Ducati (ex) owners?

[Papa Weeley_imp]

I can only speak from the long time ownership of a 1995 900SS/CR, which I bought new and owned until about a year or two ago.

I don't know technically if riding below 3,000 rpms would actually harm the engine, but I can tell you that there wasn't much going on at that engine speed anyway, so you'd have no reason to attempt to ride like that...seems like kind of a moot point.
I can also only assume that Ducati's reputation for being a maintenance nightmare is probably based on its performances in the "olden days", and that may well be rightfully so, but in my almost 20 years of ownership, the only problem I had on mine was a leaky (hydraulic) clutch line. Period. In nearly 20 years.

I'd also like to comment that I can assure you that I personally am not a "social butterfly" that just sat around showing off my bike, and neither were any of my riding buddies - I'm in fact incredibly introverted - and neither am I the guy that arrived first and left last at a coffee shop. If I stopped at a coffee shop at all, it was because I was whipped and needed a breather after wringing out that incredible-handful-but-ultimately-beautiful-handling Ducati.
I hear those kinds of stereotypes much too often. It just comes off sounding like silly housewife coffee-klatsch gossip...

Yes, there may be some "cachet" that lures certain poseur types to the marque, but from being the only bike I've ever kept even close to that period of time, I can tell you that there is a lot of substance to that cachet; they are a fantastic, visceral experience unlike any other I've had on two wheels, and there is a very good reason that so many speak of them with such passion.

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