs in the places you’d expect knees to grip the tank.
The only major flaw is the rear passenger seat cover has 2 worn holes. Bit frustrating, but pretty cheap to re-cover. Its also had a full service, filters, new clutch master cylinder and timing sensor, so its in perfect condition. I also dropped over $2000 NZD off the price from when I bought it.
So it was an absolute steal and STILL it didnt sell… FOR A WHOLE YEAR… So now its at the docks waiting to be sent to meet me in the UK.
My cousin Graham agreed to pick it up from the motorcycle (no) dealer on his way to Auckland airport. He too is coming to the UK, and had planned to do the same as me: buy bike, ride around, sell bike. But after my experience, I don’t want him to get stuck with a bike like I have, so I’ve offered him my trusty black praying mantis, my Versys 650.
Its nothing flash but I’ve had her from new and know every one of the 53,000 miles shes done. I know, thats spaceship-miles for a bike.
Only occasionally has she broken down. Most imfamously, right at the top of scotland. Basically as far north on mainland UK as its possible to go, she decided that was a great place to burn out her stator. Not an easy bit to get hold of so it was a 26 hour, pass the parcel, tow truck ride home…
Back to the Ducati, turns out, deciding to import a bike is easy. All you have to do is contact a shipping agent. Fill out their forms and hand over the ownership documents (bit scary) and then wait 2 months while it floats across the ocean to you.
Yeah… it takes 2 months. But it’s the end of December now so hopefully in 2 months time, the worst of the British winter will be over and I’ll have a shiny new bike to play with!!