996SPS or 998S (sorry if this has already been done!)
 

I apologies if I am treading familiar ground with this post, but I have carried out a search but cannot find any straight answers. With a budget of £6500, I have been looking at the 996SPS. But the more I search I notice I can pick up a 03 plate 998 with 4000k for around £7000 and a 02 plate 998S with 8700k for around £8000. I like the look of both bikes and would find the extra £1500 if it meant I was getting a better ride. I have no riding experience of either bike (only twin I have ever ridden is the SP1, which I loved, and the 749, which I hated, felt very heavy and very slow) so I have to listen to other Ducati owners (getting a decent test ride on both bikes back to back is clearly not possible).

I think the best way for me to gage a response of rider/owners choice is to ask:

If you were offered a brand new 996SPS or 998S for free, which bike would you take?

Please no 999 alternatives, I don’t like the looks of the new Ducati.

[Edited on 10-12-2005 by RCA]

I would take the SPS for the collectability (y2k with Ohlins) but there again the extra oomph at the top end would make the 998s a good choice! Shaun (BDG) did a good write up somewhere comparing the two of them. Maybe the 998 engine would be a safer bet in the long run? Rocker wear etc? Not much help am I ? Dont think you could go wrong with either, I have not had a SPS but had a 996S which as far as I know makes its power in an identical way to the SPS I have a 996R now which is pretty much the same engine wise as a 998s and the difference between the 2 really is noticable. The SPS engine seemed to be more agricultural if you will but very characterful with plenty of go all the way through the rev range. The 996r/998s seems a little more refined but with the same amount of go until you get to 8500/9000 rpm and then it just carries on building more and more. Which becomes very addictive.

I'd say try and get a decent test ride of both bikes and see which you prefer.

Mate, ride the bike........have a 998s ...136hp! Its leaps and bounds a better engine and ultimately a better bike.

Fit Ohlins for a bit of bling if you like, i dont believe there is many on the site that could tell the difference!

Do you know where this is?

Richard

The 998S engines is mainly the same as the 996R engine 0f 2001 apart from different castings. See BDG's wise words here

http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/xm...9452#pid264092

Thanks Henners for digging it up.

They're both great bikes but i think the 998S would edge it IMHO. However given the choice of a really mint SPS with all the right bits and history over a doggy 998S, i'd go for the SPS. Condition and how its been looked after counts for a lot.

I'd take a SPS over a 998S, but a 996R over a SPS.

But then I'm elitist ;)

Tim

You are Tim and he ain't got the money for a 996R .... :)

Obviously quiet on the gayblade site that night?:lol::lol:

I'm fortunate to have owned both, back to back almost.
The S is the better bike ... it is marginally more refined and is quicker ....well it feels quicker. The clutch is lighter and the brakes are better and they all have ohlins. The SPS is more charismatic and has the white number boards.

I've ridden both back to back and I chose the SPS over the 998. To me the two bikes had quite different chracters. As everyone has said, the 998 is more refined, faster and has better brakes .... but the SPS has stacks more charisma. It all depends on what you want from a bike.

If I wanted refined, faster and better brakes I would have bought a Fireblade. I wanted the "genuine" Ducati experience, so it had to be the SPS.

David is right but it is a question of degree .....don't confuse "not getting the Ducati Experience" with progress.... The 998S is the better bike by a tiny margin, just as a 2000 SPS is better than a 99 SPS. The comparison to a Fireblade is no more relevent than comparing to a Corolla.

The answer to your question lies in whether you have an optimate;

if you do get a SPS, if not, go for the 998 ;)

Well Martin, having owned a 998S FE and a 996R, a 916 and 998 BP plus recently acquiring a 05 Fireblade I fear you are mistaken. The 998S and the Fireblade are very similar in terms of handling and power deliver with the exception that the Blade has an extra 20bhp at the rear wheel.

I'll try and get a ride on both bikes, before I buy, however the more research I do the more I sense the SPS really is the genuine artical....

Stretta motor every time, if youy want the ultimate road stock engine in a Ducati.

The SPS 2000 onwards has the bling ohlins from and rear, the last of the original shaped bikes before the smooth panelled bikes with stretta engines.

very difficult decision. If you really want to push the boat out got for a 998 FE, stretta engine, ohlins front and rear. Maybe a 996r.

If you want the ultimate road going incarnation of the series its got to be a 998r, 999r motor in classic shape carbon bodywork.

Ray.

They are very similar, but only in the same way that margarine is very similar to butter.

I am not suggesting that the Blade is anything other than an excellent bike, just that the difference between a Blade and a 996SPS is huge compared to the difference between the 996 & the 998.

I've had my SPS for 6 years now, and still love it. I have never had the luck to ride any testastretta engined bikes, but no standard engined dukes will pull away from it in a straight line (inc. 'R's) and I weigh 16 odd stone so don't worry about performance differences. I understand that the 'stretta engined bikes are a bit more revvy, the older ones more grunty, but if you find a good clean example on an SPS I would go for that (not like mine:lol::lol:)

Would I be right in saying the 998 won't have any rocker problem's, this in itself would be an obvious advantage to me.

Remember these bikes demand money after you buy them.