Anyone else have one?
In the past 15-16 years I've owned several European bikes: 1190ADV, 990 SMT, R1200GS Hexhead, GSA LC, Triumph Explorer 1200, 1050 Speed Triple have all graced my shed. The R1200GSA LC was the most recent and also the most frustrating, it was going into limp mode at random intervals and multiple 250 mile round trips to the dealer hadn't sorted it out. BMW would have them make a small change and then hand it back to me and wait to see if it happened again. When it finally happened as I was merging into a very busy bit of traffic and nearly got me ran over, I decided I was done.
I knew I wanted something a bit lighter but that wasn't a huge concern either as I have a WR250R for really rough stuff already. I wanted something fun enough on the road but also capable of gravel roads and more if needed. I looked at the Yamaha T7 (the WR version coming to the US would have likely won me there but noooo), Tuareg 660, DesertX, and thought about waiting to see a Transalp. But the Ducati won me over; the ergos are great for me, it is a bit lighter, looks good, and I like the engine and handling...price tag could be better but I was very happy with the trade-in I was offered and I was able to strip off my Black Dog and Touratech parts. Basically, I owned the GSA for 2.5 years and it cost me $2200.
So far I've added a Perun Moto rear rack and picked up a set of ProBrake levers from someone on another forum. Still trying to decide on crashbars and a luggage solution, I have Kriega US 5, 10, and 20 so I can certainly carry some stuff but it will all be higher up on the bike. Kriega say they are working on a DesertX-specific OS Base for their rackless system now and of course the Mosko reckless 40 is available. I've read just enough negative about the smaller Tusk system to keep me away from it.
In the past 15-16 years I've owned several European bikes: 1190ADV, 990 SMT, R1200GS Hexhead, GSA LC, Triumph Explorer 1200, 1050 Speed Triple have all graced my shed. The R1200GSA LC was the most recent and also the most frustrating, it was going into limp mode at random intervals and multiple 250 mile round trips to the dealer hadn't sorted it out. BMW would have them make a small change and then hand it back to me and wait to see if it happened again. When it finally happened as I was merging into a very busy bit of traffic and nearly got me ran over, I decided I was done.
I knew I wanted something a bit lighter but that wasn't a huge concern either as I have a WR250R for really rough stuff already. I wanted something fun enough on the road but also capable of gravel roads and more if needed. I looked at the Yamaha T7 (the WR version coming to the US would have likely won me there but noooo), Tuareg 660, DesertX, and thought about waiting to see a Transalp. But the Ducati won me over; the ergos are great for me, it is a bit lighter, looks good, and I like the engine and handling...price tag could be better but I was very happy with the trade-in I was offered and I was able to strip off my Black Dog and Touratech parts. Basically, I owned the GSA for 2.5 years and it cost me $2200.
So far I've added a Perun Moto rear rack and picked up a set of ProBrake levers from someone on another forum. Still trying to decide on crashbars and a luggage solution, I have Kriega US 5, 10, and 20 so I can certainly carry some stuff but it will all be higher up on the bike. Kriega say they are working on a DesertX-specific OS Base for their rackless system now and of course the Mosko reckless 40 is available. I've read just enough negative about the smaller Tusk system to keep me away from it.
