[silverluxe]

It's here. I went down and bought it and then had to ride home 40 miles in 45F rain. The mirrors were pointing straight at the ground so I couldn't see jack that was going on behind me. I left to head home at 5pm in rush hour traffic. Finally, I had to take a highway detour to the interstate, which had me bumping the 6k break-in RPM max a few times.

But, I got home. Other than my bike being filthy, I'm really happy.

The first thing I did was loosened the bars and pulled them back a bit so that the grips are level with the ground. I hate riding where it feels like a Y.

Then I broke the mirrors loose to get them vertically adjusted properly. I'll post some photos later tonight in a tutorial of how to do this. They come 'stuck' from the factory because it's like they put them together with wet paint and it acts like thread locker.

Anyway, this is the first motorcycle I've owned that looks better in person than in photos. The tail lamp is intoxicating to look at. Best thing ever.

OK.. Now that it's done raining, I'm going to go ride for a bit.

But here's my opinion as a long time rider of standard, classic bikes:

Bad:
1) The throttle is super snatchy and needs a throttle tamer or a new ECU map
2) The seat is hard, like riding a sawhorse wrapped in a bath towel
3) The suspension is hard, like riding a bobber with strut braces and 50 weight oil in the forks
4) The gearbox is fine, about like my Speed Triple in terms of vagueness and false neutrals

Good:
1) The brakes are great
2) The tires rock. I rode home in a rain storm on new tires on rain pavement. They didn't budge. Very confidence inspiring compared to vintage tread (and narrower) tires on older bikes.
3) The ergonomics are such that it's almost like someone personally built the bike for me and my taste.

It's home. I'm gonna go gawk and ride.

 

[TC3]

Congrats! Glad you now have it

 

[RamblingPath]

Congrats,

My mirrors were loose. Wind moved them back facing each other on my first ride. So, how far back did you pull the handlebars?

Glad to hear she handles well in the rain, and have a great weekend.

(I still think the seat is too soft, and it's just a 'little' snatchy )

 

[silverluxe]

I moved mine back maybe three degrees from where the dealer had put them. My mirrors were frozen in place. I loosened the 12mm nuts up top and the mirrors wouldn't turn. I had to use a 14mm open ended wrench on the metal part of the mirror with a rag over it to avoid scuffing the paint to break them free so they'd adjust in the longitudinal direction.

 

[ralph]

Congrats.

I was at the dealership today and saw a red icon in the flesh for the first time and it looked so good it had me second guessing my decision to take the yellow icon that suddenly became available.

I not only agree with you about the ergonomics, but that along with the aesthetics and the engine makes me think that the bike couldn't be better if I had designed it my own dang self.

Enjoy and I'll be interested to see what mods you decide to make........with accompanying instructional how-tos of course.

 

[outofthebox]

Congratulations! Finally it's here!

Here's to miles & miles of happiness on your Red devil!

 

[Phil McAvity]

What they said... Congratulations and enjoy. I might try the handle bar swing thing just to see what it feels like.

 

[silverluxe]

I'm a lazy rider. I like sitting far back in the seat and having the bars come back to me. Think: old three wheeled golf cart ergonomics haha.

This bike is so good looking in person.

Now I need to clean my garage, but the Condor stand works perfectly to get the Ducati upright when at rest. This is my favorite way to store bikes.

 

[Jerry Winder]

Congratulations Silverluxe. That's a good looking stable of bikes you've got there


Jerry

 

[eisfeld]

Excellent first impressions. I agree 100% with everything from the weird mirror stock position to all points in Bad and Good. Especially the comment about it being the first bike that looks better in person than on pictures rings with me.

The only additional (and frankly most annoying because cannot fix) downside for me is the stupid amount of heat from the engine riding in hot weather.

I'm sure you'll have a blast with the bike. Let us know if you do any mods to improve the riding comfort.

 

[silverluxe]

I was thinking of a seat cover stretched over the OEM seat cover that has selective dense foam added to the dip and adds some width up front. Nothing tractor seat or 'old man on a BMW' mind you. Something more along the lines of the 'comfort seat' they sell.

That way I could pull the cover if I ended up not liking it, or someday when I sell the bike, revealing a pristine OEM seat and cover. The people who say the seat could be higher aren't lying. It feels a bit like riding a trials bike around on the rear fender I thought with my 30" inseam that the bike was tall enough when I sat on one at the dealership, but now that I'm riding it in traffic, it's definitely a shorty.

My first modifications will be to install my Evotech oil cooler cover. I also bought the OEM belly pan yesterday since they just got it in when my bike showed up. It's a high quality piece, made of aluminum. The belly pan and side panels are slightly imperfect which makes me love the bike even more. Not that mass produced, exactly the same feeling you get with Japanese OEM, haha.

However my friend has the belly pan down at his house because the dealer scared me into thinking I'd crash with it riding in my messenger bag on the ride home and paralyze me. We also folded up the box the bike came in and stuffed it into my friend's car, so I can make some art out of the side panels of the cardboard. A "scrambler Ducati" poster for my garage wall.

 

[Karlo]

I'm a lazy rider. I like sitting far back in the seat and having the bars come back to me. Think: old three wheeled golf cart ergonomics haha.

This bike is so good looking in person.

Now I need to clean my garage, but the Condor stand works perfectly to get the Ducati upright when at rest. This is my favorite way to store bikes.

jajaja like we say in spanish "ah pecado"

nice way to store your bikes

 

[silverluxe]

I forgot to add another thing: The headlamp lens is GLASS. I never saw it mentioned anywhere. Looking at this bike, I thought in my mind, "There is no way that it's not made of plastic."

Lo and behold, it's glass, which is super classy!

 

[silverluxe]

Night 2: I used the supplied spanner to turn the rear shock down to minimum preload and it helped out a lot. Now the bike simply feels 'sporty' rather than 'hardtailed.' I'm 155 pounds and it still feels like the rear end is too stiff to me. I don't really mind the front end. It could just be due to what I'm used to calling 'normal' with all my blown out vintage twin shock bikes I've ridden in the past.

Now that I'm developing a feel for the bike the snatchy throttle is becoming OK. I think the gearing is to blame as much as the throttle mapping. I have had a few times where I thought I hit a false neutral shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear, but I hadn't. 3rd gear is just so close to the way 2nd gear feels that it feels like 3rd gear isn't doing anything but getting in the way. That's probably due to the 14/46 combo not being perfect for this engine and rear wheel diameter. I have no idea what the perfect sprocket pairing will end up being, but I don't mind experimenting in the future. When I had my TW200 it had 14/50 and I ended up keeping it that way after trying different combos because that's just where that engine made its power the best and got the best fuel economy. Anything taller made the engine lug too much. I feel like the Scrambler won't suffer from losing a few teeth off of the rear sprocket because it has power on reserve.

That said, I'm banging through the gears just like I was on the TW where I'm up in 3rd gear by the time I cross the street so there's a lot of shifting up and down going on with this bike when riding around town. It makes you work for your performance as you navigate the city. I'm used to it from my aforementioned Yamaha, but my other bikes are more happy to just sit in 3rd gear in the city and kind of live there. I find myself with the Scrambler up and down through 2nd-4th gear a lot depending on if I'm going around a corner or I'm cruising a straight piece at 40mph.

My opinion as I rolled back home was that this bike is what I always wanted my Speed Triple to be. A powerful bike that sits low to the ground. The Triumph was too tall for me and not confidence inspiring in corners. The scrambler runs around my urban environment like it's on rails. Riding the Scrambler makes me imagine that my TW200 and Speed Triple had a cute baby.

 

[Doc59]

I get exacty what you mean about the TW200 and Speed Triple having a baby, I keep telling mates that the Scrambler is like riding my Super Sherpa with 70hp

 

[outofthebox]

Riding the Scrambler makes me imagine that my TW200 and Speed Triple had a cute baby.

ROTFL! That has to be funniest one line review of a Scrambler!

That said, I'm banging through the gears just like I was on the TW where I'm up in 3rd gear by the time I cross the street so there's a lot of shifting up and down going on with this bike when riding around town.

As a former TW200 rider I can give you one tip: as you know, the Scrambler develops much higher torque (and power) right from the word go, compared to the TW. Try staying in 1st & then 2nd a bit longer and this will become a non issue in a jiffy.

 

[littleowl]

Great to hear you finally have your bike! I also angled the bars backwards as only being 5'3" it was too much for me both width and reach - I have got used to the width now though. I have found though that even with adjusting the nut to position the mirrors, there is a point at which they won't go any further due to the back of the mirror meeting the mount. Fortunately it's just about okay.

So you have found pretty much the same issues as some others - throttle, suspension and seat. I've addressed the seat by having a gel pad inserted and hopefully once I change the shock it will improve the throttle!

 

[silverluxe]

ROTFL!
As a former TW200 rider I can give you one tip: as you know, the Scrambler develops much higher torque (and power) right from the word go, compared to the TW. Try staying in 1st & then 2nd a bit longer and this will become a non issue in a jiffy.

Yeah, the Scrambler has the legs to keep going. At the moment I'm trying to obey the > 6000 RPM break-in rules, so short shifting it means a lot of shifting so you don't over rev. Once I'm ready to occasionally bounce off of the rev limiter, my riding style will change significantly. I'm already 1/8th of the way to my first service. I'm going to order up some oil today so I'll have it on hand.

 

[alepplew]

Night 2: I used the supplied spanner to turn the rear shock down to minimum preload and it helped out a lot. ...

Love your pics, man. One more gorgeous than the other. Ducati marketing should hire you!

 

[silverluxe]

I'm just going to use this as a dump for my 'thoughts diary' about the bike. It's the first Ducati I've owned and only the 2nd bike I've ever owned with fuel injection, a rear disk brake. The bike and me are getting along. I still think it's sprung way too stiff to ride off road and the seat leaves a lot to be desired, but it's still very run to ride around. I'll kill myself or at least put the bike down if I try to ride it on gravel or mud. What little grass and mud I rode through today, the bike has way too much torque for the rear tire to keep hold. One goofy (and likely) blip of the throttle and you'll be on the ground.

I'm waiting to see what people come up with for aftermarket seats. Something a bit wider and about 1-1.5" taller would be great. Basically fill the gap of the dip for the driver space. I will say that if you're in the mud you probably want to be sitting much further forward to maintain traction at the front tire and to have control of your spinning rear tire a bit more easily.

It's been raining here the past couple days, so I haven't gotten to do nearly as much riding as I'd wanted. I'm at 180 miles on the clock though, so it's going well. Today I removed the silver stickers from the frame, installed my Evotech oil cooler cover (it sits proud of the oil cooler so you can easily wash between it and the oil cooler fins, which I like. It was just a snap on fit, so totally drama free. I also removed the evaporative charcoal canister from the bike which shows off more of the engine nicely.

I'll also fill this thread with a bunch of my photos. I like to take photos.