Finally, the big comparo that everyone's been waiting for (a hush falls over the room)....

Okay, so I may be exaggerating a little.  

Having never ridden a Harley before, I was feeling deprived and decided to do something about it. So, just for the fun of it, I rode out to the local Harley shop for a test ride.

Surveying the mass of gleaming machinery, I decided that the Sportster was closest to the Monster, so that would be the best place to start. The friendly dealer had a 1200 and an 883 sitting side by side. After he pointed-out the forward controls on the 1200, I decided that the 883, with it's traditional foot peg location, right in the middle, would be closer to what I'm used to.

Now I know that there are many Harley guys on the Forum, and this in no way is meant to provoke or disrespect either rider or machine.

But....

It was like comparing a thoroughbred Ferrari to a farm tractor. The 883 has no power, no throttle response, and (to my utter amazement) not even any torque. And it's so stuffed-up from the factory that it doesn't even sound good. But my biggest problem was the location of the foot pegs. Anyone used to rearsets is not going to like the middle-set location They're always in the way. I feared a drop was in the cards before I finished the ride, because every time I slowed for a stop, I couldn't get my feet down past the foot-peg blockade.

This surely must be an acquired skill....

Next time I'll try a Dyna or a Softail, but I was never so happy to get back on the Monster, a machine that talks to me.

I dont think this is a fair comparison given the engine size disparity and hugely different intent for the rider type.

Have a look here: http://www.motorcycle.com/shoot-outs/ducati-monster-1100-vs-harleydavidson-xr1200-review-87928.html

Any chance you can ride one of those and compare?

Quote from: Lucumon on September 29, 2014, 10:44:29 AM
Any chance you can ride one of those and compare?

I don't think they make the XR1200 any more. I can't find it on their web site.

Yup, XR is dead and would have def been the Harley I would have looked at.  Too bad it too has a plastic tank.

Quote from: El-Twin on September 29, 2014, 10:29:51 AM

This surely must be an acquired skill...

El, rather than posting this again...  http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=68707.msg1273303#msg1273303

Quote from: Curmudgeon on September 29, 2014, 12:33:29 PM
El, rather than posting this again...  http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=68707.msg1273303#msg1273303

For $.05, I'll take all the psychiatric help I can get! 

Eh, yeah, its a bit of apples to oranges there.  Or a Budweiser to a Paulaner Salvator, yeah, they're both lagers but only one you'd want to impregnate to make a beer/human hybrid.


Gotta give props to H-D for their eagerness to let you test ride, I've never had that with any other make.

I have both a Nightster and an 1100 EVO, both 2012.
Different rides. In the Nightster I put the SE slip on, and the V&H VO2 air cleaner. Stock exhaust sounds like a vacuum cleaner 
The 1100 EVO has a lot more power (more than the numbers tell), much better brakes, and it is more maneuverable.
That given, I think I will never sell my Nightster. I really like riding it.

I've ridden a Sportster 1200 and I can honestly say that it is a piece of crap.

I completely agree with your review.

Quote from: DucatiBastard on September 29, 2014, 07:27:41 PM
Gotta give props to H-D for their eagerness to let you test ride, I've never had that with any other make.

Couldn't agree more. They were totally gracious and accommodating. You just survey the field of choices, point out the one you want, and they wheel it right out for you.

When I returned from the test ride, the first thing I said to the salesman was that the bike had no power. He replied, "Yea, I was afraid you would say that." 

My brother has an xr1200, cool looking bike, but it's a paint shaker pile-o-poo

Quote from: El-Twin on September 30, 2014, 06:39:33 AM
Couldn't agree more. They were totally gracious and accommodating. You just survey the field of choices, point out the one you want, and they wheel it right out for you.

When I returned from the test ride, the first thing I said to the salesman was that the bike had no power. He replied, "Yea, I was afraid you would say that." 

My local Ducati dealer is pretty liberal about test rides, they have a whole fleet of demo models and I have ridden a number of them over the years.

Quote from: SDRider on September 30, 2014, 07:17:33 AM
My local Ducati dealer is pretty liberal about test rides, they have a whole fleet of demo models and I have ridden a number of them over the years.

Same... I think HD and Ducati are the only brands that really allow a lot of test rides.  I remember seeing that in a study before.

Quote from: thought on September 30, 2014, 07:22:16 AM
Same... I think HD and Ducati are the only brands that really allow a lot of test rides.  I remember seeing that in a study before.

I was looking at a Yamaha FZ6 a number of years ago and the dealership had a used one for sale, this bike looked like crap, it had rash on the engine cases on both sides, scratches on the plastics, cracked and broken pieces but I practically had to put a gun to their head to convince them to let me test ride this rolling piece of junk.  They asked me if I was going to buy it if I liked it.  I said, "hell no!" but I may buy a new one if I like it.  They were asking $5k for it... I wouldn't have paid $2k for that bike.

I have heard of some Ducati dealers being stingy about test rides and I did have a Yamaha dealer let me ride a used S4R they had in their showroom.  Depends on the dealer I guess.

The article I read about the Duc dealer network rating:

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/pied-piper-2014-prospect-satisfaction-index-results/

"Offering test rides: Recognition of the importance of test rides has driven manyâ€"but not allâ€"motorcycle dealerships to figure out ways to overcome the challenges of offering test rides. The 2014 study showed that dealerships on average mentioned either immediate or future test rides 52% of the time, compared to only 36% of the time three years ago. However, there is much variation from brand to brand. Dealers selling five brandsâ€"Ducati, Can-Am, Harley-Davidson and BMWâ€"mentioned test rides to more than 60% of their customers, while dealers selling Moto Guzzi, KTM, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda mentioned test rides to less than 30% of their customers."