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Hi!

This is my first post. I got my first bike on Saturday. Black Ducati 696. I love it. First ride was a bit of a scary experience -- riding across the middle of Manhattan and over the Williamsburg bridge into Brooklyn all in horrendous downpours. But I survived. Still terrified of the thing.

Little more about me: I'll be 25 in August. I took the MSF class in VA 6 years ago and got my license, but never got a bike. My fiance and a professor of mine both talked me into finally doing what I always wanted to do and get a bike, so I did. I took a 2 hour private lesson as a refresher, but ASAP I'm going to be taking the class again up here.

I'd of course love any tips or advice, especially from anyone who lives out in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn who might know of some good places to practice.

Here are my stupid questions though... and lemme tell ya... so elementary that it totally wasn't covered in the MSF class.

1) Ignition only in Neural no matter what??
So *when* I stall out at a green light with 10 cars honking behind me, it seems to me that the bike won't let me start it back up again until I put it into neutral -- which is of course a big fumble when you're hearing people yelling "oh come on! Man get off the road!". I know I'm in first because I always come to a stop in first. I'm pretty sure I'm pulling the clutch all the way in, but is this just standard practice on the Ducati's or what?

2) Backing the bike up to park -- What's the best way?
So I'm parking at this really great bike garage in Williamsburg (The Shop Brooklyn) and while they're all well aware that I'm brand new to all of this, I'm still trying to be savvy. But when I pulled up today and tried to back my bike in parallel with all the other ones out front, I just wasn't successful. An ugly site of me turning off the bike, not being able to move it; getting off the bike, trying to back it in but not being strong enough or something... anyway, it was ugly... and I think they all felt too bad for me to say anything, so I'm asking here.

Thanks for the help and I'm glad I found this place!

Never been on a Ducati. But no, you don't have to have the bike in neutral to start it....just hold the clutch in when in 1st gear. Like I said, I don't know about Ducati's...maybe it's a safety feature or something.

About the parking. Depends on where you are parking. If it's on a slope then leave the bike in 1st gear to prevent it from rolling backwards. Resting your rear tire on a curb is also a good idea. It really just depends on where you park. Every parking lot is different.

BusaEater wrote:Never been on a Ducati. But no, you don't have to have the bike in neutral to start it....just hold the clutch in when in 1st gear. Like I said, I don't know about Ducati's...maybe it's a safety feature or something.

That's what I thought! I'll try again next time I'm on the bike.

BusaEater wrote:About the parking. Depends on where you are parking. If it's on a slope then leave the bike in 1st gear to prevent it from rolling backwards. Resting your rear tire on a curb is also a good idea. It really just depends on where you park. Every parking lot is different.

Totally. At the moment I'm not parking away from the garage -- I'm not at that level yet. What I'm wondering though is when you want to back your bike up to the curb, do you stay straddled on the bike and push with your feet? I think that's the standard way, but I'm either too short or too weak or just not doing it right.

Thanks for the help!

Yea...stay on the bike and look over your shoulders and push with your feet. Keep the clutch held in if you're still in gear. If I'm going downhill at all I gently squeeze the front brake.

That is a whole lot of bike for a complete newbie. The first step is to read the entire owners' manual from cover to cover and then do it again. The manual should cover things like starting the engine and any interlocks there are.

After you have memorized the manual, go find a place without traffic to practice. You really don't want to get frustrated and just rev it up/drop the clutch as that bike can get away from you quick.

Wow, 696 for a first bike. I'm too jealous to say congrats - don't scratch it


Stalling - you're in 1st, hold the clutch and hit the starter button. Should fire up unless your clutch switch is screwed up. The ST2 of ours has it, I doubt its a Ducati characteristic, unless they got rid of that feature on that particular bike, which is stupid.

Parking - make a halfmoon curve and walk it back into place. Like you'd position a LWB truck.

The new Ducatis have a servo starter. In another words, when you start it, you hit the button and release it immediately. The starter motor start and will continue to turn on it's own while the EFI calculates the precise mixture and start the bike on it's own. Do not keep the button pressed like you would on other bikes. It's actually a pretty neat feature.

Oh another Ducati idiosyncracy....they do not have very good turning radiuses. The lock to lock is highly restricted compared to other bikes. You have to plan your parking in tight spaces more strategically.