Sam-
I'll take a whack at answering your question. Ducatis tend to make "engineers and machinists" out of many of us due to the lousy quality control which the company had through the years up to the 999 era. That is a terribly sad thing to say, but rather true. The current era bikes are undoubtedly making more Ducati riders than Ducati mechanics, so what work needs to be done nearly always involves installation of an accessory.
( Oh...I forgot to add that it makes many of us far more fluent in the mysteries of electricity than we ever bargained for ! LOL )
Also, the bikes are both fascinating and relatively easy to work on, which probably both delights the mechanically fluent, and sucks the rest of us into some higher level of mechanical ability than we ever intended just out of self defense.
Sorry it is that way. The above is just one enthusiast's take on the issue and may partially explain why I have never been without a spare Duc in the household. And why I always have a spare bevel motor in a crate for disassembly, explanation and discourse to the girl friend dujour who just can't make much sense out of these neuroses of mine.
Lastly, is Springfield close to Manassas ? I was there over the weekend and thought to ring you up but ran out of time. Perhaps next time.
grendels_arm said:
Why is it that there are more space engineers and aircraft engineers on a Ducati forum than on any other forum I go to? Meanwhile I work on freakin computers for a living and am not mechanically inclined. Definitely the wrong bike for me.