i have 68000 miles on my old 750 monster. yes, it has been a generally reliable motorcycle. it has left me stranded a couple of times though. i've had to replace ignition pickup coils twice in the 14 years i've owned it.

my 848 on the other hand has had a fuel tank replaced because of the expanding gas tank issue, had a bad turn signal replaced, had a bad oil pressure sensor replaced, and i had to fix the radiator as i mentioned above. all this happened within 2 years and 12000 miles.

my girlfriend's monster broke at 8000 miles and 2 years off the showroom floor.

i service all our bikes myself because i have the tools and experience to do it. a few weeks ago, i was talking to one of the mechanics at my local dealer. he told me that they recently had somebody bring an 848 in for a minor 7500 mile service and a set of tires. the bill was over $1000. guess what a major 15000 mile service costs...

seriously, i recommend starting with a cheap japanese bike to anybody who wants to start riding motorcycles. they're just less of a headache, which is exactly what a beginner needs. i would never recommend ANY ducati as a beginner bike, regardless of what the magazines will tell you. in fact, i am going to buy myself a yamaha R3 in april. after 23 years of riding motorcycles, i'm ready for motorcycling to be cheap and fun again. i'm going to keep my two ducatis, but i don't need a 140 horsepower sportbike to run around town on. and let's be honest, where are you going to do 170mph without going directly to jail these days? and NOTHING corners like a small displacement bike. you want to improve your skills and learn to get your knee down? buy a little bike and ride the shit out of it. spend the money you'll save on some good riding gear. the best riders in the world all started on 125s and progressed to 250s before riding the current crop of 1000s. i did a trackday on my monster back in 2004. there were guys with literbikes out there, but the people who were kicking EVERYBODY'S asses were riding 250s.