[Jerry Winder]

After 5 months of ownership I've chopped in my Icon for a Monster. I've just had enough of the niggles and spending money trying to put them right, I'm already about £8.5k in and it needed another £1k spent just to get it how I feel it should have been out of the box.

Somebody will pick up a bargain though, 1100 miles, Termi, Andreani front end, Scottoiler, heated grips, adjustable levers, tankpad and the dealer reckons he'll stick it up for £6700. It's going to Snells in Alton if anybody wants to buy it.

I'll still put my face in here occasionally though. Keep it shiny side up.

Jerry

 

[DHS1981]

Thanks for your contributions to the forum. Good luck with the Monster.

 

[cycletime71]

Jerry you will be missed. I'm sorry to hear your love of the Scrambler wasn't enough to offset the bikes few short comings. I wish you the best of luck with your new Monster.

 

[DenverDuc]

Just curious - which niggles were left that you hadn't addressed? It seemed like you put some good mods on it, and it hasn't sounded like you weren't happy for the most part. Also curious which Monster you bought?

 

[littleowl]

Sorry to hear that, I guess it isn't going to be perfect for everyone :|

 

[Karlo]

After 5 months of ownership I've chopped in my Icon for a Monster. I've just had enough of the niggles and spending money trying to put them right, I'm already about £8.5k in and it needed another £1k spent just to get it how I feel it should have been out of the box.

Somebody will pick up a bargain though, 1100 miles, Termi, Andreani front end, Scottoiler, heated grips, adjustable levers, tankpad and the dealer reckons he'll stick it up for £6700. It's going to Snells in Alton if anybody wants to buy it.

I'll still put my face in here occasionally though. Keep it shiny side up.

Jerry

mmm interesting sounds like my story looking for the girl of my dreams

 

[greer]

Thanks for everything Jerry, enjoy that Monster.


Sarah

 

[ralph]

Your decision is a little hard to comprehend Jerry considering how much I love my scrambler. But I hope you enjoy your new monster and we'll expect pictures and a review shortly.

Thanks for your contributions and moderating services but now without any moderators I'm afraid it's going to turn into the Wild West here. Now where is that 'perfect suspension' thread?>

 

[Asiaoildude]

After 5 months of ownership I've chopped in my Icon for a Monster. I've just had enough of the niggles and spending money trying to put them right, I'm already about £8.5k in and it needed another £1k spent just to get it how I feel it should have been out of the box.

Somebody will pick up a bargain though, 1100 miles, Termi, Andreani front end, Scottoiler, heated grips, adjustable levers, tankpad and the dealer reckons he'll stick it up for £6700. It's going to Snells in Alton if anybody wants to buy it.

I'll still put my face in here occasionally though. Keep it shiny side up.

Jerry

I found as I've gotten older my bike turn over speeds up. Less time for badly made or inconsiderate design. I don't think I'm there with the scrambler yet... but I get you.

In the last 4 years...
XL883L, TW200, KTM Duke 390 but when I was in my twenties A bike lasted up to 4 years usually.

 

[eisfeld]

Very true that the Scrambler needs something like $300 - $2000 in aftermarket fixes before being what it should be from the get-go. But like DenverDuc asked already, I would like to see you explaining what problems you felt were left untackled after your mods.

For me personally I think that the heat of the engine is the only thing considering getting rid of my Scrambler. The other stuff I can fix and there are not many other bikes on the market (especially in Thailand) that would provide me with an equally fun and capable bike for the short-ish trips around my island.

 

[ride2kill]

I found as I've gotten older my bike turn over speeds up. Less time for badly made or inconsiderate design. I don't think I'm there with the scrambler yet... but I get you.

In the last 4 years...
XL883L, TW200, KTM Duke 390 but when I was in my twenties A bike lasted up to 4 years usually.

I agree. And I have to say I'm starting to feel a bit more like Jerry Winder every time I have to drop more coin on this bike. I have many bikes and I truly enjoy customizing. What I don't enjoy is re-engineering poor quality. I have had many ducatis over the years and they are simply not a premium product. Their over all quality has never been particularly high. Their design is what is unique to ducati. They have a good engine and they make a better "looking" product. But, across the board, it is certainly not better than any other brand, and often not as good . My last duc was a beautiful GT1000. I could stare at that thing for hours and like the scrambler it was fun. but, With 7000 miles I was on my third warped plastic gas tank, the paint was coming off the engine block in sheets and the spokes were rusting (problems common to sport classics, not just mine). Does that sound premium or cheap? I think of ducati like this... If Leonardo Da Vinci designed an engine and asked Micheal Angelo to sculpt a conveyance for it. But then asked walmart to handle mass production.
And so the Ducati business model was born…

 

[XB12X]

Very true that the Scrambler needs something like $300 - $2000 in aftermarket fixes before being what it should be from the get-go. But like DenverDuc asked already, I would like to see you explaining what problems you felt were left untackled after your mods.

For me personally I think that the heat of the engine is the only thing considering getting rid of my Scrambler. The other stuff I can fix and there are not many other bikes on the market (especially in Thailand) that would provide me with an equally fun and capable bike for the short-ish trips around my island.

Where in Thailand are you? I am going to be based in Chiang Rai in the far north.

 

[Jerry Winder]

It still needed a rear shock and a new seat at the very least. So with fitting I'm looking around another £850 which would stand me in close on £9.5k and I just don't think the bike's worth it. For me the Scrambler is a second bike, a toy that I'm only ever going to use for fun and, for me, it just doesn't cut it.

Jerry

 

[tonyjuliano]

For me personally I think that the heat of the engine is the only thing considering getting rid of my Scrambler.

The heat of the motor isn't a "Scrambler" thing, it's an "Air-Cooled Motor" thing.

 

[TC3]

Jerry shame to see you go. Good you have the option to chop it in for something else. Good luck with the Monster

 

[DenverDuc]

Jerry - I understand your frustrations to a point, but some of the mods you did were definitely very premium with little to address any weakness in the bike. I certainly don't intend any disrespect, but an automated chain oiler in particular is a luxury item that's definitely not something virtually any bike needs. Also a Termi pipe is virtually double what many other quality pipes cost, and none of them really give a boost in performance only aesthetics and sound. The front forks seem like a decent option, but I will 100% agree the rear shock should be replaced. I have about 1,100 miles on my seat, and while I don't love it, it's not the worst I've experienced.

The way I see the bike is that it's a very good very fun $8500 Ducati that could use a $650 Ohlins rear shock and perhaps a $300 seat to make it much better than it already is. Zero bikes are perfect from the factory, and spending $1k on a pretty inexpensive bike to make it excellent seems pretty fair to me. As it is with anything, modifications are virtually worthless in terms of increasing overall value $ wise, so one should never expect to get their money back out of them when they go to sell. I personally do intend to keep my stock exhaust when I replace it so I can swap it back on and sell the aftermarket one separately to recoup as much $ as possible. Maybe you can take the mods off and try to sell them on this board to minimize the financial hit?

 

[Armo]

I totally agree, whilst not the best bike in the world it is one that puts a smile on my face every time I ride it, its simple, has character and looks the dogs. For the price I still don't think it can be beat, My bike must be a one off as the suspension feels no different to the monsters I've owned (firm).

 

[baimo]

Jerry
Good luck with the scrambler. Someone will be getting a great deal on my bike also. I did not trade in. I just cashed out. The bike just didn't do it for me. But it is the first time I ever owned just one bike and I kind of like it so far. It makes the choice much easier when I open my shed and only see my S1000R. Hope you stay on the forum.

 

[eisfeld]

Where in Thailand are you? I am going to be based in Chiang Rai in the far north.

I'm in the south, Phuket. You got some awesome mountains up there for riding. Enjoy!

The heat of the motor isn't a "Scrambler" thing, it's an "Air-Cooled Motor" thing.

Yes and no. For Ducati yes. The Monster 796 etc are also getting very hot. I'd argue the Scrambler even more so because of its size and ergonomics though only slightly. But other companies like BMW have air cooled engines which don't roast you. Wonder what a watercooled Scrambler (with the 821 engine) would be like. The weight wouldn't help with the handling and I feel the air cooled one has a bit more character. Difficult really

 

[tonyjuliano]

Yes and no. For Ducati yes. The Monster 796 etc are also getting very hot. I'd argue the Scrambler even more so because of its size and ergonomics though only slightly. But other companies like BMW have air cooled engines which don't roast you. Wonder what a watercooled Scrambler (with the 821 engine) would be like. The weight wouldn't help with the handling and I feel the air cooled one has a bit more character. Difficult really

The BMW's have those cylinders sticking way out in the cooling air stream, not a fair comparison.

If you want to feel heat, then ride a Buell XB12 (any flavor) - that makes the scrambler look "frigid" in comparison.

If the Scrambler wasn't air-cooled, I wouldn't have bought it, just my personal preference. Time is quickly running out on the availability of air-cooled motors, I have little doubt that they will not be extinct very soon - much to my chagrin.