Ducati 916

Explain to me how a bike that is 14 to 18 years old with flimsy build quality, poor reliability, humongous servicing and repair costs, not chart topping performance even for it’s time and a price tag that could get you a 10 year newer, faster, more reliable, comfortable and better handling bike a bargain.

It’s not a bargain at all it’s bollocks for some bleary eyed rose tinted Ducati fan with more time and money than sense. The bottom of the range 916′s will never be worth mega bucks unless they are absolute minters which means you mustn’t ride them to keep them that way. The SPS and R models cost thousands if they are any good.

A loose nut or bolt on a bike like this can easily be the start of something bigger, these bikes need a strip down and check over each time they are used to keep them reliable, they are in no way practical for everyday use. A sorted 92 Blade will hand it it’s arse and cost less than half the money, a 999 for the same price is vastly superior and much more reliable. This has no place in the top 23 as a value for money bike.

The Ducati 999 should be here, they really are a bargain and nice ones are around for as little as £3000. They have all the sound and character of the 916, although they don’t look as pretty they also don’t look as dated. If you must buy a Ducati to actually use the Biposto models with standard exhausts seem to always be the most reliable across the board. As soon as they start to get messed about with the reliability tends to fall sharply.

For the record I covered 5500 miles on my 749 biposto and I kept it completely standard, treated it like a Jap bike, rode it in the wet never had any problems. Didn’t have the old 748/916 problem of filling the airbox with oil if you did more than a bunny hop of wheelie either.

15 Suzuki GSX750F