Originally posted by Ian C on 10-08-2003
Quote:
Bought my M1000ie recently from Ducati Manchester who have just carried out the first service. May I say that I found them to be very efficient and professional.
Anyway, now that the first 600 miles are over I am able to rev it a bit more (7000rpm) and get a better impression of what the bike is capable of. The engine's performance lives up to my expectations in terms of acceleration and top end should obviously be good enough for any road situation.
The running in is going well with the engine becoming smoother and more flexible each time I ride.
Handling is excellent and surprisingly good two up, I just turned up the rear damping preload to full and the springing preload to 3/4 and the bike felt very stable, easy to handle and not at all top heavy. This is a bonus as I didn' t buy the bike with the expectation of good two up performance.
However I have found one small weakness when riding solo. When hitting bumps or even passing cats' eyes under acceleration the front becomes a little unsettled, its not a huge problem but has led me to start thinking about fitting a steering damper. If anyone out their can give advise on suspension settings I will be all ears.
It's my first 'Duke', or V-twin for that matter, and I'm a total convert I love the engine's character, especially the sound on the over run and it's low speed handling makes it much more fun than any Jap bike that I've owned. All in all, I love the bike and think it is seven grand well spent; I can't wait until the running in period is over so that the full performance can be
unleashed. I'll update my findings when I have owned the bike a little longer.
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