Ducati GT1000: Wow!

I just saw the new GT1000 at my local Ducati dealer yesterday and all I can say is that it is one of the most beautiful bikes I have seen in a long time! Ducati has apparently been working hard at making maintenance easier and cheaper too. The dealer was telling me that maintenance costs have been reduced by about 40% and that the interval is now 7,500 miles. I am seriously thinking about forking the dough for one of them. I am waiting to see the red one next weekend at the Ducati Open House. And then, who knows!

It is pretty. But, the 1000 Sport is even nicer! My dealer says that ST clip-ons will fit on the Sport. Now that would be a sweet ride.

Pic

what would be sweet, putting old man ST bars on a Sport Classic? :huh

NEGATIVE GHOST RIDER... NEGATIVE!

No, having a Sport Classic that an old man like me can ride.

I really like this classic series from Ducati - all of them. Which makes me think that the next styling cue will come from the Darmah. A mate of mine had one around the same time as I had a bevel 900SS.

Other than often getting the new models a year or two after Europe, N. Americans should consider themselves lucky. Why? You should see the travesty of a muffler that Ducati is forced to graft to the side of the bikes to meet EURO3 emmissions and noise regulations. :eek1

It's so ugly, words fail me...

Has anyone ridden one yet? I'd like to hear their thoughts on how well the suspension is setup from the factory.

Well, I am planning on riding one this weekend. Most Ducati dealers will have an open house. Some of them will have demo rides. Check with your local dealer.

Hey gore-tex, please post your impressions of the bike. I will be interested to hear what you have to say. I will be riding a Sport 1000 on Thursday at my (somewhat) local dealer. I'll post my thoughts.

I'm currently riding a Guzzi V11 Sport and I'm interested in the GT1000, so here are my relevant thoughts on the Sport 1000 I rode yesterday:

Pros:
- very nice motor, good throttle response, beefy midrange
- same budget Marzocchi forks as on V11, but better setup from Ducati
- looks hot, GT1000 is even better looking IMO
- taught suspension, but not too harsh

Cons:
- wooden rear brake (maybe an easy fix with new pads?)
- plank seat, but the GT1000 looks more comfy
- bars WAY too low, but again, the GT1000 solves this problem

The V11 (with stock exhaust) makes nicer sounds, but feels sluggish in comparison (being 100 lbs heavier might have something to do with it...) Cycle Canada says that the GT1000 sounds like a real Ducati with the stock mufflers. I can't wait to hear it!

Well, I did not get to try a GT1000 afterall.
It looks gorgeous, especially in red (to me). I guess they wanted me to fork out the money first...
Sorry guys, but I don't have any reviews.

What? This is a modern traditional Italian motorcycle! What are you doing!?!?

I never said I don't appreciate these kind of motorcycles. I am just not limited to them.

I saw the grey one at the dealer today... nice bike... $10k is a bit much, but maybe in a few years I'll pick one up for close to half that... looks like a great do all everything simple vtwin bike... i'll take mine in red...

I rode one of these on Friday before the open house (went back later to eat their food and drink their beer. ). I don't have a lot to compare it to, but my usual ride is a 74 R90/6. Styling and posture-wise, it's a very similar bike to the GT. The GT is pretty comfortable - probably similar to the R90S posture, with a little lower bars than my stock bike. I felt confident in the control of the bike within minutes. I couldn't toss it around like my own for whatever reason (tuned for high speed maybe? I am still a noob) but it definitely handles capably. And god DAMN is this thing fast. I only got it up to about 7k, and the tach goes to 12 or so with no redline painted. It sounds SWEET above about 3, a really meaty growl. I'm not used to that much power and I didn't want to die, so I didn't flog it too hard, but boy does it pull. My friend rode his bike along with me on the test ride, so I couldn't get too far ahead, but I had a lot of fun gunning it in 2nd from 30 to 50 and reigning it back with the very serious brakes.

I am very seriously considering buying one of these. I would have to change the throttle twist spring thing to be tighter as it feels a bit dangerous to me being so loose. Other than that, I felt like this was a beautiful, capable update of the classic 70s sport touring style, and I want one. I'm doing a little more research and giving myself a cooling-off period, but I don't know if I'll make it....

I think redline is 9-10k...

The guy told me they don't publish/paint a redline due to the different modifications one can do to the engine and that once you get to where the computer thinks you are going too high, you will get a soft rev limiter kicking in. I don't know if this is BS, but 9-10k does sound pretty reasonable on an engine like that. It also apparently has an adaptive ECU which learns your riding habits and adjusts the fuel mixture, etc. Since it was almost brand new with 150 miles on it and not broken in, the one I rode was having a little trouble with its idle when first started, but then it decided to bump up the idle speed and/or mixture. You could hear it figuring out where to set things. Pretty cool, IMO.

The redline on the 2V engines is about 9K but it is not shown on the tach. I've had the rev limiter on my Multistrada kick in lower though (about 8500) - I often use it to shift the gears when passing, but I am going to have to stop doing that when going between first and second; even at half throttle it hurts my neck to have it snapped back like that and the front wheel comes off the ground even if I am leaned forward.

At first the rev limiter can surprise you - especially when coming from a bike that doesn't have one. In first or second, when really getting on it and the limiter kicks in you almost fall on your face it is so violent.