[slickwill]

Okay, so here goes. First off, I was at Ducati Omaha the day of the National launch for the 848. I was that excited about the new 848. A while back (March) they emailed me letting me know that they had a demo bike that I could come ride. Due to school and weather restraints yesterday was the first day that it all "came together." I leathered up and headed for Omaha at about 8:50 am. I took a couple wrong turns, got some gas, and rolled in to DucOm at 11:00. The sales guy was busy so the parts manager and I sat around and talked bikes for a bit. The sales guy (Jarel) came out, I signed one little form, showed my license and they said I was good to go. They rolled the bike out and started it up so that it could warm up a bit. Then last minute he says, "Since you aren't from the area I'll ride too and you can follow." Just then one of the owners of DucOm (a doctor) pulled in so the salesman had him take me out. The test ride itself was rather lame, about 10 min, never on a road with a speed limit above 45mph, and way too many stop signs. I managed one "blast" up to about 55mph. Not the best way to convince me to buy a Ducati.

Initial Impression: The bike is beautiful but we knew that.

Start-Up: Sounded like it wasn't quite going to make it, but it did. They say it's a Ducati thing. I've heard rumors of 1098's not starting.

Display: Flipping through all the different info that you can get on that dash is really cool, way techie, and probably a good way to die since a lot of it is hard to read. I felt like I was trying to read a blackberry. You can get info on the battery, oil, speed, temp, lap times, and a bunch of other stuff just by flipping a switch that's by the turn signal switch. The tach is a bar of lights that go horizontal across the top. The numbers are impossible to read so you just have to learn where 10K is at. I'd probably put a little red stripe there myself. In all reality it is super cool and really appeals to the data junkie in me (I also would buy the Ducati Data Analyzer immediately if I got an 848) but real world doesn't work quite as well as having an analog tach (we all knew that though).

Seating position: NOT comfortable, sadistic torture device. However, on a track or a great road, I'd probably never notice. Not overly cramped from the pegs to the seat. The bars feel really low though, it put a lot of weight on my wrists and I don't have a lot of weight. The biggest thing that really was disconcerting was how slanted the seat is. JH41 was complaining about sliding forward on his seat at Grattan, no issue here because you wouldn't even make it out of the pits before your package is crammed against the tank. Hard braking into turn one would probably put a permanent imprint in the tank (if you have balls of steel) otherwise, ouch.

Clutch: A lot stiffer than my F4i but smooth. After pulling away, never noticed it so that's probably a good thing.

Gearing: First gear is really tall. Would make stop and go traffic a real chore. Seems like a couple extra teeth in the rear or -1 in the front would be good except the bike already runs out of revs too soon so unless you are just posing and want to run circles around the mall skip the gearing change and deal with it. A quick check of Gearing Commander reveals that the shift to 2nd would be at 66mph, on my F4i it's 71mph, so the extra 4700 revs on the F4i don't gain you much speed. After first everything seems really good. The transmission is much more positive than my F4i, or any other bike I've ridden. A little more effort required at the lever but I really liked the better feel. My F4i sometimes just "mushes" into gear. No sign of that on the 848. You know when it shifts.

Brakes: The 848 doesn't have the monoblocs like the 1098, yet they were WAY more powerful than the brakes on my F4i. I didn't get a chance to get a good feel for feedback or progressiveness but they were definitely more powerful than what I've got and I never use more than two fingers on mine. I liked the brakes a lot. The MC-USA shootout said that the brakes on the GSX-R and 600RR were even better than the Duc brakes. Hard for me to imagine but they know more than I do.

Suspension: Stiff, that's about all I can comment on. Way too stiff for me. They promised that if I bought a bike they would get a lighter spring for me and give a free suspension set-up, it would need it. I want the Ohlins stuff though and would probably upgrade eventually, not because I'm a good enough rider to notice the difference but at some point I plan on owning my "dream" bike and that dream includes Ohlins, front and rear. Again, as shenders pointed out SportRider bashed the bargain suspension, MC-USA did as well. The DucOm guys were giving me a spiel about how the Showa stuff on the Duc is higher spec than the stuff on the Japanese bikes, the real world reviews don't seem to agree.

Chassis: Something here is way different than what I'm used to. Maybe longer wheelbase, I'll have to check the numbers. Either way I kept running really wide in corners and would have to force myself to lean the bike more to get around the corner. The moment I got on my F4i I felt comfortable going "fast" in corners and felt like the bike was right where I wanted it to be. It would take me a little time to get used to the Duc. Some suspension set-up could possibly help. I felt like taking the rear up a few mm would be what it needed to go where I wanted it. Interestingly, when I got back to DucOm the parts guy said that if you put in the adjustable ride height link and then lower it 5mm that "it rails." I don't know enough about chassis geometry to really know but instinctively it seems like up would be the way to go to get it to not run wide. I'm going to read up on that. The bike did feel super stable though, can't describe it any other way. Even though it was feeling really awkward to me I felt like it would be right at home on a track. The initial turn in was quicker than my F4i and took less effort. I think this was due to the lower overall weight, less gyroscopic force from the lighter rims, and lower balance of the weight.

Engine: This is what it's all about. The 848 makes more torque while idleing than my bike makes at full thrust. The engine delivers the torque and power so smoothly that it doesn't even seem like you are going fast. The 848 runs the 1/4 mile faster than any of the 600's and yet compared to my F4i almost feels "slow" because there is never any rush of power. It's just there. Brrraaapp, shift, repeat. On my F4i it starts picking up at 6K, has a good rush at 8K, then really comes on at 10K. On the Duc there is none of that. Almost impossible to tell where you are at in the revs because it feels the same all the way up. It makes beautiful noise just sitting idling, even with the stock cans. Then powering down the road you definitely get some looks. It was awesome to be able to make that noise with a twist of the wrist. The engine is really addicting. I know that all of the reviews also say it but it definitely would take some getting used too to go fast around a track. An extra 1000rpm of overrev would really help. Oh well, it's still awesome. Around town though you'd never have to shift. Just pick a gear and use it, there's enough torque.

Other: The kickstand is impossible to get ahold of with a boot. It needs some sort of a little rod sticking out like the F4i has. I about dropped the bike while fiddling around with the stupid thing. I'd have to buy a Baxley and then never get off of the bike anywhere but my garage. The trunk is absolutely miniscule. Just enough room for your insurance papers and maybe half of a small sandwich. Oh, well, not an issue if you seriously want a Ducati. Also in the trunk is the plug for the Ducati Data Analyzer. I'd have to get one, at $299 I think I'd have a blast with it. The mirrors have been referred to as "useless" by many of the publication. I think that is giving them too much credit. If you plan on ever riding anywhere but a track you will need the Ducati Performance mirrors or the mirror extenders. Also, at one point we stopped at a light for approximately 27 seconds. That was enough for the exhaust to start warming my right leg. It was well over 90 degrees though and we hadn't been above 45mph at that point so the bike hadn't had any chance for cooling.

[slickwill]

So overall feelings. I want one. I will have one.


However, I think that if I had one I'd also have to have a SuMo or something else for my every day running around. In the two years that I've had my bike I've only put 8000 miles on it so I don't ride a lot, mostly due to schedule and Iowa weather, not desire. Most of those miles are from afternoon trips through the country side, the Ducati would be fine for that stuff. However, a decent portion of the miles also come from me riding to school, running to Wal-Mart, etc. The Ducati would absolutely suck for stuff like that. I don't drink coffee so I don't need to pose at the local coffee shops so I don't need a Duc for that. If I was back home in Idaho, no question, instant Ducati, but here in the flatlands I'm not so sure. I'll be moving back to Idaho in a year. Maybe I'll celebrate the occasion with a new toy?

[.OrgOwner]

Nice write up Shame you could not give it a real blast but at least you got some sort of an idea.

[spiral]

Nice write up.
I was very tempted by the 848. However its a ducati, not too comfy, over priced and not the most reliable. There have been massive improvements in reliabilty. The 1098 problems are still a little scary. My idea of getting to know my bike does not mean me and a tool box at the side of the road. BUT as a second bike, to keep long term, and use in the best of weather. I could easily go 848.

[slickwill]

[QU[code]OTE=spiral;697092]BUT as a second bike, to keep long term, and use in the best of weather. I could easily go 848.[/quote]

That's what I'll be doing. I just located a SuMo that will be used as my daily scoot. When it's 100% 'online' then I can ditch the F4i and get the Duc. I've got a few friends with 848/1098's and none of them have had any issues yet.

[HRace]

Once you go Duc you wont get stuck and you will never again not have one. They become an obsession. My first Duc was a 95 900SS, very sweet, got married had kids had to sell..... But now I have convinced my wife that I need my 998R to stay sane... It is my escape from reality a corner at a time... Buy the Duc and you'll never regret it. One suggestion though, if you are mechanically inclined learn how to do the adjustments yourself.... $1000 every valve adjustment interval is a lot of dosh.... Its easier then you think...