About 14 years ago I bought one of the last 907's. It was secondhand and I bought it in from a Lancashire based owner. I paid £3000 for it and the bike was brilliant. It was lively and fitted me like a glove. About six weekds later the bike was stolen from outside my house (Cardiff) on a sunday afternoon. It broke my heart. At the time the 907 was my dream machine. Since when I've owned ST4S, Multistrada and three other Dukes. Six years after the theft a policeman called. He was holding a 907 tank and asked if I had the ignition key by any chance. I still had it and it fitted the petrol cap so I was asked to testify in court regarding the crime. The bike had been put in a van and taken just a couple of miles away and kept in a house used by a reciever of nicked electronic goods. I was told that the engine had been taken out and judging by the gouges on the previously immaculate tank the villains may have used a crowbar. I was interested in acquiring the leftovers for sentimental reasons but the depot where the bike was kept would not allow me to see the machine as it was now owned by the insurers. Before I went to court the reciever died. Some justice then. Fast forward to this summer. I bought that 907 with the indicator/mirrors removed (in the interests of modernity apparently). 907's don't fit me like a glove now i'm in my 60s. It starts easily, burbles nicely on tick over but it has little to offer over 80mph. Carbon cans are fitted. So clearly it needs to be set up properly. Maybe its the ECU or timing I don't know. I live in South Wales and I am a pensioner so budget is a bit of an issue. Where can I get this looked at for reasonable cost and where please? I could go to Riders but that would be expensive. I have checked on Google and there is JHS and Louigi in Bristol. A round trip of nearly 100 miles per visit and I might need two trips (deliver then pick up). What can Paso members suggest?
RICHARD CARDIFF

Richard there are a few members quite close to you in South Wales.

Carbon cans sound nice but I wonder if the bike was set up to run with them?

I live far to north to suggest a service option although if you fancy a weekend away try the Leeds/York area as Ducati John http://www.ducati-john.co.uk/ lives there and is an absolute wizard with Dukes. I 've ridden up spent the day in the Armouries Museum and returned in the evening to a fully fettled bike. He will work with you or you can watch the master at work. You can also always just give him a call.

Hi Richard

My bikes are in Fishguard . . ..

I bought my first big bike (750 Paso) from Garland and Griffiths in Haverfordwest (now gone) but I get my bikes serviced at :-
"Lamo's Motorcycles"
Clynderwen,
Pembs,
SA66 7TG.
01437 565 678
wwwlamosmotorcycles.co.uk

He's a Yamaha dealer and both his sons and his daughter are in the buisiness with him and they are all petrolheads.
Lamo swears he HATES all Ducatis but mine have never run better. His daughter (Victoria) usually runs front of house and she's brilliant at keeping things running smoothly and their prices are fair. Not cheap . . . fair. Ask for a quote first.

I cannot recommend them highly enough but give him a call and discuss the problem - he's bullsh*t free and if he can't do it - he'll tell you.

Hi Richard,

I'm fairly new to this Ducati lark, but have been riding bikes for decades so know a bit about my limits as a mechanic especially when confronted with an engine that relies on rubber bands to work. Also I was a bit precious about who was going to have first look at my new (to me) 1990 750 Sport. I'm in Taunton and wouldn't have been happy using any of the local suspects but was recommended to give Rich Llewellin at Louigi Moto a call. Glad I did. He spent loads of time advising me over the phone about what I might need doing (belts, tyres and service) but reckoned that after that we could discuss what else might need addressing, and what it might cost.

He collected the bike in his van and kept me informed over the next few days as things progressed. Turned out I needed a new sprag clutch, and he was able to put one together out of spares he had lying around (I doubt that a main dealer could have managed this on a 22 year old bike with limited spares availability...).

The bike's now back (delivered at 8 o'clock on a Sunday evening after he'd spent the weekend finishing it off...) and is running like a dream. On the basis of my first experience with using Louigi Moto I am happy to say I'm impressed by Rich's enthusiasm, professionalism and utter knowledge of these old Italian bikes. He gave me a clear idea of what the likely costs were going to be, and managed to do all the work we'd discussed and more besides within my budget.