2000 Ducati Monster 750 dark ?

[jrvyota]

So I have a chance to pick up a pretty nice ducati. The problem Is I know nothing about Ducati's So I was Hopeing someone on here would know something. The Bike is a 2000 Ducati Monster dark 750cc aprox, 35000 mi and everything seems to work. The only thing I noticed is the throttle is really stiff and the speedo seems a bit whacked. So let me have it, what should I know about this bike?

[Joker]

Ask Camp, he knows just enough to be dangerous....:flipoff2:

[jrvyota]

Camp....Paging Camp.

[Jeffro600]

The throttle could be a sticky or worn cable...hard to say without seeing it but 8 times out of 10, thats what it is...bring some WD40 with you and give it a good healthy shot of it down the cable torwards the lever end...if it loosens up, its probably dirty or dry and will need to be pulled from the bike, cleaned and properly lubed with a good cable lube. If that doesnt loosen it up, follow the entire cable with a flashlight and look for any extreme angles, pinched or worn areas or any signs of damage....sometimes just routing the cable wrong can cause all kinds of problems. The speedo is most likely caused by a gear change or different sized tires...its easily fixed though by either going back to stock gearing or tire size....or getting whats called a speedo healer which will correct it to the proper speed.

As for the bike itself, their good bikes...fun to ride and torquey! The only problem is that the slightly older ducatis, due to their valve train style, require a much more stringent valve adjustment regimen than a japanese equivalent....and their not easy to do yourself unless you have the proper tools and someone to show you what your doing and is most often best left to a dealership to do at a borderline insane price.

[Camp]

Jeffro is right on all accounts. The valve adjustment is a PITA but, can be done if you pay attention and have instructions. I have a great write up for doing it on my 916, that I found over on www.ducati.ms . There is a lot of great info for ducs over there.

:beer:

I've worked on a couple of monsters but, it has been years. They look like they'd be a lot of fun to ride. I only used to do burn outs with them in the parking lots after finishing oil changes, tire change, or tune ups :D

[jrvyota]

Thanks for the input, After doing many hours of looking online, I figure that I put about 2 to 3k miles on a bike a month in the summer and a little less in the winter and having to do valves every 6k and belts every 12k was not worth it. So for now I will stick with my hondas.