been duc-curious as of late, what are the common issues that should be looked at/considered before purchasing?
I don't think there are any brand specific issues, each model and year will have their issues, rocker arm flaking issues in older Superbikes, plastic Monster tanks were deforming, etc.
Overall, they are becoming more reliable. Around the late 90s, the company moved to a Japanese-style of manufacturing, which led to greater efficiency, but also better reliability and build-quality. You can see this by the ever-increasing service intervals since then.
However, IMO, there were certain things that made a Ducati a Ducati. Like Porsche with their rear-mounted normally-aspirated flat-six engine, Ducati did things differently than most manufacturers. I believe that's why they were popular with enthusiasts who were looking for something out of the ordinary.
- Desmodromic valves instead of valve springs
- Trellis frame instead of twin-spar
- 90 degree L-twin engine with one cylinders oriented horizontally
- Dry clutch instead of wet
- Single-sided swingarm
Over the last few years, Ducati has slowly moved away from things that made their bikes unique. There's a common joke about the dry-clutch loose-change-in-a-can rattle where the Ducati owner has to constantly tell everyone: "It's supposed to sound like that". You won't get to make that joke anymore. They're all wet clutches today.
On older Ducatis, the steel-tubed trellis frame was always exposed to show them off. Now, the newer Ducs have a "frameless" design using an aluminum monocoque. And it's all hidden under plastic.
The L-twin engine has now been replaced with a V4, mounted at a 42 degree angle instead of 90 degrees. So, not a twin, and not an L-shape anymore.
On their superbikes, they moved from undertail pipes to a side-mounted exhaust.
At least they still have their Desmodromic valvetrain.
But there's a reason why the rest of the motorcycling manufacturers went a different way, whether it's for cost-efficiency, performance or emissions regulations. Ducati is slowly falling in step with everyone else, but in the process, it is losing all the little things that made them special.
Even Porsche had to compromise on their design philosophy. Air-cooling gave way to water-cooled engines. The normally-aspirated flat-six is now turbo-charged (except for some rare racing models like the GT3). There is talk of a hybrid engines and eventually doing away with the flat-six and going with an electric engine for the future.
If you want to own a Ducati because of the name, a new one will do. They are still beautiful-looking machines and you do get top-level performance.
But Ducati has had such a rich history of marching to a different tune. The new ones - they kinda sound like every other song you hear on the radio these days...
