Help with buying a 748R
 

Hey guys,

I hope you can help out a soon-to-be Ducati owner who has a few questions. Well, as the subject title suggests I've finally settled on a 748R but here are some things I'm unsure of still:

1) What is the latest plate a 748R came on? Did production stop in 2002?

2) How much should i be looking to pay for a clean 52 plate with 4000 miles?

3) How much does servicing cost annually (including the belt change)?

4) Are there any particular Ducati dealers that you would either recommend or avoid like the plague (in the south east)?

I guess that's all really, if anyone has any advice at all I'd be pleased to hear it - so long as you don't recommend that I should get a 998 instead!! I simply cant justify £2k on insurance!

Thanks in advance!

I would buy from ...

Ducati London South in Croydon
Pro V Twins in Godstone
Snells in Alton
MotoRapido in Winchester
P&H in Crawley (thats where I bought my bike)

I wouldn't buy from

OnYerBike in Aylesbury
Pegasus in Reading

My suggestions above are based on my own experiences and those of my friends, they do not guarantee anything but are an answer to your question.

A clean 748R can cost anything up to £7.5k for a mint one, you find your bike and pays tour money.

There are a couple for sale in the market place here.

the 748R is an acquired taste and people that want them, really want them and thos that don't can't always understand the devotion to them when for similar money the new 749 is available with warranty ...

Happy shopping and welcome ...

According to Falloon (Ducati Desmoquattro Superbikes) 2002 was the last year of production. It should have Ohlins front and rear, closed 996R type fairing and numbered plaque.

As to price it's a buyers market so hard to say - probably around £7K from a dealer.

Needs belts every year/6000 miles so about £500 a service.

As to dealers there aren't any that are universally slated in the southeast.

The thing to be aware of is that the supersport regs for which the R was built are pretty strict so this is a very pure racer for the road. What lets it down is the cylinder heads weren't machined to supersport spec which makes the R a finiky sort to get set up right - they often have fueling problems because the airbox/injectors/CPU are ready to race and the cylinder heads aren't :( The slipper clutch can eat plates too.

It is one of the best developed engines Ducati ever made although now superceded by the 749R in the 'special' stakes.

I love mine even though it has been off the road for 12 months. Mine's a Sep 2001 model Keller.

Drop me a line if there's owt particular you would like to ask.

Miles and miles of smiles on mine....almost 23k miles on her now and loved every mile of 'em.

Yes the R is fickle at low revs so keep it above 10k and your smiles will be bigger than this :D

Mine's a 772R now after the rebuild. Animal is not the word.....Love it...

Where's the nearest Dyno..must get it checked out.

Regards, Guy

Thanks guys,

At least i know what i'm gonna be doing this weekend now! Pro V Twins have a couple of 748Rs on their website that seem to be worth checking out.

I'll let you know how i get on.
Unfortunately it's only monday today...........



:(

Lily on this board has a nice 2002 748R for sale and its in Ducati Coventry at the moment.

Might be worth a look.

There is one in Italia in lincoln. Under £7k


Chris.:burn:

Hope this helps...
 

Hi Keller.

After alot of research and looking on sites such as ebay, Bike trader etc.... I was fortunate to find an absolute mint as new Ducati 748R in Red on a 53 Plate, Build Number 856.
The bike came with the Paddock stand, cover and Termi cans as well as a Meta Security system and an Optimate charger with a simple "plug in feature" so there was no need to remove the fairing. At the time of purchase the bike was showing 1700 miles. It included a full service service history including a premature belt change by the owner a the bike was rarely used. I was also told that my bike was one of the last 2 to be officially imported into the UK by Ducati. This dream bike cost me £8500....from Pegasus Motorcyles in Reading they also supplied the bike from new and had completed all the services. Just be aware that not all "R" Models come with the termi cans. I have the new style fairing which I believe changed around 01 just another consideration. I was also slightly cautious about buying the 748R as many forums talk about fuel problems and the engine cutting out at low revs. Well no problems with my baby. What i did fit however was a side stand by-pass switch that enables the bike to be started whilst on the stand, it also cuts out the engine when a gear is selected. I got a proffesional kit from ebay that took about 4 minutes to fit all for £24. "Yes you can easily dis-connect the cable but is it worth it" Have a look at ebay there was 2 on there yesterday. And one last feature that i added to my bike was off course a set of frame plugs, not any sort thou check out these lovely corse ones. The guy that makes these is a top chap who also supplied a set to the Sultan of Oman.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...sPageName=WDVW
Well hope you find a good one, theres a yellow one on ebay.
Let us know how you get on!!!!!

As BDG has mentioned I have one for sale at a very good price.

If you are interested then drop me an email or U2u

keller
Although ProTwins might have one on their web site I would suggest that you ring them b4 going down there as their site is not always up to date.

Regards

Re 748R - a couple of things to be aware of: buy the latest model you can, primarily because Ducati changed the design of the Conrods in the later bikes as it was not uncommon for the original Ti Rods to fail - I know, mine exited the crankcase at approx 11,000 RPM, not at all pretty - but at least I've now got a very interesting paper weight for my desk! 01 model year onwards have Ohlins front and rear and carbon airbox (00 had Showas and plastic airbox) 02 on had the 998 style solid fairings and a slightly revised seat unit paint job.

I bought one new in 2000 and yes, initially I had all the running problems described above. However, once I took the bike to JHP (Ducati Coventry) it was transformed - if you buy one take it there and get it appropriately chipped and set up, better still the PC3 works really well on this bike and JHP will map it on the dyno for you.

The bike has a unique character and combines the reviness of a 600 four with the grunt of a twin - its sort of in between the two. I loved mine.

As per the above posting if you need to know anything specific drop me a u2u because I carried out various mods to mine over time - different pipes, chips, gas flowing, porting, etc.

Happy hunting!

Lily's bike

go on, you know you want it.

Lily,

Can't argue that your bike looks nice (thanks for the pic Steve!) but it does have quite a few miles on it.

Help me out guys: would you buy a 748R with 10K on the clock? Forgive my ignorance but is it not going to need a lot more work doing to it over the next couple of years than an 02 with say 3-5k?

As long as it has a full service history and the belts have been changed every year, should be ok.
I went from a 748 to a 748R, its a much better bike + put a larger rear sprocket on + 2 or 3 teeth = fun. :)
Give Snells in Alton a ring about service costs. :) :) :)

Keller,

The work needed will be identiacal as every 6000m / 12 months it will need a service and every 12000m / 24 months it will need a major service ...other than that it will need brake pads, clutch plates and other service items just the same as the bike with 3.5k.

I'm sure Lily has a stack of receipts and can tell you when such items have been done.

The other thing is that at 10k you can guarantee that any niggles are sorted and that it runs like a dream.

I know it seams like we are all giving lils bike the hard sell, but its what I would go for. rather than paying over the odds at a dealer.
I don't like buying bike from shops, all you end up doing is lining someone else's pocket.
as said by someone else I would expect everything to be sorted on that bike by now, go have a look at it

Low mileage bikes are obviously everyone's dream I guess when looking, but if you look at the service schedule the second service (2 years/12K miles) you need stuff like fork oil done etc, so that bumps the price up. Also on something like a 748R with quite aggressive cams the rocker wear will probably be increased, I know Lily's bike had several rockers replaced at the last service under warranty, so with a low mileage bike you'll probably hit these issues rather than get one that's had them and someone else has already paid for the work to be done.

I know her 748R well, I think it's first service and 1yr/6K miles was done at Ducati Manchester, the 2nd year was done at JHP

I get the feeling that this is definitley a bike i should go and see?
There are a couple of others that i'm gonna check out this weekend, one is listed on here in the marketplace (he wants £6400 for it which seems steep) and another through Biketrader with only 1000 miles for £6600.

Can someone post a link to the original advert for Lily's bike for me, as i cant seem to find it?

Thanks guys

heres it is ...

http://217.199.188.40/xmb/viewthread...7285#pid164964

I'll see if I can find it...

U2U on the way...

here you go

748R for sale

blimey, Steve / JPM, keep up lads ... and the commission is mine i tell you .. mime ... :)