Ducati Pricing

[buckeyebike]

OK, I am pretty good at pricing things, figuring a value, making solid offers on used bikes, etc, but I have no idea how to price Ducatis, especially the superbikes. Focusing on the modern bikes, I see them from $6500-$45,000 and have no idea why there is such a difference. Is there a relatively simple way to break it down?

Just curious.

 

[DesmoDog]

$6500 buys you a 996/998. $45,000 buys you a Desmosedici or newer R model superbikes. Not really sure how to break it down since you've being pretty vague as to what you're looking at. "modern bikes" doesn't narrow it down much.

 

[buckeyebike]

Haha, vague because I haven't a clue. So what are the most significant differences between the 996/8 and a Desmosedici or R that result in the rather large price gap?

I guess it is like Ferrari where you can pick up a 308 for $35K or a F50 for $500K . . .

 

[buckeyebike]

. . . and it appears everyone who owns a Ducati, especially those selling one, calls it a 'superbike." Like everyone who owns a pre 1989 Japanese bike calls is a 'café racer', especially those who are selling one

 

[DreadRock]

Comes down to the Materials used to build it and the Technology from one to another . Lighter wheels , carbon fiber body parts , abs , Traction control , motor size etc.. ....

 

[buckeyebike]

Example . . . pretty significant price difference.

This:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ducati-Superbike-/291049433765?forcerrptr=true&hash=item43c3e5eaa5&item=291049433765

This:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ducati-Superbike-2009-1098-r-bayliss-/291049433751?forcerrptr=true&hash=item43c3e5ea97&item=291049433751&pt=US_motorcycles

 

[DreadRock]

The 2nd on is a Special edition Troy Byless bike only a hand full made ! Something like that will bring big money over a stocker !

 

[buckeyebike]

Gotcha, makes sense.

My interest was sparked a few months ago when while browsing for older Ducatis I stumbled across a couple sellers on ebay who were selling rather pricey modern Ducati 'superbikes' and in the pictures of the listed bikes you could see quite a few other Ducatis in the background, in houses or private collections (didn't appear to be dealers). Just been curious since . . . at $25K a pop and with a collection of 6-8 bikes . . . I did the math . . .

 

[620dark]

I think that in many areas used Ducatis are rare, so that drives up the pricing. Ducati didn't really produce a huge volume of bikes until into the 2000s, and only sold about 40,000 bikes last year, which I think was its best year to date?

Add in the perceived cost/value by the seller of all those $500 - $1000 trips to the dealership because of the myths that it is hard to work on a Ducati, and the price goes through the roof.

The cheapest Monster you can get this year is a bit over $9,000 MSRP (compare to a new Bonnie at around $8,000), and the 1199 starts at about $18,000 (compare to about $14,000 MSRP for a CBR1000RR), so I think that the prices have actually been going down for the new bikes. We'll see how this affects used prices in the next 10 years or so.

 

[warpedworm]

Gotcha, makes sense.

My interest was sparked a few months ago when while browsing for older Ducatis I stumbled across a couple sellers on ebay who were selling rather pricey modern Ducati 'superbikes' and in the pictures of the listed bikes you could see quite a few other Ducatis in the background, in houses or private collections (didn't appear to be dealers). Just been curious since . . . at $25K a pop and with a collection of 6-8 bikes . . . I did the math . . .

There are some serious collections out there. There's one guy in Wisconsin that has about 20 Ducati and Bimota, about 1/2 Mil worth.

If you want a certain model it will usually take you some time to find one for the price/distance you want to travel/condition you're looking for. I just bought this ST2 which in no way is a sportbike Ducati, it's the sport tourer they built in the late 90s/early 2000s, so it doesn't command the price of the sportbikes. But it still took me
almost a year to find one in the condition/price/reasonable distance. Guy needed money for a car and could of easily gotten $ 4-4,500 for it in the spring, but I got
it for $ 3,000 in December

 

[StinkBug]

Haha, vague because I haven't a clue. So what are the most significant differences between the 996/8 and a Desmosedici or R that result in the rather large price gap?

Well, a lot. The 919/996/998 was their production superbike of the day. It's a bit outdated now, but still admired. I've seen plenty for $7-9k. It was a fairly revolutionary bike at the time, but it was a production bike that sold a lot of units (for a ducati) It was also in production in various different iterations for 10 years. Not a very rare bike, though there are some special editions that are more rare and valuable.

The Desmo is basically a full on MotoGP race bike with lights on it that they made only 1500 of and are completely covered in carbon fiber. They run a V4 engine that shares nothing with any other bike, as well as lots of special one off components. IIRC they sold for over $60k new and unlike the others they are going up in value, not down. When they were first released you had to be on a waiting list to get one, and you had to be invited to be on that list. They are doing the same thing with the 1199 Superleggera right now.

It's kinda like the difference between a bottom of the line Porsche Boxter, and the cars Porsche races at the 24hrs of Le Mans. There are a lot of bikes in between too.

 

[stroker crazy]

rare and valuable …

The only Ducati that I truly lust after; I wouldn't dare ask the price!

 

[warpedworm]

The only Ducati that I truly lust after; I wouldn't dare ask the price!

I think the price for that one is, "You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands"

 

[ApriliaBill]

I bought an Aprilia a few years back. Italians make nice bikes, anyway there was a model(Ducati), if you bought it $70k, you got a full day with Doug Polan to show you how to ride it. Imagine say buying a Fender Strat and having Clapton showing you how to play it. Anyway, when you talk Ducati, just think Ferrari... Are they the best or fastest? Well lets just say they are competitive, but the charachter factor is cool. I know in some places they are rare, around here, they are everywhere... I was surprised to know Ducati makes up less than 5% of the u.s. market when I actually see more of them than Honda's around here. I like them a lot, they just have something about them, can't put my finger on it, but soul comes to mind. My Aprilia makes noises and moves that my asian bikes just don't. I had an old guy tell me once, A Yamaha is like a really good wife, but an Italian bike is like the hotest call girl on the planet, you know it's wrong, but you don't care...

Anyway, if it wasn't for the Monster, Ducati would have gone under. Monters were basically the first hooligan bikes. When everybody was bloating thier bikes with slabs of plastic, Ducati goes minimal and all hell broke loose. All of a sudden regular guys had a chance at exotica and as we aged and made more $ we remembered that Ducati had nicer stuff and brought that home. Anyway I'm blabbering like a school girl. There are books and history on these bikes, and there is a LOT of history. Ride a 916 or 999 some time, if you don't need to make a trip to the chiropracter, then you didn't do it right, but once you hear the redline scream, you'll be hooked. I've flipped a few and dang I love Italian bikes...

 

[midlyfcrisis]

must have aprilia rsv4. feels just a tad bit bigger than my r6 but has enough juice to carry my large ass around. wanted a panigale but the aprilia is killin it in wsbk.

 

[eyhonda]

There is a growing trend to "cafe" certain Ducatis. Check out Radical, X-Shed and Moto Motiva.

It is possible to mix and match frames, swingarms, tanks and motors with lots of welding, fabbing and cutting. Especially with tube frames, much of the same work done at this forum works in the Ducati world.

SBK bikes generally point to the Ducs with 53mm forks, narrow case motors w water cooling and swingarms w/ bearings. Your ST2 frame is similar to my Monster but with a different subframe. Check out this ST2 based Duc:

 

[buckeyebike]

Thanks fellas, that pretty much clears it up for me. I am not in the market for a modern Ducati, or any bike for that matter, but if one were to pop up, I'd like to be knowledgeable enough to make a quick decision while limiting the chance of being stuck with an unsuper superbike

 

[DesmoDog]

Haha, vague because I haven't a clue. So what are the most significant differences between the 996/8 and a Desmosedici or R that result in the rather large price gap?

This info could fill a book. In fact it has filled a couple books... you might want to try one or two of those before you spend any money.

As for generalities, beware that Ducati super bikes (As in the four valve water-cooled race bike replicas) make for some of the worst street bikes on the planet. They suck in traffic. Some of the issues with them can be fixed but in general unless you are losing sleep over how bad you want a Ducati Superbike, buy something else. That said I've got a 996 I bought brand new in 2000, and after 13 years of ownership I still have no plans of selling it. THAT said, the classifieds are littered with ads from guys who bought superbikes and the fantasy didn't match the reality, so now they want to get rid of them. One reason prices vary widely is financing. Some guys are trying to sell the bikes for market value. Others want to cover what they owe or get back what they put into the bike. Generality #2. Any money you spend on aftermarket goodies adds near zero value to the bike when you go to resell it. I don't give a rip about your $1500 clutch. Or your $2500 exhaust. I may pay $400 more for them than a similar bike without them, but you sure as hell won't get $4k more for it. Save the stock parts. You can put them back on when you realize the bike isn't for you, and you can sell the go fast crap on it's own.

Not that you asked for it, but my opinion is you should find yourself the latest 900ss/sp you can and buy that. They were made until 1997, with the 1998 900SS/FE being another good choice. Ride that for a few years and learn about the various bikes. I'm not sure what they sell for around the country but around here you can get them for under $4k. Plan on putting another $1000-1500 into is fixing the past owners sins, and you'll have a nice intro to the brand to ride while you learn about the other bikes they made.

For a lot of years I wouldn't recommend a Ducati to anyone. My thought was if you were truly bitten, what I said wouldn't matter anyway, and if you had to be convinced to buy one you probably shouldn't own one. They aren't for everyone.

 

[buckeyebike]

Desmo- thanks for the detailed response. As I mentioned, I have no intention to buy a modern Ducati 'superbike', but then I never intended to buy most of the bikes I have . . . Due to the huge gap in price between models, I just wanted a bit of understanding so that if something surfaces locally, I want to make sure I don't pop on something that I would quickly regret.

 

[DesmoDog]

Desmo- thanks for the detailed response. As I mentioned, I have no intention to buy a modern Ducati 'superbike', but then I never intended to buy most of the bikes I have . . . Due to the huge gap in price between models, I just wanted a bit of understanding so that if something surfaces locally, I want to make sure I don't pop on something that I would quickly regret.

Ah... I see. I thought you were jonesing for a super bike.

IMHO a Ducati isn't a bike you buy just because one came up for sale locally, Unless you're willing to gamble. If you don't know what you're looking at it's easy to get taken. A lot of times the guy selling it has no clue what he's talking about so even with the best intentions it can be a bad deal. CRs with full farings so the seller is convinced it's an SP. Or a yellow SP and the guy thinks that means it's a superlight. That sort of thing. It's especially bad with the vintage bikes but that's a different post.