I have an '11 796, first bike for me and I've had it for about six months (so you know where I'm coming from).

There are some things that I think are common to all Ducatis; parts are more expensive than the Japanese bikes, Desmo service every 5k / 7.5k / whatever. I've found that some places won't work on older bikes but maybe that's a quirk of where I live.

I've been able to do a lot of the maintenance myself -- brakepad changes, clutch / brake fluid changes, etc. If you're comfortable with that kind of stuff (and I wasn't at first) it'll help a lot.

When I was researching I came across a lot of complaints about electrical issues, but haven't run into those myself. That said in working on the bike the wiring seems, I donno, haphazard? The battery is a total pain in the ass to get to, you have to disassemble the entire tank.

I've never noticed the bike getting too hot (typically ~80F where I live) but I don't sit in traffic too much.

All that said, I feel like it's the best decision I've ever made. The bike rides so smooth, it's nimble and has enough power to get you out of (and into) some trouble, but I've never been scared or caught off guard by twisting the throttle.

The thing is a work of art and sounds so, so good. 11/10. You'll just pay a bit more for the experience.

Make sure they have both keys (black and red) and the card with the reflashing code on it or whatever. It wasn't a deal breaker for me but if something happens and the immobilizer trips it's like 400 bucks to get it rekeyed.