Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > 748s

[eccles291]

Hi there,

New to the site so the drinks are on me.

I'm looking to get a 748s in the next couple of weeks and wondered if there were any things of note I should look out for? Problems, recalls, quirks etc?

Found a brand new one for £8700 OTR, and can get a set of Termi's with it for about another £700-800. Does this sound like a sensible price for all that or is it a bit steep?

Thanks in advance.


Colin

[Scaramanga]

Eccles,

welcome on board, mines a pint of absinth thanks

748s, corking bike, personally it's the one I'd go for out of the 748 range. Got 5 spoke Marchesinis and Showa all round, but doens't have the slipper or dodgy running of the R. Personally I think that slippers on the road are complete overkill and they will just eat plates given normal riding!

8,700 is bang on list for it, may be able to screw the dealer down if it's been sitting there a while. Having said that s's seem to be shifting quite fast at the mo.

There are some reasonably priced second hand ones out there at the moment, may be worth having a look if you can live with going second hand?

Good luck mate.
p.s. if it's a grey one, I'm well jealous

[Edited on 21-8-2003 by Scaramanga]

[ducatimad]

I have a 2002 748S and it came with termis so a new one should have them.

If I had had a bit of extra cash I would have gone for the R and now wish I had, few extras that on top of the S price are good value if you wish to upgrade. Much better for the track, less so for the road.

[Scaramanga]

Didn't think the S came with Termis?

Maybe your dealer had fitted them prior to sale?

Anyway the extra for Termis should be negotiable. If you're buying the bike you should be able to get a deal on the pipes. Those figures sound like full whack.

Alternatively run it in and then get the pipes second hand for 300-350.

Cheers,

Simon

[Ray]

You should be able to get a new 748 R for a couple of Hundred pounds more or even the same price.

You get better suspension, Ohlins front and rear and quite a few more goodies.

Might not be an offical bike but they all come out of the same factory.

Ray

[antonye]

Having owned my S model for 2 years, I'd personally say to go for the R if you can afford it!

There are a couple of 748R for sale in the Market Place of the website, and I think they were all still within warranty and I'm sure they've all been well looked after too.

Just my opinion!

[keith_mann1959]

Get the 748R
I bought one in feb this year for £9200 uk spec from pro twins. Comes with 50mm termi's and stand F.O.C
I used to have a 748 bp and the difference is massive.
The 748 R is the best value bike Ducati ever built in my opinion.

[Scaramanga]

Having owned a 2002 748E and ridden a 2001R extensively, I can conclude that for my type of riding (pleasure, a little commuting, not completely balls out, but good clean fun ) then the E was the better bike for me (S would have been better, but there you go)

The reasons for this, well, the E ran better at slower speeds, mate never really got his running sweet. Very lumpy low down and stalled everywhere. Now I know that given perseverance, this can be sorted so let's move on.

His clutch sounds like a bag of spanners. He's been back and forth to Ducati to get it sorted and they have finally told him where to stick it. It's eaten a set of plates in 1500miles. To me this is extreme and when it does wear, it sounds terrible, makes him look like he's running on kangaroo fuel and generally is a pain in the arse.

Personally I'm too much of a pleb to notice much difference between Ohlins and my Showa/Boge combination. I suspect that this is one of those things where a well set up standard bike would be comparable to a standard Ohlins equipped bike.

So in summary. For me, the law of diminishing returns did not warrant even considering an R. They are undoubtedly fantastic machines, very, very capable round a track and the last word in 748 cool, the ownership equation just doesn't figure for me.

At the end of the day you're the only one who can decide how you ride and which bike is for you.

Either way I'm sure you'll have fun choosing.

As for me I've moved on to a nice sedate 996BP

[eccles291]

Thanks for the feedback guys, it's been really helpful.

Scaramanga - it IS the grey one! I just love the colour and those red 5-spoke Marchesini's... Ooh, Suit you Sir!! My riding is probably similair to yours by the sound of it, so I don't think I'd notice the benefit of the 'R' over the 'S' either. And besides, the money I'll save in not getting one can be spent on those lovely pipes!!!

The 'S' doesn't come with Termi's but I think I will have to get some anyway - it'd be churlish not to!

It's nice to hear that the 'death-stand' flip up device has finally been ditched too - heard far too many stories of bike/ground interface due to that stoopid design.

I was surprised that the servicing costs aren't nearly as horrendous as I'd been lead to believe, it makes it even more difficult to talk myself out of it now! Even the insurance isn't too prohibitive. (Must mean I'm getting old or something!! )

I'll keep you posted as to how I get on.


Col

[ducatimad]

Dealer told me they were standard on the 'S' and in my 2002 brochure it definitely shows the 'E' with no termis and the 'S' with in the pics though no mention of termis for any of the bikes.

Anyways, I agree for road riding the 'S' is best, but for track the 'R'. Choice is yours.