JUST BUY IT ALREADY. IT SOUNDS GOOD THROUGH TUNNELS. IT LOOKS GOOD GOING DOWN THE ROAD. LANE SPLITTING IS FUN. JUST DO IT here is my 600rr thad Image Unavailable, Please Login
yes...it would be more comparable to a 600 that is a couple few years old now.if you have a couple other bikes ancars now,personally....i'd opt for the 996/998.find one to sit on so you can ck to see how you fit the bike.that's one of the reasons why ducati made the seat adjustable on the 749/999 seriesif you diversify your riding amonst different bikes,maint costs wouldn't be a problem at all..as for you being too old on another 4 years...dewd...your 22....if 26 is too old(i'm almost 38) then just shoot me now....LOL! i'm sure you will make the right decision for you.with all these posts,i'm sure you'll have enough info to go into it with your eyes open. cya on the r1 forum...i hope......
the 748's aren't slow...they just aren't fast by today's 600's.to make them fast your talking alot of money as well.parts aren't cheap for the duc's. as for the new gixxer 750.....and trust me,i really hate to say this....it is looking like it's as fast as a 2003 r1.there is a viddie on the r1 forum of a guy on a new 750 gixxer with the speedo stopping at 299kph..the bike still getting faster(don't forget that the european community forced the bike manufacturers to put a vouluntatry speed limit cap at 186.).figure in your speedo error and your looking prolly a true 170ish minimum.and yes...i would put money on the 750 being every bit as fast,most likely faster then the 996/998 series.
as a side note...with eh speed cap,it prolly won't last too many more years before the big 4 remove it.reason being,the 750 suzi is very close top speed,with 600's not too far behind.the only reason to buy a liter bike is for torque down low(besides the looks).so when you have the smaller bikes equal the performance of the big ones,expect the speed cap to disappear. then the speed war will be on again......
yes topo speed isn' imp to me either...i like corners....heh...and the wheel lifting while still leaned over coming out of the turn.....
Lafu2, you can never be too small to control a motorcycle. In fact, the smaller the better. I wouldn't worry about this part unless you plan on buying a Harley... Good Luck
Thank you Dr. Tax. Yeah I am definitely not a Harley man. Have much respect for them, but just not my cup of tea. With 996/996 and 748 being equal in weight and everything, it seems the 996/998 may be the right bike for me. Also Dale, maybe the smaller the better, but I like reaching the ground wtih at least my toes
Ryan forget comparing Ducatis to the other bikes... on paper they just don't stack up either price-wise or performance-wise. However, its pretty clear you'll only be happy with a Ducati so... do whatever you have to do to get a 2002 998 mono. By far the best Ducati superbike ever produced with the exception of the 996R or 998R which are lots more $$$. A 996SPS could be had for close to a 998 mono price but you still have rocker issues with the old style engine. 748's and 996's all have the old style rocker design engines which pale in comparison to the newer Testastretta engines in the 998 and 749/999. Until Ducati does something radically better the '02 998 and its variants are king.
Here's a pic of my S4.If you want a bike that is fun to ride this is a great bike.I have a friend that has a ninja 250 and he beats the r1s and 999 everytime we ride.Motorcycles are fun but the rider is the most important part that makes it fast.Get what you want life is too short........
Interesting thread. I have been dreaming of buying a Ducati for a couple of years now. I'm planning to get a SS1000DS or the 800. Would prefer the 1000 because of the better suspension, but not a big deal ... I like the sound better of the aircooled Ducatis, and love the SS look, and as I intend to use this to go to work and back (and make it interesting and faster, ie. in traffic jams I can continue) I have ruled out the Superbikes ... plus personally I think the SS's are prettier than the Superbikes (old and new). I must admit that a 749r is one hot looking bike, and now that I have got used to the 999/749 I prefer the looks over the 748/998 ... as they simply look dated in comparison. But a Superbike with its 8 valves and rocker issues is just too much maintenance for this person. Pete
I only just saw this thread. some of thhe quick things that I noticed are wrong: The difference between the 748e (regular) and the 748s is the front shocks, adjustable steerer head angle, f spoke wheels, and rear shock (depending on the year). They don't come with any carbon. I have spent extensive time on the track on both the 916 style bikes and the 999. I will take the 916 style any day of the week. If you get a 998, you get the same engine and ecu system as the 999 with a better chassis (at least if you're 5'10" or under). The weight distrbution on the new bike is a little off for me and I get some crazy tank slappers when I come out of corners with the 999. The 748s is a great bike that will never, ever look out of style. A stock bike will have about 82-85 rwhp, which is healthy. You will never have a problem with it. Okay, a little advice here. I think that if you do pick up a Ducati (or any sportbike) you should spend a little time at the track learning how to control it properly. Especially if you think that you're going to ride it in the canyons. FWIW, I can go reasonably fast on the track with my Ducati's, drag my knees, wear the tires from edge to edge, the whole bit but I will not ever ride it in the canyons. That is super dangerous. A lot of guys think that's the place to kick butt but many of them get hurt because they don't have the bike control or skills to keep their bike in the their lane.
My dealership will sell you a pristine 998 for $12k. These bikes can handle some serious miles. I have a client who has 48k on his 996 with no issues. I have never had a single issue with my 998. The maintenance is not a bg deal as long as you don't take it to someone who will overcharge you, and there are plenty of those out there. as for websites, check out speedzilla.zeroforum.com
Sherpa The tank slappers are caused by too much front compression damping. It is a known setup issue with the bike. If you are using the compression damping to compensate for using too much suspension travel, you need to increase the front spring rate. The new bike is very sensitive to this. We currently use the following spring rates on the track .95 or 1 on the front and between 9.5 and 11 on the rear. The 999 is noticeably quicker and easier to ride on the track then the 998. I spoke to Steve Martin about this a couple of months back, after he first recieved his 999RS04.
$15k is approaching Bostrom/Bayliss rep 998S prices. $11k to $13k ought to get you a nice 998 mono. A guy may be trading me a mint red one here soon... I can let you know if you like. The rocker issue is probably the most debated/controversial Ducati service issue ever. If you had a bike with a few bad ones you would want to replace all of them with Megacycle ones or the equivalent. Figure $2500 or so total parts and labor.
Early 998's had cooling issues (radiator was inadequate -- 999 rad was the fix, but I don't think there was a recall.) The rocker arm problem is ubiquitous after '95. This is b/c the 4valve rockers were no longer done in house as. (This also saw the end of hand assembly.) While ducati fervently denies any "defect" on the component, there's a silent recall on any bike that's found to have a defective rocker. Recently, a friend with a '01 996 was in for his 12k, and they found 2 bad rockers. Ducati warrantied the repair without question. Also, the pitting isn't catastrophic; it's almost microscopic -- even after 12k miles. At any rate, if you're paranoid about the rockers, the only solutions are, either 1. get a '95 916, or have all of them megacycled at the next service; however, in light of ducatis recent sway in customer service, i'd say it's a moot point. Also, the '96, '97 and (to some extent) the 98 & 99 4v bikes were more widely affected than any other build years. The '00 and newer seldom have gross rocker failure. Other than than, some older bikes had breather problems (the leaked) , voltage regulator problems, and a certain VIN batch were suspected of having bad rear hubs (ducati did a recall, and sonogramed the rear hub -- free of charge). Someone mentioned the ECU units. Only the 94/95 Cagiva 916's had the P8. Many suspect it's a "better" ECU, but that's up for debate.
$2500 for the rockers? Don't think so. Eight rockers are $559. Labor to pull them and reinstall would be about 12 hours, tops, even with the valve adjustment required after installation. http://www.ca-cycleworks.com/shop/catalog/ducati/engine.html
I've been secretly lurking on ebay and a few of the motorcycle sites in search of a 748, yellow of course. I just fell in love with the looks of the bike. I've also give Aprillia a good look, but they seem expensive and I like the 2-stroke best and after all the trouble my Sea Doo's give me I won't touch one. You were stating that you thought the 748 was a little slow yet you posted a low to mid 11 sec. 1/4 mile time for it. That is fast enough if you ask me. You just sold me by posting those numbers. Only problem is I have to hid it at my shop because my wife would sell it for a buck if she found out....
Yeah. They're still ridable, and if you stay up on your maintenance, you'll catch it before it could develop into a catastropic failure ; i.e., large chunks of chorme flake circulating in your engine = bad news. Like I mentioned, the bad rockers on my buddies bike almost required a magnifying glass to make the pitting apparent; however, I don't know what side of the scale he's on; as in, was the degree of damage on his rockers "the mean" or was he an outlier? Either way, his bike felt fine (to him) prior to service. A lot of people keep talking about how the other bikes are "faster" than the Ducatis, etc. While that may be true, the Ducati will get the holeshot out of the corner everytime.
I used to sell Ducatis for about 4 years but no longer. They are just a hobby now. My friend and I are thinking about doing some trading back and forth and the end result is I would end up with one of his red 998 monos (he has 2!). I may keep it as a rider but since I already have a 998R it would be a bit redundant but who knows since I suffer from short attention span disorder. Back to ""Rockergate"... I have seen the bill exceed $2500 at some shops. By being prudent one could get it done for a bit less than $2k although I think budgeting $2500 would cover all the "while we are in there" surprises that may occur. As far as it only happening to certain model years... well I was part of a busy dealership for quite a while and we saw it happen to all years. Perhaps I am jaded from working so closely with the bikes. It was such a bummer for me every time I saw it happen to a customer or friend that I would do whatever possible to make sure it didn't happen to my bike by simply not owning any model that has those types of rockers. If I were going to get a 748/916/996 getting one that had documented repair work would certainly be a bonus and would hopefully be repaired for good. 998.... 998.... 998.... 998....
Stephens, I had figured as much but I couldn't get the tank slappers to go away. I will try that on our 749 race bike to see if it gets better. LA, the 748 is a like a slightly less powerful (15-20 hp at the rear wheel) 996. They both have very, very similar riding characteristics. The engines will puill similarly at the same rpm's. The difference between the 996 and 998 however is night and day. The 998 can pull hard from about 3k where as the 996 will be a little bogged down under 6k or 7k. The testastretta is also noticeably smoother, particularly at high rpms. The rocker problems, which btw is no $2500 fix, have not shown up on any of testastrettas through our race shop. If you do get a 748 or 996 that develops rocker problems, it is far, far cheaper than $2500. And you never need to replace more than a few at a time. Once the megacycle rockers are in, they're golden. I'm not a hardcore rider. I just like making sure that I know what these awesome machines do on the track. That's the only place where I feel safe leaning the bike over and dragging a knee. As a result, it's the only place where really use the bike. Now that I have a race bike, I have been thinking about selling the street bike. The only problem is that I really enjoy running around town on it. It's so much nicer than in a car - except when I have a business meeting and I'm in a suit. FWIW, I don't enjoy being on the track in a street car but I love being out there on my Ducati.
Hey sorry guys if my idea of what a rocker repair/replacement costs at a shop is not correct. Its been so long since I took a bike in for a repair that I guess I'm out of touch. I have, more than once, seen the bill exceed the $2500 mark but I guess that shop was feeling awfully proud of themselves those days.
la, you are doing all the right thinking and you are correct in your style assessments too. there are many that just think ducati went backward in fasion when they introduced the 749/999. they are faster than the 748/998 but trust me, as a fairly quick rider, i would say you will not see any appreciable differences in the straight line or cranked over w/ you elbow dragging! sherpa does make a good point that the difference between the 748 and the 996/98 is really only the displacment. the weight is nearly the same (within a couple pounds. all else is essentially the same. there are totally mint 996's w/ termiginoni's and carbon bits w/ less than 5k miles for under 10k. not a bad value prop and they will have all the sex appeal that the japanese bikes and 749/999 can only dream of. think about it. i do have a 748 full corsa spec race bike that i am selling for $6900. it is not street legal but is a killer track or palomar mtn bike. full ohlins, termi spaghetti exhaust, corsa speed shifter, marchinis corsa wheels, dripping w/ carbon fiber (including gas tank) , twin injector, ti rods, falicon crank...the list goes on. keep your gixer and go to the track and drag a knee or two!! pcb
Kiesan, you may not be that out of touch. I think that $2500 could be for an overpriced shop but I would bet that it includes the price for 12k service which should be $600-$700 -/+ but many shops charge $1200-$1400 for it. Regardless, a good shop doesn't charge nearly that much.
ryan, there is a 996 w/ 3800 miles for sale in the bay area. it is a monoposto and totally stock for $8500. never down and in perfect condition. i can give you the info if you are ready to pull the trigger.
