Martin you are just a luck bugger. Admit it. :)

some excellent points made so far .... kind of glad that most seem to agree it is not a clear cut decision ... it's not just me that finds this a hard one to work out.

Martin,

Just off to read your essay for the 5th time, your concluesion seems to be exactly were my thoughts are at the moment. One thing to add, is that I'm not the quickest rider and extra performance is not really an issue, not many will see the limits of the 749R on the road. After all I may do 2 track days a year, but, many more road miles. Think the argument to settle is the one between my head and my heart.

In an ideal world I would have both, but hey unless I win the lottery that aint gonna happen.

as a man who likes exclusivity more than power
I would still suggest you wait
I may be wrong but you could of bought more powerful bikes
when you got the 749R
and it wont be long before they up the bore on the 1098
cubes make power not kudos
the internals of the 1098 will be no where near as finely fettled as the 749R
but I do understand that the 1098 is a hell of a good looking bike with plenty of go.
so all the best. tough choice. but I know what I would do

You might actually find the 1098 less satisfying to ride. I'll try to explain why...I have a natural speed on the road that I travel at no matter what bike I'm on...it's about 90-110 most of the time. On my Triumph this is 5500-6500rpm in a range of 0-9500. On the 800 it's 5500-6500. At these speeds the motor is happy and responsive.
I can see an occasion where you might find on a truly high-performance machine where you might be operating pretty much in the lower realms of its rev range and performance - hardly ever extending it and having the room to let it rip. I can imagine that would be pretty unsatisfying. I guess an analogy (not a good one I admit) would be using any sportsbike for commuting to and from work through a city - you'd spend most of your time in the 20-50mph region. Hell, my 800 is pretty weedy really, but I find it very frustrating when road and traffic conditions prevent me from using its 80bhp/140mph performance - the number of times this would happen on a 1098 would be more plentiful.

Then again - who buys a bike with a sensible head on? ;)

i think the 749R /999R looks fan f***ing tastic with all the carbon ect i know the 1098 is lighter and more powerfull but i would keep the R.

if you have not seen the 1098 in the flesh go and have a look then come stright back and have a study of your 749R i think this will help you make your mind up and realise how good your 749R is

I'll second this post! - Too true!

Like you say - sensible and buying bikes! It just don't work that way really! No matter how we try!

Like others have said, its a choice made of compromises...between things like looks, power, exclusivity, having the latest and greatest etc...

How you value each, and weight these attributes will help you make your choice, whether you make it with your head or heart.

My 749R isn't going anywhere :)

If you can, I'd wait at least 6 months to a year, why buy new and take the hit on depreciation?

How many 1098's will there be in the latter part of 2007....LOTS!!

Keep 749R - No contest