EDIT: ITS WORSE!!! Major problem- need advice- WARNING: LONG

[knightrider]

+1,000,000,000

-1,000,000,001

this is this guys first bike iirc. I would have it looked over real well. and contract someone to ride it like hell for the first month. I will volunteer my services.

[Popeye the Sailor]

Sorry, but I don't buy your argument.   I've been buying and selling and modifying and restoring motorcycles for 30 years and cars for 34 years.  I have lots and lots of mods in my current bikes (an S4Rs and a Harley Street Glide) because I've reached the point in my riding career where my prreferences are strong enough that I am not going to be happy with *any* stock bike.   And I *ride* the value out of my mods, I don't look to sell them to someone else to get my money back, any more than I do the original price of the vehicle.  My Harley is two years old and has over 22,000 miles on it; my Ducati is also two years old and has just under 6,000 miles on it.   I have a lot more than $4,000 in mods to each of them, but every time I roll on the gas on Harley, the additional 35 hp and 40 ft-lbs of torque make me smile, every time I hit the binders, the full floating Brembos (yes, full floating Brembos on a Harley full dress bagger) give me the stopping security I crave; every time I take it through the twisties as fast as some riders take their sportbikes through the same curves, I am happy I spent the money on massive suspension upgrades.     Every time I ride the Ducati with the BST CF wheels and the full Termi system, I get a sensation that simply would not have been there without those mods.   The bikes make he happier than they would stock, the mods were expensive but so were the bikes when they were stock, the bikes depreciate, the mods depreciate, and I ride the hell out of them and the deprecation is PAID FOR by gobs of fun that just don't stop.

Not to mention that I simply LIKE my bikes better than I did when they were stock, and I like LOOKING at the bikes more than I did when they were stock.

Heck, the payback comes from riding, owning, and looking at motorcycles that are specifically tailored to my needs in ways that stock motorcycles simply never will be.

Now, about that supercharger for my Chevy Silverado pickup truck......

You didn't buy his argument....or address it. You said your mods add value to you. That's fine. If you were to go sell your bikes, you most likely would not get an appreciable amount for them over a the same year/similar mileage stock bike.


He was also making the point that sinking serious coin into an entry level bike is just going to get you to the level the higher end models are at. It'd be quicker, easier, and most likely cheaper to just go buy the higher end bike....

[Ducatiloo]

But the mods give a value to the person that is not monetary.  Plus it's like a stock, no matter what the value is you can never lose money until you sell it.

First Rule You never sell your Ducati
Second Rule You never talk about selling your Ducati
Third Rule See first rule.

[junior varsity]

The only problem comes in when you crash it, and you need the value for a rebuild. Insurance companies don't get this, I'm insuring this bike, with the reflectors removed, the aftermarket exhaust and the fancy tank paint job. when i crash, and you give me money, you need to give me enough that i can get the same thing i had.

that is not how it works, which is a shame.

[Ducatiloo]

The only problem comes in when you crash it, and you need the value for a rebuild. Insurance companies don't get this, I'm insuring this bike, with the reflectors removed, the aftermarket exhaust and the fancy tank paint job. when i crash, and you give me money, you need to give me enough that i can get the same thing i had.

that is not how it works, which is a shame.

That's where my Stock selling analogy comes into play   

[Popeye the Sailor]

That's where my Stock selling analogy comes into play   

Er...I don't see how your analogy comes into play with insurance at all....



Also, I probably *do* want to sell my ducati......

[junior varsity]

heresy.

[Popeye the Sailor]

heresy.

It's just a bike.

[junior varsity]

i take a little more pride in ownership of my Ducati. Its unique, looks good, and the guy next door doesn't have one. The jap bikes are just bikes. To me, even an ST or a Multi is just a bike. But 9*6/998/748 or Monster really isn't for selling. Its for enjoying for the long haul. But a lot of people out there routinely change up their rides.

[Popeye the Sailor]

i take a little more pride in ownership of my Ducati. Its unique, looks good, and the guy next door doesn't have one. The jap bikes are just bikes. To me, even an ST or a Multi is just a bike. But 9*6/998/748 or Monster really isn't for selling. Its for enjoying for the long haul. But a lot of people out there routinely change up their rides.

Try living in SF. You can't walk in hour in the city without seeing half a dozen.

[junior varsity]

Maybe 10 in all of Memphis.

[Ducatiloo]

2 in Waterloo one is Mine.

[Ducatiloo]

A Ducati is like a vintage wine to be cherished and collected
Land of the rising sun bikes are for selling 

[DoubleEagle]

Sorry, but I don't buy your argument.   I've been buying and selling and modifying and restoring motorcycles for 30 years and cars for 34 years.  I have lots and lots of mods in my current bikes (an S4Rs and a Harley Street Glide) because I've reached the point in my riding career where my prreferences are strong enough that I am not going to be happy with *any* stock bike.   And I *ride* the value out of my mods, I don't look to sell them to someone else to get my money back, any more than I do the original price of the vehicle.  My Harley is two years old and has over 22,000 miles on it; my Ducati is also two years old and has just under 6,000 miles on it.   I have a lot more than $4,000 in mods to each of them, but every time I roll on the gas on Harley, the additional 35 hp and 40 ft-lbs of torque make me smile, every time I hit the binders, the full floating Brembos (yes, full floating Brembos on a Harley full dress bagger) give me the stopping security I crave; every time I take it through the twisties as fast as some riders take their sportbikes through the same curves, I am happy I spent the money on massive suspension upgrades.     Every time I ride the Ducati with the BST CF wheels and the full Termi system, I get a sensation that simply would not have been there without those mods.   The bikes make he happier than they would stock, the mods were expensive but so were the bikes when they were stock, the bikes depreciate, the mods depreciate, and I ride the hell out of them and the deprecation is PAID FOR by gobs of fun that just don't stop.

Not to mention that I simply LIKE my bikes better than I did when they were stock, and I like LOOKING at the bikes more than I did when they were stock.

Heck, the payback comes from riding, owning, and looking at motorcycles that are specifically tailored to my needs in ways that stock motorcycles simply never will be.

Now, about that supercharger for my Chevy Silverado pickup truck......

Right on Brother !

[ducatania]

Yes.  I met with them yesterday and we hashed out a bill that is somewhere between the initial promise and the given bill, leaning in my favor.  While I certainly would have like to have paid less, the amount paid will be faaaaaar less than the initial 5 thousand and the 4.5K quoted on the invoice.  They are now taking the parts for labor at a small discount to them, and final payment shall be given upon the guaranteed (in writing and supposedly coming soon)  delivery date of the bike at the absolute latest of June 7th.  There shall also be a one month warranty for the work being done, so on the swingarm, external engine components, exhaust, and everything else that was done specifically by him (not the fork internals). 

My original question of why the differing hourly rates, some $55 and some $65 is moot now, but I thought that was weird. Something I would have negotiated into the deal, given his consistent missing of deadlines, would have been a daily monetary penalty for every day he misses past the June 7th date.