Tuesday, January 6, 2015

New Purchase!

My life is a downward spiral of poor financial decisions and today was no exception. I bought a gray market import 1996 Ducati Monster 750 last weekend. I saw a Craigslist ad for a super cheap '1997 Monster' with no title. 

Come to find out it's actually a 96. The owner bought it when he was stationed in Japan with the Marines then brought it back here and the paperwork got lost in the move.The United States did not get the M750 until 1997. 

I'm kind of excited to see how poorly Mario and Luigi made it. We saw what happened with the Triumph (which is sold, by the way!). 







The bike has been sitting for a few years. Only has 9k miles. I'd like to find the rear seat cover. It looks very awkward with out one




An original rear plate mount/blinkers would be nice too. But as far as old bikes go, it's pretty close to unmolested. Previous owner installed eBay 'adjustable' levers and bar end mirrors but those can be remedied.

I must say I am excited to dig into a bike made from the land of pasta and Olive Garden! It has timing belts and I can't wait to change them. 

With regards to the CBR954 I posted last time, the owner gave me the 7 digit key code when I bought the bike. I went to my local Honda dealer to get a key and they cut one to the code. It didn't work so they told me to pull the ignition and bring it to them.

4 hours later I Had the ignition and top triple clamp removed and brought it to them. They tried four times to cut a key and none worked. I brought the ignition to my local grumpy locksmith and in 2 days he had a key cut that worked perfectly. 

As far as sales go, the only one to report is the Triumph. I put it on eBay with no reserve and a feller from New York won it. I lost a couple hundred on it but in reality I was never going to get it. The whole experience really put me off. So I'm glad it will go to a better home than I can give it. I hope it gets restored to it's former glory and I regret not being able to do that and riding it. C'est la vie. 

Until next time,
See you on the road!