Versus the guy who put 35k miles on 2 Ducatis and 1700miles on an Aprilia in 1 month?Originally Posted by Cam
I'll believe the Italian when it comes to Italian things.
Oh, and 26k miles was on one 2001 Ducati Monster. In the period of 4 years, as my daily for decent weather.
That's like listening to an American about American cars saying "ford/Chevy/Chrysler are junk"
That idea lacks validity to the claim, as Ross points out.
A local friend sold his Ducati because it needed too much fixing. He subsequently bought a Yamaha. Who's experience is more valid?
Yamaha being more reliable than Ducati has validity to it. BMW being more reliable than Ducati does not, though the parts availability is probably better for when things do break.
In any case, Euro bikes in this category are likely getting dinged on pricing alone in this discussion. Japanese bikes are the easy button.
I’d go Japanese for this sort of bike too. Let’s assume reliability isn’t a factor and whatever you’re riding has an equal chance of breaking down: the last thing you want is to be stranded a hundred miles from anywhere with long waiting periods for parts availability. Euro brands are known to have months-long shipping times, compared to Japanese brands who have very good availability.
Dont expect Ducati parts during their summer! It seems they shut down for about 3 months.
As for reliability - Ive had Hondas that had bits break, eg plastic gears for opening exhaust valves and clearly not up to long term reliability.
The adventure bike category is fairly small. So it’s really about what looks good to you.
First sentence good.
The second sentence, nutty.
Comprehensive list of BMW motorcycle stuff I've had break and compromise a ride:
1 Clutch cable, BMW K75S, 2016. I rode it to a Motorrad without a clutch and they fixed it in about an hour.
That's it. Which technically makes it less reliable than my Hondas were on account of them never having a problem.
Yeah having worked at bike shops for 20yrs it was fairly common knowledge that BMW was the only non Japanese motorcycle brand that anyone would dare take cross country. A BMW guy would pull up to the shop and you immediately think the owner is a bit more affluent and quirky. But you also think they are sensible and ride a lot. BMWs were just known to be mile munchers.
Ducati guys pull up and you think affluent (but in a non sensible way), exotic and eccentric. But you also think “good luck buddy” as they drove away. As non affluent employees of a shop we saw it all. Ducati got ooohs and aahs but the “I would never buy one unless I was a filthy rich”. BMW got the respect that you knew the owner was wealthy but wanted an intelligent alternative to Japanese bikes.
BMW bikes are for high school mathematics teachers.
Hey some of my best friends ride BMWs...
Ok they are computer programmers, so yeah I see your point.
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