I dont think my opinion would be exactly what you are looking for since Ive only owned 900SS and 999's but I have ridden the 748 and 916sps. I will tell you that from my personal experience from being a duc owner for 3 years, and having a cloes friend who is a duc mechanic, buying a Duc that is a fixer upper really sucks unless you have access to cheap parts and are a good Duc mechanic. The previous gen motors where less reliable and more maint. intensive than the current motors. Also, if its a fixer upper chances are the bike was neglected and that is about the worse thing you can do for a Duc. You might think it only needs new rockers, but chances are when you pull it apart there are going to be more problems and more time and money. Also there are special tools that make life much easier that cost a lot too.