If you don’t find the 848 attractive, we suggest you check your pulse and ask your KLR in the garage if it’s okay to fantasize about other bikes.
My favorite line.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
Read that this morning. There is some good stuff in there that really makes me want to go into debt.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
If you have Duc money to spend on a bike why not the 1098?
Because of this:
A week before this trip I had spent a warm-up day on a 1098S, for which I was thankful, as this 848 felt like a much-lighter, even smaller bike to ride even on this demanding course. When I asked how the 848, being dimensionally almost identical to the 1098, could feel so lively transitioning left to right and back with such ease, Marco Sairu carefully explained that Ducati had removed 36.8% of the reciprocating mass. In other words, the rotational inertia of the crankshaft, piston/conrod, primary gear, flywheel, and rotor (which alone is 46% less than the 1098 and outgoing 749R) have been lightened so much that the effects of this rapidly moving "mass" on the chassis, is this agile, almost racebike feel.
And this:
The immense amount of engineering that went into the development of Ducati's new 848 has resulted in a bike that already implements technology that supersedes the just released 1098.
And this:
It may be easy to convince yourself that bigger is better but, given the tremendous effort to provide the 848 with broad usable power, lighter weight, and a more agile chassis, many riders should be able to use more of the 848's potential while having more fun at the same time. Ultimately, it would not be surprising if the majority of riders actually ride faster and with increased confidence on the 848 versus not only the company's own 1098, but liter bikes in general.
And it will cost less, use less gas, cost less to insure, and I don't have any kind of ego issues that require to me be on the biggest, fastest, strongest, etc. I'm not a good enough rider to use the 96 rwhp that I have, I'll never be able to use the 121 rwhp that the 848 offers (but it's so pretty), and I for absolutely sure do not need 1098 level power.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.
---Leonardo Da Vinci
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
Again quite positive, and the text indicates a much higher level of change between the 848 and 1098 than I'd anticipated.
While this may be just what is needed to get a middleweight 'feel' for the bike, I really enjoyed being able to cross-shop 999 and 749 parts due to their near 100% commonality .... Can't have everything, I guess.
If my company doesn't go belly up this year I just may have to put a deposit on one of these babies. Of course that means I won't actually see it until 2009.....
I still take the 1098s instead Something about 160 RWHP (after ECU/Termis/PC) would keep off the smaller bike but I'd be using it almost 100% for twisties, not the track.
I still take the 1098s instead Something about 160 RWHP (after ECU/Termis/PC)
I think that combo adds up to about $23.5K, $10K more than I plan on paying for an 848 without ECU/Termi's/PC.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
I think that combo adds up to about $23.5K, $10K more than I plan on paying for an 848 without ECU/Termi's/PC.
Worth every penny.
But......
They have tested this week and the race spec 1098R is already out front.
What does this mean? Hopefully Ducati walks all over everyone in WSB this year. Then hopefully the Japanese, more importantly Honda, will release a new model to combat it on the track
Here's someone's photoshop of what it would look like with a white front fender and lower (stock is black):
I have a montage of that photo that has been my background for awhile. I can't remember where I found it. I like it a lot better in the all white. According to my dealer they don't have the white solo seat cowl available yet either but it is shown in the pics.
I still haven't decided if I like the red or white better. I think the white would stand out more but would be harder to keep clean, however, the red "says" Ducati, it still seems wrong to me to not get a red Ducati.
Edit: notice it also shows it with the monobloc calipers that didn't make it to the production bike.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
Yeah, it only works out to $250 per horsepower. I'll concede the fact that if you figure in the Ohlins that are on the "S" that number drops a bit.
If I had my way I'd have an 848S model that includes Ohlins and Termi's.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
Yeah, it only works out to $250 per horsepower. I'll concede the fact that if you figure in the Ohlins that are on the "S" that number drops a bit.
If I had my way I'd have an 848S model that includes Ohlins and Termi's.
Ohlins and the wheels bro. What are they going to charge for the 848s? A more accurate comparison would be to figure out the cost of the 848s + Termis + ECU + PC. That isn't going to be a $10k difference by any stretch, probably 5k difference, definitely not 10k.
Ohlins and the wheels bro. What are they going to charge for the 848s? A more accurate comparison would be to figure out the cost of the 848s + Termis + ECU + PC. That isn't going to be a $10k difference by any stretch, probably 5k difference, definitely not 10k.
There isn't an 848S, I made that up.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
Our test bike returned a low of 42 mpg (after a freeway stint where we used 5th gear rather than 6th) and a high of 51 mpg.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
All of the reviews seem to think that not having them is better for everything but absolute 100% track duty. I think every single review has said the same thing about them.
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
All of the reviews seem to think that not having them is better for everything but absolute 100% track duty. I think every single review has said the same thing about them.
I've ridden the 1098, and LOVE the monoblocs... I'd have to ride them back to back of course, though I did ride an S4RS after the 1098 with the standard Brembo radials, and I did prefer the Monoblocs. could have just been the bike though...
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Originally Posted by Shenders1
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Something about 160 RWHP (after ECU/Termis/PC) would keep off the smaller bike but I'd be using it almost 100% for twisties, not the track.
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