[Flip]

All the best Ducati's I know are the ones that get used regularly and have a decent amount of miles on them. They definitely don't like being stored for long especially in damp or varying temperatures.

I bought my '97 900 in 1999 from a friend that bought it new as a tax fiddle (company vehicle). In the (almost) two years he owned it he only put 1500 miles on it although it had been stored well in his shop, started and ridden from time to time.

But when I got it I set to work on the usual service, oil and filter, belts, swapped the rubber brake hoses they came with back then for braided ones, got rid of the horrible original Dunlops etc. etc. but in the first couple of months of regular use little things started to show, firstly the big crank case oil seal behind the clutch started to weep and then the slave cylinder seal went shortly after- nothing too major but that was a bike I knew the history of and was a bargain.

My 1965 Mach 1 racer was slightly different as although there was a lot of history with it, it hadn't been raced for several years where it was kept in a private collection and even going into the purchase with eyes fully open having taken advice from those that race and run these things you can pretty much double what you think it is going to cost to renew or restore everything that will have dried out, perished or corroded beyond saving.

Having said all that, it is nice clean bike and with early ones starting to go up in value- always a shame to look at these things as investments though I think (I bought my race bike to race not have in a museum!). But it would be a shame for it never to run- but I think it would also be a shame to alter it's original condition. Hmmm tricky!!