and she said.. "how you interpret the dream is probably more important than the dream itself"

Sometimes I don't know why I do the things I do. I don't know why I waste so much time doing the things I don't want to do and have such guilt when I do the things I do want to do. I don't know why I have such regret and such remorse but I do know I'm happy to have a high-maintenance pain-in-the-ass Ducati.

For me, cars, bikes, computers... all these things should "just work". I shouldn't have to be bringing them into the shop every other day and I shouldn't have to worry about the oil burning out the tailpipe and I shouldn't have to be replacing burnt out motherboards all the time. I enjoy the satisfaction of changing one's own oil and other petty maintenance issues, but that's more a matter of maintaining than a matter of fixing.

The Ducati, however, has proven it's heritage: high cost of ownership. Okay, to be fair, I've been riding it for about 4 or 5 months total and I haven't really had many issues. I rode it forever with a rusty-ass gas tank which was clogging the fuel filter like crazy. I rode it forever with what was probably a lean mixture, due to said rust. I clearly taxed the hell out of the fuel pump. I rode it lower in the RPM range than it likes to be ridden - and as a result taxed the battery a bit as well. All that being said, it has performed for me. I guess more things could have gone wrong and so far so good - minus this one itsy-bitsy little problem of the fuel tank.

After a few attempts at getting someone to try and help me remove the tank I just resigned myself to a solo job. I spent a few hours figuring everything out and finally got the fuel removed, the tank off the bike, and the innards pull out (fuel pump, fuel filter..etc). I drove the tank up to a radiator shop half an hour away and I paid them $50 to acid-wash the rust off the inside of the tank and seal the thing right up..

A few weeks later I returned to pick up my tank and managed to rebuild everything, again by myself, and fit it back on the bike. I re-connected the hoses and fill the tank up. I fired up the bike and it ran like a dream - better in fact than I had ever remembered it running. It ran down low in the RPMs without as much chug and lug and it cruised up high in the RPMs with a nice consistent rumble.

But then of course it randomly died on me every once in awhile. I finally figured it out - the radiator shop had (accidentally) sealed over the air breather holes in the tank. My bike was, as I rode, slowly depressurizing the tank as gas was removed and no air was replacing it. This, of course, made the pump work harder and harder and finally it gave up the ghost and fuel slowly dribbled off at the engine. Then it would die. Then, worrying about the fuel pump's integrity (without the benefit of knowing what was happening) I would open the gas cap and turn the bike on to see if I could hear the pump running properly.. In the process, I was equalizing the pressure of the tank and thereby fixing the problem without knowing it. This, of course, made for a longer discovery time of the actual problem but now that I know - I am no closer to a solution. The hole(s) in question are way up inside the tank, completely sealed over and smooth to the touch, so I have no way of knowing where they are and how to work through them.

For the time being I am riding around, very unsafely I imagine, with the gas cap slightly ajar - just enough to keep the air pressure equalized in the tank. I am at a loss as to how to correct the aforementioned problem.

All that being said, I love this bike to death and it makes me grin ear to ear every time I see it. I love the low rumble and the torquey growl. I love the feel of the air rushing by and it is the chatter of the dry clutch at stoplights that makes me happy she is a Ducati. It's a part of Ducati lore that evokes a deep seated pride and I can only think (to quote another ducati rider), as I pass cars along the highway:

I ride a Ducati - everyone look at me you poor, poor people in your silly cars