Tuesday 2 November 2010

New for old

I've known about these for a while - a brand new Darmah and Six Day 125, finally up for sale and inviting silly offers here; so should you?


Well, in fairness they're described as zero-miles, and not new which makes a big difference. It would (I fear)be a brave man who'd start the Darmah especially - the bearings are likely to have flats, and seals will be drier than Sicily in August. At the moment I'm busy researching oil for Classic Bike Guide and many will tell you it should still have had an annual oil change, and the engine turned over regularly. Unless you want it for a museum, bearing in mind Ducati already have a NOS Darmah tucked away.

But if you want to ride it, then what's it worth? Well, a decent recommisioning (new bearings, seals and such) could easily add up to a £6k engine overhaul, and at the moment a really nice Darmah (with say sub-10k on the clock) might fetch six grand. About what this would be worth if you rode it for a year.

Collectors only, then. Same goes for the Six Day - rare as they come, with fewer than 1,500 made. Sadly that was because the bike wasn't competitive in Six Day trials, and even most collectors get sniffy about Ducati strokers.

So if I had any money, I'd hang onto it. But then Ducati UK will soon have a shiny new foyer at Silverstone to fill, so who knows?

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