sooo. I bought yet ANOTHER bike and yes it's another 996 - saga inside

[Beer Baron]

ok, so some of you will have seen this thread:

http://cbr250.com/forum/thread-8158.html

after some time searching out I bought a nice ducati 996. was a nice bike, arrow cans, a few carbon bits and in rock solid condition. I bought it at northside MC ducati (sydney) who were great to deal with.

I spent a week riding it and LOVED the bike. it ran, turned and stopped beautifully. I couldn't fault it...until. I discovered something about it's history that put a bit of a sour tast in my mouth. I had spoken to a guy at northside at length about the bike and he'd failed to mention this fairly crucial info. I was devestated as I loved the bike but this 'new' information was killing my enjoyment of it.

Luckily the guys at northside are 100% honest. they admitted their mistake (in this case the guy I dealt with didn't know the full story) and asked me what I wanted to do (could have negotiaed a lower price, free gear etc). I said I just wanted to get my money back and start again which they were 100% cool with.

At this point I have to say Northside Ducati have been great to deal with. As a rule I always buy privately but I would not hesitate to buy from these guys again. If you are after a new or used ducati or triumph gives these guys a try as they specialise in those models (have been a licenced ducati dealer for well over 10 years).

so I got my money back and started again. They had a nice 996 in there which among other bling had some carbon BST wheels on it (yum). I took it for a ride but a few little niggles put me off and it was priced a lot higher than the other one, plus to my bum dyno it didn't feel as powerful (if anything it should have felt faster with the super light wheels).

So I looked at practically every 996 available in NSW (including driving 2hours each way to newcastle for one).

eventually I found a beauty at another dealer in castle hill.

this bike was PRISTINE.

It was apparently given to Steve Martin (not the actor, the superbike rider) for a win at PI or something.

he did not regsiter it and kept it as lounge furniture till it was sold to a bloke in 2003 (first registered owner). He's owned it since and just traded it on a 1098R.

this one is a 2000 model (my first one was a 1999) so it has the grey frame instead of gold (which I much prefer) and has the nice 5 spoke marchesini wheels instead of the 3 spoke brembos. it has 24,000kms, has service receipts, dyno graph (~115hp at rear wheel) and came with:

termi system
chip mapped to suit
carbon front fender
EVR slave cylinder
carbon clutch cover
pirelli corsa rosso tyres F+R (great tyres)
a few too many stickers
the original standard termignoni pipes wrapped up
the original standard chip
a ducati race stand (an 'actual' paddock stand that they use at race meets)
original tool kit with some little extras


The funny thing was, after taking back the first 996 I could not find another one that rode as nicely, or went as well. they all felt less powerfull or had some other niggles. This one was the only one that felt as good. I was a heatbeat away from going back to northside and begging them to sell me back the first bike again...

but this one is so amazing, it literally looks like a brand new bike. stuff like anodizing and bare alluminium which on all the other bikes I looked at was a little faded or a little scuffed etc on this one looks brand new.

it's funny the littler diferences between this one (aus delivered 2000 model) and my first one (1999 UK model).

this one of course has the stupid headlights on all the time, UK model had a normal switch.

this one will not allow starting (even in N) with the side stand down (uk model did).

the UK model had a flick up stand (ie as soon as bike weight is off the stand it flicks up, which can be a hazard), this one has normal stand operation)

on the rev counter the UK model reads "Ducati Racing" this one says "Ducati Corse". just little things.

anyway, here's some pics of the new baby. I love her. applogies for the quality of the pics, they are just crappy iphone pics.

[Merudo]

Oustanding, mate.

What was the chequered past with the first bike?

[Jashdown]

Wow, looks beautiful.

I especially love those wheels on it! Yummy.

What was wrong with the last one if you don't mind me asking? Repairable write off or something?

[mewnz]

Schwing!

Awesome motorsickle

[Hessian]

Yeah its fairly incredible that they gave you the money back. Practically unheard of.

So... was it like owned by Oprah or something equally horrific?

[Cerberus]

yeah what was the sus thing about the first bike? was it that its an import?

well done on the part of the dealer to do the right thing by you!

i have to say this one looks even cleaner and nicer so id say you did alright in the end

[Reaper]

Looks better than the first one imo

[Beer Baron]

well I gues it won't hurt to say. yes it was listed as a repaired write off. normally buying privately I do my own REVS check before purchase. but given this was a dealer and they are bound by a code of ethics I expect that when I ask "what is the history of this bike" they will tell me. in the end it was (I believe) an honest mistake on their part. The salesman I had dealt with didn't know or just forgot to mention it.

to my mind everyone makes mistakes (more often than I'd like). what matters is how they correct the mistake. and if I was mesuring northside on that fact they came through marvelously. they gave me 100% of my money back (and I'm sure they would be out of pocket as they had put rego on it, blue slipped it etc) and even better they were nice about it, and didn't try and make me feel like a prick etc for asking for my money back. it probably helps that I didn't blow up at them, just politely told them what I wanted.

if I could have I would have bought the replacement bike from them too but they just didn't have something suitable for me at a suitable price. the bike with the carbon wheels was nice, it had termis too (which I liked) and lots of bling (levers, grips etc which to be honest I didn't like) but they were pretty set on $15K for it and I just couldn't see it being worth that much more (even with the fancy wheels).

the bike I ended up with is so nice. it's hard to believe it's 12 years old. I guess not being registered till 2003 helped as it has 3 years of sitting inside not being ridden compared to other 2000 model 996s. if you look at the photo of the triple clamp check out how fresh all the little bolts look and how fresh the annodizing on the fork tops looks. on alll the other bikes it had faded from a nice red to a more pink/orange colour.

there is more to this saga but not sure if I want to share it. still too painful...

---

(23/01/2012 04:34)Cerberus Wrote:  yeah what was the sus thing about the first bike? was it that its an import?

well done on the part of the dealer to do the right thing by you!

i have to say this one looks even cleaner and nicer so id say you did alright in the end

I knew the first one was an import (it was a personal import in 2003 and was brought to aus by the original UK owner). but they had failed to mention it was a repaired write off. I have to say though, even once I knew I could not find any evidence of repair anywhere on it. all the plastics were original ducati, no marks on the frame etc, I can only think perhaps it was stolen and insurance company wrote it off?

anyway, it put a cloud over the whole thing and I just wanted to start again. the bike was awesome though and for someone looking for a bargain 996 that's solid it would be a good buy. I can certainly vouch for it's performance having owned it for nearly 2 weeks.

you're right, the second bike is immaculate and definitely better than the first in a few ways. the only sad part is i reckon it's too quiet! the arrow exhaust on the first bike was slightly louder I think...

price wise the second bike cost me a bit more than the first (about $1000 more) but just the wheels alone are at least a $1,000 upgrade and generally 1999 model to 2000 model are about $1,000 difference and aus model vs import would generally be $1,000 diffeence too. so given that I think it was as good a buy, probably a better buy since it'll hold resale a bit better.

[K916]

I wet my pants
.
.
.
.
.
again

[Beer Baron]

(23/01/2012 04:25)Hessian Wrote:  Yeah its fairly incredible that they gave you the money back. Practically unheard of.

So... was it like owned by Oprah or something equally horrific?

yeah I can't stress enough how happy I am with northside. I just bought some tyres from them for my yammy and will have it serviced there too. will have the ducati serviced there as well I think.

I'm not sure but if they'd refused it would have been a difficult legal situation. I mean it's my fault really, if I'd done a revs check first I would have known. on the other hand, I had asked them straight up about the bikes history and they didn't tell me. all in all I think I got the absolute best possible outcome available. and what's even better is they didn't make a fuss about it, didn't mention they would lose money (though I'm sure they did) and didn't pressure me into buying another bike from them.

it just shows me the guys at northside are 100% trustworthy. I dealt with the owner Carl over this problem and he was as good as his word.

plus, their bikes always seem to be pretty fairly priced.

anyway, now the upgrades for the new bike.

carbon tank protector/buckle protector
carbon rear hugger/chain guard
carbon exhaust shield
maybe carbon side fill panels (between tank and fairings, it covers the airbox)

the first bike had a bit more carbon and I miss it (carbon hugger, carbon gauge surround, carbon tank protector).

---

I should give them another plug. if you're in sydney and after ducati/triumph or even a husky (they do have jap stuff too) then definitely check these guys out. they are as honest as the day is long and friendly and helpful and don't try and laud it over you with their uber bike skills (like many bike shop employees do). They have also been a licenced ducati dealer since at least 2000 (I got a copy of the 2000 dealer book with my latest bike and they are in it).

they have heaps of accessories etc too and a workshop.

http://www.northsidemotorcycles.com.au/

I've dealt with a few guys there and been happy with them all.

---

did a bit more research and apparently this 2000 model 996 was given to Steve Martin by ducati after winning the 1999 Aus Superbike championship. apparently he never rode or registered it but sold it to the first registered owner (through moto one) in 2003. rego check shows only 1 regsitered owner and first rego 2003 which would confirm that.