Lets face it, its the looks of the 1098 thats gonna sell it.
 

Not the power...

Everyones making me laugh, all going on about the power and how it compares to an R1 or Gixxer 1000.

Forget it, 99.9% of the users of this forum who buys one will get nowhere near the limit of the bikes power or handling.

The 1098 is Beautiful and its this years "Must have", thats why its gonna sell.

Its got nothing to do with the power of it, unless you are gonna be you of the tossa`s playing "Carpark Trumps" at the local bike meet.

"whats yours do mista!!!" "mines got 1000bhp and does 2000mph"

So can we stop talking about power and BHP and just keep it real???

Can't say I agree there. Many many bikers buy on power alone even though most cannot worry a CB500...they buy Gixxer Thous etc cos it's an ego thing.

Gawd i'm glad i'm in the 0.1%:rolleyes:

And that is also why people buy Ducati .... it's a monied ego thing !!

We didn't buy the 999 cos it didn't look pretty enough. What does that say about the average Duke officianado - sort of simiar to the Jap 1000 rider, I think. So be careful in ****ging them off.

I have a dilemma.

I have a 749R which is an GREAT bike and I would hate to part with it.
I also have a 1000rr Fireblade.............my problem is that the 749R fullfills my Ducati ownership passion and the 1098 looks TOO much like my Jap 1000 for me to justify swapping.
I'd be swapping one 150 BHP bike for another...which looks just TOO similar (forgetting the SSSA pf course).
The REAL test will be when we see the 1198 in racing trim....will it look like Haga/Corsers R1's ?

[quote=VanDaMauler]Not the power...



Forget it, 99.9% of the users of this forum who buys one will get nowhere near the limit of the bikes power or handling.

QUOTE]

Very true van !!!!,by the way,whose that in ure avatar???,forget bikes,i'd like to put a qualifier in with her,merry xmas !!!

We'll leave all the talking and showmanship to those that frequent Boxhill, leave all the true nature of the Ducati to those that no, what they want from a motor cycle ride,those that no, no the reasons why,Ive never yet really disgused the ins and outs of what does and what does.nt float my boat in the way of power and outputs. Im sure all Ducati riders or Honda riders are the same, one head, two legs, two arms its what goes on inside the brain of a Ducati rider that seperates the two. 4D

Touche....well put 4D.

Don't know about 'well put', I had trouble comprehending it, to be honest...

Sorry to be an old grinch, but clearly written English, in proper sentences, is a lot easier to follow.

Moto, Surely you don't expected clear English on Christmas day.
4D
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder
I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder I must try harder




Danm I never put in any fullstops

4D>

Actually when i posted that I'd only just surfaced, and the thought of more drink was the last thing on my mind!

You may well have a head-start on me!

The sad thing is-you are both posting on Xmas day-haven't you got any drink in your house???:lol:

John

I'm posting cos I'm at me mum's and I'm bored!

2 cylinders are all you need but 3 is an excellent compromise
www.twpd.co.uk
www.twpdracing.com
http://northernmonkeys.blog.co.uk/

These liquid cooled Ducs are by Ducati's own admission playing a performance game with the Japanese that's why Ducati themselves use the litre IL4's as a benchmark, that's right a £7500 bike is the benchmark for a £12k+ bike....

For me all the true Ducati values as I see them are in the air cooled bikes, If I'm buying on traditional Ducati values I need only spend £6k on a 1000 sport to get everything Ducati stands for :) This bike has character in adundance, it has feel and it has something that sets it apart from the Japanese bike. It really is a bike the Japanese could never ever build. For the cost of a 1098 I could have one of these and a litre IL4.

I've never been to Boxhill in my life yet I'd argue I have the same biking values as many here damn we have 9 bikes including one in the lounge lol, your idea of the typical IL4 owner is way way off the mark :)

Trouble is no-one buys air-cooled Ducatis cos they don't make enough power :) Well for me they do but that's another story :)

2 cylinders are all you need but 3 is an excellent compromise
www.twpd.co.uk
www.twpdracing.com
http://northernmonkeys.blog.co.uk/

Agree and Disagree Van, I love the innovative looks of the 999 but the looks are divided between Ducati owners and the rest of the world but I've bought a 1098 because of what it is. However I agree that the looks will make it more appealing to the people that didn't buy the 999.

It's not just peak power, the bike feels livlier all through the rev range and in all gears, it feels much more compact and lithe and you can really notice the weight difference from pushing it into the garage to accelerating out of a bend.

I really don't pretend to be a hero but I'd like to think that on track days this year and on trips to Europe that I spanked my 999 pretty hard and did want a bit more and the 1098 has definately got that.

Van, not all Ducati owners are car park posers but I take your point that many might not ride the bike to it's potential but the 1098 makes trying to get anywhere near the potential more fun.

eh?:o

I was replying to Couch. What's not clear about that? Many many people think that 80bhp is weedy and they need more. I happen to find that it's a nice amount of power and enough for me. :)

Agree with you Nigel, depends very much on what roads you ride. I remember reading an article by a guy who was a Nurburgring instructor, he reckoned that for about 80% of the 'Ring 40bhp was all you could actually use. He used a Gilera Saturno to instruct which is a 45(claimed)bhp 500cc single with probably 35/6 rear wheel horsepower. I have one and love it down the lanes-there isn't much that will go past me because I can use ALL of the power I have all of the time-sounds a bit like your Hartside road Nigel.

John

it was the bit about "no one buys air cooled Ducatis" that foxed me.

Was under the impression that about 50% of Ducati sales were Monsters, most of which will be air cooled. Throw in the MTS and a few Sport Classics and it seems to me a lot of people buy air cooled, if not most.

Take your point on power. I love my S2R, its great, always leaves me with a big smile on my face. There is also a young lady here who rides a 620 Monster and i have seen her easily embarress a guy on a 999, and another on a ZX6r on a twisty A road

I virtually never seen a fuel-injected SS on the road. I've never seen a 1000ss or 800ss in the north where I live.
I hardly ever see a Monster on the road and the ones I do see are almost always water-cooled 4 valvers.
I've only seen a couple of Multis and these were the thou.
How many Sport Classics do you see? Not many again I bet.

The SSie range has been dropped because it doesn't sell. Air-cooled Monsters will go the same way imo. And almost everyone I know turns their nose up when you mention the power output. Sadly. These days it seems 100bhp is the starting point - this rules out every air-cooled motor.

IMO you have a much better chance of seeing a 916/748 derived bike than any of the air-cooled bikes.

Hmmm, couch, I don't know where you are getting your figures but they are a bit adrift.
Yes, you are right, Ducati use IL4 machines as a benchmark but not £7,500!! RRP for an IL4 is circa £9 - 9.5K (I believe 9.4 for an R1 as an example - maybe someone else could clarify that? i'm not sure) I'm not talking what you bought it for or the 'deal' you got - but what the SRP is from the manufacturer!

Not the - "oh dear, we're 18 months in, next years bike is due out in 6 months time, best we discount the b*ll*cks out of this year's stock otherwise we'll never hit bonus! - price!:D

And the Ducati is not £12K, it's £11,250 for the entry model.

Before either bike has been discounted at the point of sale the difference is £1,850.
So that's £1,850 for Marchesini, Monobloc, Single sider, Digitek dash, Marelli FI and so on! Did I mention the handling???

Plus the exclusivity factor and then the unexplainable X factor! Not to mention the community, events - social side!

More importantly - just being that bit different to the squillions of folk that buy this years "must have IL4" destined unfrortunately to be next years "dog"!!

I know where I would and do spend my money! It's a no brainer!!
In fact i've dedicated my working life to this brand - Can't say I would be so happy to do so for many other brands!?!?

I mean I've got tins of soup with more personality than some IL4's!!!:lol:

Mart:)

"I mean I've got tins of soup with more personality than some IL4's!!!"

Ooooh Martin-ouch!

I have to admit I'm with you on this, I have only ever ridden 3 4's in my life so far, an Arial Square 4, a CBR600, and an R1. The Arial I can't really remember what it was like apart from smooth, the CBR600 you had to rev the bollox off to make it go-I was riding a 900SS at the time-and the R1 was fast but bland............

John

never seen a sport classic on the raod but they outsold the mts last year.

Ducati sold 18000 or so units in the first half of last year

3800 were air cooled, over 10000 were monsters. 60% of the Monster range is aircooled, even if they only sold about 20% as air cooled thats still 1/3 of the units they sold being air cooled. A long way from nobody. The air cooled bikes are great bikes.

Cant explain what you see or dont see, dont know where you live or how often you go out?;) :)

Eh?

Sorry, your figures aren't very clear. If Ducati sales are 18000, and 3800 are air-cooled, that's hardly a third, is it?

I wouldn't expect anything less from a biased dealer. No one ever pays list for a bike well not a Japanese bike. My 10R was £6499 OTR and there is no arguing that. Most of it's life the model was £7999 OTR, list for Japanese bikes is never paid and you know that.

I am a member of the bike buying public and I cannot justify the £4750 extra a 1098 would cost me. Now I've spent more on my bike to tailor it for me and it now has an ohlins shock, k-tech cartridges, cat removal and a power commander. So I'm still nearly £3k under the 1098 and I've got suspension that is set up for me which is better than a Duc set up for the average person, I have also got ITRO 170hp at the back wheel, the dyno will confirm.

As for the community side and events I've ridden bikes all my life and that is there no matter what type of bike you ride. I've met good people on all types of bikes and the common thing is a love of bikes.

If you really think you have tins of soup with more personality than an IL4 I suggest you try mine, it goes well , sounds awesome and has a beautiful intake noise from the airbox. Bland is the last thing it is ;)

You touch on the Japanese bringing out new models regularly, correct me if I'm wrong but Ducati do exactly the same updating their bikes on a yearly basis ?

I don't have an unlimited budget to buy bikes with so I guess I'm not your target market shame cos I do like the look of the 1098 :(

You need to add in.......

"20% of the 10,000+ Monsters" being air cooled = 5800 or so air cooled units which is about 1/3. I would think that way more than 20% of the Monsters would be the air cooled 620/695(?)/S2R/S2R1000

Y'know, most folk would say, "I'd love a 1098 but sadly, I can't afford it."

Couchie says, "I'd love a 1098, but it's Ducati's fault for not making them cheaper!" :p


Truth is, Ducatis are more affordable for the ordinary Joe than they've ever been. The 748 cost £10k when it first came out in, what, 1995? What's that in today's money? The 916 was more again.

I agree, but fact is, all bikes are more affordable than they were in 1995 as prices aren't that different now from what they were back then.

true for me but so is

"I'd love a 1098 but my riding doesn't justify a bike with that amount of power/torque"

So I may have a look at its baby brother when it comes out

If that's the criteria for buying a bike we'd all be on C90's...actaully most of us would be on C70's ;)

aye, you are right there!, But I got to draw the line somewhere and 90lbft is the wrong side of mental for me.......at the moment:devil:

Having seen the 1098 in the flesh on sunday, courtesy of Roy, then I must say that it is an awesome machine and deffo on the list for next bike!!!!

Quite agree but then as owners of bland overpowered jap IL4's who are we to say.What i can say though is that i am just like you,being more than tempted to buy into Ducati ownership again irrespective of cost.

Ducati got it wrong with the 1098?????????

NO