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Quote, originally posted by pcugno749 »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have an 03 800ss and this was the year they gave it better parts: aluminum swing arm, marchesinis, adjustable front suspension. I don't know why ducati cheaped out of including these bits on the 04+. May be it was too good a deal for the price. Without this stuff I think the 800 loses its value in $$$ and performance. Go with the 1000 which still has all the goodies.</TD></TR></TABLE>
In '03, they had both an 800 Sport and an 800 Supersport. In '04, they dropped the Supersport and renamed the other one the SS800. So they didn't de-content the bike for the same price. They simply renamed it, and the price is the same as the '03 Sport, which is quite a bit lower than the Supersport was.
I guess they figured the 800 is - and should be - an entry-level Ducati, therefore it should just be a basic bike for a decent price. Which it is. But when you start adding a few goodies to it, all of a sudden it costs more than a Japanese 600, and if you're going to spend that kind of cash, you may as well go for the 1000.
The other day I saw an ad on TV for that little Scion xA econobox, and they were showing guys putting 20" wheels and carbon fiber hoods and stuff on them, and I thought, "If you're going to spend
that kind of money on your car, why not start with a
much better car with a little bit higher base price, instead of spending more on accessories than the car's even worth?"
We bought Jessica the '04 800 as her first Ducati. At first, we thought about doing a bunch of stuff to it, but we realized it would be better just to leave it stock - maybe a set of pipes so it sounds like a
real Ducati
- and then eventually she'll probably move up to a 749 or something.
Just enjoy the bike for what it is, and you can always move up. So for the original poster, it sounds like you may not have a need for the 1000, and you'll save a few thousand dollars by going for the 800. If you wanted to do track days on it, or do some serious peg-scraping in the twisties, then maybe you'll want the better suspension and power of the 1000, but it sounds to me like you just want a bike you can have some fun on. And the 800 will be plenty for that...