Transplant surgery... looking for donors!!
 

This time of year I get to ponder a bit durring the long dark nights and start thinking of all these questions that I'm sure some of us folks ask themselves from time to time and was just curious if anybody would be so kind as to elaborate?

For all intents and purposes a 996R is Virtually idententical to a full spec 748R, bar a couple of cubes, so why are they so much more damn expensive?
e.g 02 996R 5k £11300 -- 02 748R 5k £5700
twice the price!

Surely it's feasable to buy a couple of 748R's and carry out a spot of transplantation....... Bob's your Auntie

Ok! they wouldn't be orfentik.. but it would cover the brief..
R spec 996 engine... lets say £9500?
Anyone got a 996 engine? or even 998 for that matter... or even a 999... now that would be something! would a 999 go into a 748..mmmm questions questions.

Don't even go there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!111:sniff:

I have stuck a 998Bp engine into my 748RS chassis and along with Mag arm, mag yokes, Mag wheels and Ohlins forks I have a very decent spec bike for around £8.5K max

Exactly my point!
Is it only the hardcore Duker's that would turn their nose's up if you were flog it as a 998R?.... lets say £12500?

thats why I call it the Hybrid, as it is a 748RS with a 998 engine that is nowhere near the spec or the service costs or power of the 998R motor, It has a FBF slipper clutch, and 50/54mm exhaust system with the appropriate ECU and a DBtronics mixture adjuster. The 998Rs do not come with the longer Mag arm/rocker and higher spec Ohlins that my bike has, neither do they come with the Mag yokes, Brembo Radial mastercylinders, Harris rearsets etc. I also have the 4 pad callipers.
They do come with carbon bodywork. So for the difference in what my bike owes me and what a 996R or 998R would cost me I am happy enough, but then again if earlier last year if I had had the money I would have had Lapmans 998R which had loads of Extras including mag arm, carbon tank, Spa dash, but then again it was getting on for twice the price of my bike.

I may be wrong here, but isn't there some significant differences....

the 996r has the testa heads
the 996r is the homologated (sp) version of the wsbk winning bike and is a pretty rare and sought after bike
the 996r has carbon bodywork
I am sure there are other extra bits that the 996r has

then maybe a more realistic look at the price differences... you could probably get a reasonable 996r for around 10.5 and a a 748r for around 6.

yes if you just wanted the performance side of things you could go the donor route as skids has done which makes sense. If however you want the bike for what it is not just what it can do then you wouldn't onsider it in my opinion.

I reckon you're spot on there Lily. You're paying for the carbon bodywork and the 'exclusivity'. That's what the top 'R' models are all about.

Don't forget subtle differences in frames and airbox sizes, injectors etc, all different across a lot of the models, and from my knowledge not easily interchangeable

still looking for a 996-998 lump to throw in as I have done to much work to just start over again with the bigger bike.
what about this years bikes then 749r 999r
the 749r definitely came with more goodies but was considerably cheaper for a few cubes. still if you have 13g to throw at a bike what's another 5g ?

Keefer, I would agree for a standard bike or an S thats its worth putting a bigger engine in if you have the time, patience and skill to do it. I just don't think its the same thing with the 996r, but thats just my viewpoint.

I agree on the new price of the 749r to the 999r though, it does seem a bit hefty, although having said that it would appear that the 749r might hold their value slightly better than the 999, especially now they have downgraded the spec of the 05 749r.

And how exclusive is the 748RS especially road going ones

Very by the sound of it! Wasn't the RS the supersport race bike?

yep 35 a year was the figure they were meant to make each year.
The Ex NCR one that James Thompson owns is a real one off.

I still reckon you'd struggle to get a good price for a hybrid though, even using an RS as a base. It's not going to be a 'pukka' limited edition road bike so they won't be interested. Their loss though!

true Twin but remember what skids said it has cost him.
not near as much as the r alone.

Oh yeah, I meant if he was going to sell it. As a bike to keep hold of for a while, then it's :D

I wouldn't give a stuff about exclusivity. IMHO bikes are for riding and the kit that skids has got on his bitza 748RS/998 seems to me would make a better bike than a 996/998R.

For all the bling and carbon and the homologation status of an 'R', they're still miles away from being a pukka race bike.

I'm not knocking R's of any description, they are lovely things that are true objects of desire, and exclusive in that only the true enthusiasts (who spend all their disposable income on bikes - despite not being wealthy) or the well heeled can afford them. If I could afford a 999R then I guess I would have one...wait a minute though, I could have a 999S and a Multistuka for the same wedge.

So flame me if you like, but I think that the whole 'R' thing is more about designer labels and status than it is about riding. Nothing wrong with that, no more than wanting to dress in designer labels, but it makes me sad to see such lovely bikes just stood in someones front room, or in a vacuum bag, or with owners that are so scared of riding them as God intended (in case they get a stone chip on the carbon fairing) that they just pootle about posing.

I don't know the guy personally, but the attitude I love to see is from a guy like Chillo who rags the ass of his R. They have, after all, been built for that singular purpose. For some reason 748/749 R owners seem to be less precious about their bikes too (probably down to the price difference) and can often be seen giving their bikes some proper exercise rather than treating them as precious museum pieces.

If you factor in the number of hours taken to build a hybrid then the £ saving is obviously there but not everyone has the time, facilities or know how to do it. If the alternative was to use a mechanic then you would be looking at 3K.
Buying a race bike restricts the rider to only being able to track it.
Have a used 6R and the decision was not totally logical but why should it be. There is the bling and exclusivity arguement, the feeling of having one, last 916 series to win the WSB championship,bla, bla.
However compared to the 6S I had the differences are substantial. Gear box is much more slick and precise, power deliver straight and faultless, weight (13kgs) is less and this can be felt. Far better P4 brakes. The 6R cost the same 2 years later as the 6S new, if you are prepared to wait. A new 8S cost 2K more. Feel sorry for those that bought them new though.
Whether it is faster on the track remains to be seen, roll on 2005 season. :burn:

:smug:
ok, exclusivity is nice but our common interest manefests itself in different ways, some of us, you might say 'purists', keep their pride and joy in an oversized matchbox stuffed with cotton wool only to bring it out to rub their privates against it.. and thats very nice.. but we are talking about 'R' and what it stands for.. No.. not rubbing! you've got it.. so as far as I'm concerned, if it does the job for what its intended then surely there's not much more to it... 'If it 'walks the walk'
Although saying that, I picked up a lovely carbon Corse key fob the other day.. Stop it!!!

Hmmmmm!!!!!
 

I just bought a 996R. Why?

Well i don't have Skids ability to build something like he has, and to get someone else to do it would cost a LOT. I take my hat off to him, it sounds great & very rare.

But why the R. I owned so many piles of mundane crap, like BM's Pans even 3 CX 500's for despatching (also used GPZ900, 1100 Katana, GS1000 for work when they were top kit). Then went through the phase of sports tourers for transporting me and Helen all over Europe but always deep down wanted an RC30 or a 916.

After years of dreaming when i finally swopped the junk bike for work/sports tourer for fun i looked at 996's. Sad to say the bling factor of Ohlins forks etc meant that thats where my money went, and every time i walk in the garage i don't regret it. On a less important note, i feel sorry for the depreciation that the first owner's have suffered, but now when the SPS/R's are about 3 years old i reckon they will hold their value a bit better than the standard models.

It won't live in the front room (but i'd like to see it there), it will get used. I don't care if it was the last old model to win the World Supers, completely irrelevant to me, but it does represent almost the pinnacle (998R excepted and poss 998S IMHO) of the best bike EVER made.

I may only crawl round slowly on the odd track day, but i'll have fun. It will get used for what i prefer the most, and thats longer trips, here or abroad. My perfect journey is a bloody good high speed thrash thru Europe, nice hotel, good food, and a few beers, then repeat the next day, and the day after etc.

You sure as hell don't need a 996R for that but i don't give a toss, its what makes me SMILE :D

Might explain the D bit in BDG.

The transplant topic has deviated a bit.

The R vrs the hybrid. Why bother comparing them. You could get the R model and add extras then say why spend all that money on race bikes. Duke owners with even bog standard models will treasure them like babies, i did with my 748. i treated that bike just the same as i am doing now with my 996R. Jools, you will get R1, GSXR,CBR,ZX riders say all ducati riders whether R or standard are posers, you will find all makes of bikes in kitchens, bubbles etc, seems strange to say it makes you sad to see someone pootle around on it, i do blast my R but why shouldnt someone just buy the R and pamper it, some people dream of owning one not just the R just owning a Ducati is a joy.