Would you sell a 749R to buy a 1098?
 

Serious question now and your “constructive” advice will be appreciated.

Early 2006 I bought a 2004 749r, the full carbon model etc etc. Whilst I love the look of the bike I also bought it with the intention to own a rare (ish) Ducati, to have some exclusivity and to escape the crippling depreciation that most bikes suffer.

Recently my head has been turned by the 1098. Maybe all the marketing hype is winning me over, maybe I just love the look and style of the new bike.

I know that I’m very lucky to have this dilemma, but, do I keep the 749r for ever or do I sell it for a 1098.

There are pros and cons for both arguments.

Not saying that my final choice will be based on the comments made, but, just wondered what others would do in this situation ?

If I owned a 749R & wanted to chop it in for a 1098 I would wait to see what the 1098R was available. Then make a decision. But if Rarity was what you wanted, then I would look at a 748SPS or a late model 748R or a 996R:)


Chris:burn:

Keep what you've got and wait and see. I bet there will be a rash of very low mile, used 1098s popping onto the market in the next 6-12 months. Oh, yes, don't forget the recall and warranty issues that'll need to be fixed.

£0.02 worth,

Rob

i Would keep the 749r for the time being and wit for all the niggles to be ironed out on the new bike first
i bought a 999s in 2003 and had all the "new " model teething problems, in the end it tainted my view of that bike.
your not alone in wanting the new model but im going to wait for at least 6 months to see what happens

Chris,

If I was to go for a 916 style I would like a 998r, but, not looking for the 916 style bike at the moment.

Rob & Nat,
Both make good points and this is what I would do if buying with my head rather than my heart. I also bought an early 749s in Feb 2003 and went through all the hassle of re-calls and then the heart ache as they tweaked the bike in 2004 to a better looking bike :mad: . All this does make for a strong argument to wait 12 months :confused:

I would keep the 749R
its a limited addition homologation racing bike
where as the 1098 is just a run of the mill base model
the 04 749R was and still is the best model to have of that bike. it will not come along again.
if you must change then wait to see what R models are going to be available

ditto

As I said to iang in another thread....the R has an exclusivity that the 1098 or 1098s cannot match. Also the 04R as you know is a bit special with the carbon fairing. I would wait a while as well to let the 1098 get fully debugged and then, if you were of the mind, pick up a low miles bike where someone else has taken the hit in depreciation. Let's face it - a 1098 is unlikely to be abused or thrashed, is it?

If you were serious about going the 1098 road, would you get more as a trade now? Or if you were selling it privately then its not going to sell tomorrow if you are after top money so you have time to wait till a serious buyer comes along if you put it out there now,
Worth waiting for the 2008 bike to come out but if you are looking for a bike thats going to be a little exclusive then I dont think the 1098 or 1098S is going to be that bike.
get a test of the 1098 then you will know what you want. Good luck but at the end of the day only YOU know what you want and how to get it :)

I just sold my 04 749R to make room for a 1098S!:)

My reasoning was as follows: -
1) In my position it's a good idea / advert to have the latest / best kit, the 749R filled that role for three seasons but now had to go to make room for the latest kit. And I was REALLY sorry to see her go - I honestly nearly backed out the deal!!!:eek:
2) As lots of you know, the R was a dedicated track tool, the first thing I did was remove the carbon fairing for some fibreglass race gear. The rest of the mods I did were add ons like clutch, quick shifter etc.
I will do these to the S anyway.
3) If you remove the fairings from both machines, the spec of the identifiable componentry you can see is very similar -
Ohlins front / rear / damper (although latest spec on S)
Forged rims front / rear
Magnesium Rocker covers
Brembo Radial Brakes (although S has far higher 'Monobloc' spec)
Carbon front fender

However on the S, the package is 15kg lighter (including magnesium front subframe) with another 40(ish)Bhp.
This was the perfect solution for some of my requirements on the track.
Conversly the R has the high spec titanium engine bits!

4) I have ridden both machines in a track environment, even if they had the same bhp - The S would still come out top (it could be argued that i'm splitting hairs here but the S really is fair bit better in every department!)

5) The looks of the 1098S - it's drop dead gorgeus, every time I look at it I see another angle i'm chuffed to bits about!
My 749R was/is an absolutely stunning looking bike with an internal and external spec to really boast about and be proud of, but then again - so is the S!!!

It was a very hard decision for me to make at the time so point 1) above helped me along the way somewhat - if it wasn't for that I would be struggling.

I really don't think there are going to be many bugs. At the end of the day it is: -
A variation on a successful chassis.
Ducati are masters of the single sided swinger, it's exceedingly well made, I don't foresee issues.
The subframe is beautifully made - almost over engineered and finished.
The suspension / wheels are tried and tested and speak for themselves.
Brakes - same as suspension
Bodywork is incredibly well finished, more solid and better than any bike I have seen thus far.
Electronics / ECU are a variation of 999 setup, associated bugs were ironed out a while ago and considered very much sorted with the latest machines. The only question mark could turn out to be the dashboard but I know Digitek dedicated a lot of energy into making this unit dependable!
Engines are normally very robust - as previous independant test have shown!

The 'bug' argument, although a reasonable consideration doesn't concern me in the slightest.

I guess in conclusion it's like this : -
Need / want more performance? ..... buy 1098S
Can't live without 'R' exclusivity? ..... keep 749R
Down to looks? ..... buyers choice

Whatever you do, it's no easy choice!

Mart:)

P.S. Just read this back, talk about sitting on the fence :lol:

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