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I've started a new motorcycle blog

2K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  CAG 
#1 ·
My focus is going to be on weird and rare bikes, and spectacular failures. First post is about the Bimota V-Due. Next week - Hesketh V1000. Might find some oddball MVs to profile in the future, if anyone has suggestions feel free to let me know!

I'm trying to offer information that a lot of profiles/blogs ignore. I want to weave the stories and histories into a broader narrative to give them context. I want to create a better class of motorcycle blog that offers more than shiny pictures and terse stock descriptions.

Check it out,

http://oddbike.blogspot.ca/
 
#5 ·
Never thought of myself as a "premature visitor" but apparently I am. Interesting stuff for sure. I'll save your blog in my list of favorites sites and check back later.

Thanks and good luck!
 
#9 ·
Very interesting aproach and so far a good start.
But to say that the V-Due was the last nail for coffin is not the entire truth.
There were many more management errors and changes on the market who were responsible for the failure of Bimota.
Their sky high pricing was appreciated in the seventies, eighties since Bimota builded great chassis for japanese engines. In the nineties were the chassis of the japanese at least as good as the once from Bimota and they costed only a fraction. So Bimota was basically selling their bikes for fanatics and to peoples who loved exotic sport bikes.
Now Bimota thought if we can sell 1500 units we might can sell 4000 a Year.
So they introduced more and more models every Year. SB6, SB8,YB8,YB9,YB10, BB1, DB2....
Leaving Bimota dealers with hardly sellable stock and the tiny company with a hugh spare part dilemma and halls full of unsold motorcycles. I think the Mantra would be also a good example for Your blog.
Another issue is for sure also the SB8 Superbike endeavor with Anthony Gobert. Were they dumped Millions in the development and their sponsor didn't pay a cent.
Than of course the V-Due. Which run perfectly at the inaugural press introduction were noise and emission restrictions didn't existed. The journalists were in love with the bike at this time. Once they started the homologation process in Europe and California the whole story went sour. Since that time the V-Due was never driving acceptable and left a few hundred enthusiasts frustrated. The scrapping of the fuel injection was amellowing the issues but with the cost of meeting nowhere the emission standards for homologation.
I hope I wrote here not to much nonesense but this are all issues which leaded to the end.
Might crash2much can give You some more details on the V-Due disaster.
 
#11 ·
Another great story.
Mine would be titled: 18 years with the 916!

I bought mine new in September 1994 and still own it. My first Ducati, it is THE determining factor of the path my life has taken over the last 18 years.

Because of the 916:
I became a serious motorcyclist
I started racing
I now own a motorcycle dealership and the motorcycle industry is my life.

So much sentimental value is attached to this bike, I could never ever sell it!!

Besides, it is an absolutely brilliant motorcycle!!
Other than the upgrade from a 2-phase to a 3-pase regulator/rectifier, it has NEVER let me down - and that includes 2 years of racing every month. Superb quality!
Every year at the dealer meeting Ducati execs claim how quality of the new Ducatis is leaps and bounds better than it was back in the 90s. I just shake my head and laugh it off...!!

Due to not having an odometer on it during racing, I don't know how many miles are on my 916 but I'd guess it is in the mid 30k. The bike runs flawlessly and the motor feels like butter. The engine is incredibly smooth and the transmission is super slick yet positive. I keep wondering why today's Ducatis are comparatively not even in the ballpark when it comes to engine balance.
My 916 is one of the very early production which was manufactured at Cagiva (MV Agusta) in Varese, not Bologna. The Varese bikes received a lot more attention to detail during manufacturing and assembly. Ported intake tracts for Varese bikes vs. rough castings on Bologna bikes is just one example.

I am rambling on, sorry.....
 
#12 ·
Awesome! Glad to hear from another 916 enthusiast. I don't think people appreciate how special these things really are/were. When you put them into context - going head to head with fat, heavy, ugly superbikes from the early/mid 90s - it's staggering how much of a leap forward it was. And it still holds its own today.

Mine has about 33k. It reads 30k but I rode it for a whole season with no speedo, and that included my trip to Cape Breton and another to NYC.

Mechanically A1. Electrically... Eh not so much. Just had to replace the crank position sensor and the throttle position sensor this season. I've burned out just about every sensor on the thing over the years. No issues with the charging system though (I upgraded to a mosfet solid state regulator, otherwise it's still the original single-phase setup).
 
#15 ·
Great job on the blog. Enjoyed your take on the 916 and the real "skinny" on the Bimota V-DUE 500.
My 1995 Ducati 916 with only 5000 miles has been neglected BUT always admired and appreciated. Keep up the good work.
 
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