From: chris@triage.UUCP (Groucho)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: More amusing BMW trivia... (christmas continues)
Date: 8 Jan 93 23:42:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: triage.1993Jan8.234255.928
Organization: Triage Corp

In article <ramarren-080193083009@kip-49.apple.com> ramarren@apple.com (The Guru) writes:
>In article <C0HL6C.58p@news.udel.edu>, andersen@me.udel.edu (Stephen
>Andersen) wrote:
>> 
>> In article <C0Gp6M.796@news.cso.uiuc.edu> bruce@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (Bruce Krueger) writes:
>> >chris@triage.UUCP (Wheres my 650TT2 Ducati) writes:
>> >>"You mean like admitting to the fact that nothing in this world is more
>> >>passionate, more soul stirring, more FUN over a twisty road than an Italian
>> >>motorcycle?"
>> >   *******
>> >   try doing a thousand mile day on a japanese bike.  ..or, for that matter,
>> >   going a thousand miles without needing a tuneup on a duc.  a fully loaded
>> >   R60/5 was just fine on the blue ridge parkway (speaking of twisty roads),
>> >   as well as a lot of stuff that made that look like an interstate in 
>> >   west kansas.  also, I've got news for you:  you don't need a PD to go
>> >Blather deleted...
>> 
>> Just to add some fuel to this fire...
>[more Ducati adulation to follow...]
>
>In 1979, I took my homely old Ducati 750GT for a nice little 7,000 mile 
>trot from Riverside, California to New York City via Zion, Utah-Flagstaff,
>Az-Albuquerque, NM-Denver, CO-Chicago, IL-Sault Ste. Marie, Canada-Hudson
>Bay, Canada-Putney, Vermont. The old kid did delightful service on about

>Then in 1981, another 8,000-10,000 mile trip doing a southern route
>across the USA (through Blue Ridge parkway, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico,
>Carlsbad Caverns, Albuquerque, Najaho land, Ogden Utah, Snake River ID, 
>Washington, Oregon desert and cascades and through most of northern

>Everything else in the motor was in fine shape. I sold him five or six
>thouand
>miles after that; last I heard, he had over 100,000 miles and was still
>running strong. 

Since we're getting serious:

Truth be known, ANY ham-fisted goon can ruin ANY bike.  Many Ducatis
get run by the "in vogue" squid crowd.  But those that fall into the
hands of persons that love the bikes for what they are discover that
they are more reliable than many BMWs appear on the surface to be.
Or to put it another way, Italian bikes are as reliable as any other bike.

I've heard of a 750SS somewhere in CA with well over 100,000 on the
original motor.  Ralph has an absolutely thrashed bike that has 128,000
on it.  If that bike had been most others, there'd have been nothing
left to rebuild.

>Neither of my two BMWs ever operated with such faithful reliability and 
>tended to require more intrusive maintenance at frequent intervals (lessee:
>one of them, on a 16,000 mile tour, required three seperate bouts of
>welding

I nearly died laughing when I recently read a letter to the editor of
the BMWMOA wherein a gent describes a BMW he's owned for some outragious
number of miles and NOT ONCE has he adjusted the points.  He's going
to sell the bike now because he can't get it to run.  His story smelled
of fish.

Nothing against BMWs (really! :-).  I just don't find them to be
what lore has made them into.  Like many of the '70s UJMs, I don't
find them very satisfying.  And they're nothing like Nortons, Guzzis,
Laverdas, Ducatis, AJS, Matchless, and a few Yamahas and Hondas...

[I just LOVE flat statements.  Such a dogmatic ring about them 8-) ]


Christopher Perez - chris@triage.rain.com
The List->  Ducatis: 650TT2, 500SL, 860GT
	    Yamaha: RD400F (for sale - to make way for an NCR-replica Ducati)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles