Desmo Due 2010
 

Just a thought after a couple of announcements about other Ducati based series

Desmo Due is Still the cheapest Ducati based raced series in the UK
Ideal for those that want to get into racing and want to race a Ducati especially if they are only hold a Novice Licence as they will be restricted to what cc of bike they can ride

Where else can you turn up on the grid with a bike costing less £1500 and stand a chance of qualifying on the front row and finishing on the podium.

Although the bike may look different to others on the grid under the bodywork they are all essentially the same with a power limited to an achievable level that most engines are capable of making for close racing on a budget.

No question you're right Kev. And you forgot to mention it's a hoot.

Plus it improves street riding in a way that riding with slicks and warmers just doesn't. Highly recommended!!

Hear hear....:D


Craig

Absolutely.
I only did 6 races last year and cannot wait for next March to arrive and the full season ahead.

But once you've whet your appetite for racing, where do you go from there?

The Desmo Due series was always about taking the fast trackday rider into racing, keeping within the Ducati marque. I remember lining up on that first grid all those years ago and of the 38(?) entries I think there were at most 5 of those that were not wearing a novice vest!

It was, and remains, a fantastic taster of what racing is about, with cheap machines, good venues and great paddock spirit.

But there's no denying that once you've "mastered" the awesome 60bhp of a DD bike, there will always be the next rung of the ladder that you want to climb onto and push yourself further.

I've always seen Sound of Thunder as the next (only?) step up from DD as there are very few other classes where you can ride a Ducati. Any step up is going to see you having to switch bikes/engines, whether it's to Thundersport with the KRRs, or straight into Sound of Thunder, because otherwise you're not going to be competitive on a DD bike - simple as that. Even running a decent Ducati out in Sound of Thunder will see you against much stronger bikes of other makes, in a very competitive environment. There's far too much scope to spend a lot of money to be competitive!

Hopefully the new 848 series will have the same ethos that DD has shown and proven over the last 5 years (only one of those I didn't race in) and will be seen as the "big brother" league of DD and hopefully something for budding racers to aspire to.

I believe you're missing the point Ant, that 99% of DD riders have no ambition/will/need/desire/money [delete as necessary] to climb the next rung of the ladder.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I dont know of a DD champion that has gone on to supposedly bigger things (a few have come 'down' from better things for sure), and very few other riders who have taken another, bigger series seriously. Sure, there's the KRR team, and of course the KMR team* in which Phill Clarke and I rode, Rattler, Couchy. But you get my drift.

This 848 series will not be any kind of "big brother" series to DD. I wager that it wont have more than 1 or 2 ex-DD riders, tops. For the simple reason that DD is all that the majority of us want to do - cheap racing, with good mates who respect and help each other, on hassle-free bikes, where for the most part common sense prevails.


* reminds me of the Monty Python sketch..."whatever happended to the RMK team?"

Desire and Opportunity are two different things.

The point I was trying to make is that there is now a path open to go from racing in a "low level" Ducati series into a similar "medium level" Ducati series, that keeps the same ethos, whereas before you had to effectively "jump ship" into a series that wasn't all Ducatis.

Hope that makes sense!

The 848 could be cheap racing - buy the bike with all the extras and sell them on immediately if you don't need them, could pay for the exhaust and fairing. Put the road gear in the loft. Race for a year with a race exhaust and fairing. Sell it on as a race bike if the series continues or put it back on the road and sell the fairing and exhaust. (it'll have quite low milage if you only do practice and race 8 rounds).

One careful owner:lol:

WeeJohnyB

John,

Chassis and engine numbers of bikes that go on the grid will be maintained to avoid the problems of "one carefull owner"!

..and the problems of warranty claims...

Chris, can you clarify whether new bikes entered will have any warranty? If not, can DUK do anything on the price to reflect that significant issue? That's how the program works (worked?) in the States. Licensed racer, new SBK: no warranty, dealer pricing.

My usual route would be something like this, sadly its on the wrong side of the pond
http://www.salvagedirect.com/asp/vie...?itemid=696991

Looks a bit shiny for you?

I am not exactly clear on this issue, mainly because for obvious reasons I am not in the commercial loop between DUK and the dealer network.

What is clear that a number of dealers are offering very keen deals on new bikes to bonafida entrants to the series.

Normally I think I am right in saying that any bike that has been put on a race track invalidates the warrenty, I cant find mine to check at the moment.

One thing that the series may well prove is the relaibility of these new light weight motors.

Could soon Matt Black it :)

Race it and the warranty goes west, pretty much the same deal with any new bike or car.



The deal on a new bike price appears to be the riding kit, plus anything else you can blag from the dealer by holding your breath, crying, or holding their favourite goldfish to ransom.

This from Ducati.com in relation to their bike.

WARRANTY
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. guarantees all new motorcycles, standardized for road use, for a period of twenty-four (24) months, without mileage limit. Motorcycles used for any type of competition and/or for renting are not covered by the warranty. Components subject to wear, such as tires, clutch discs, brake pads, distribution belts and cables are also not covered by the warranty. Warranty coverage begins from registration.

In order to ensure warranty validity, Customer should also make the three obligatory maintenance checks at 1000 km (or six months), 10000 km (or 12 months) and 20000 km (or 24 months), at any official Dealer. Warranty will be not honoured for motorcycles repaired by unofficial Dealer networks, for improper use, for bikes with non-genuine parts, for damages incurred from accidents, overloads, negligent use, or improper maintenance. Further details are detailed in the Warranty/pre-delivery booklet, attached to every new motorcycle.


Why buy new unless you have to. There are some secondhand bikes about a for a good bit less than £8k.

Ray.

DD is fecking great, the only reason I'm racing is because of it and the biggest factor was the price tag involved. I race for the enjoyment and have no intention of trying to work my way up to a WSB ride, just the same as why I play pub football and not interested in playing for Man Utd (plus they said I was too good for them).
I consider Sound Of Thunder as the next step up and the vast majority of front runners ride 1098s but their tyre bill was bigger than my bike plus entry fees!
So keep the price down and DD for ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a word with Dallas about that


Talk to Dallas about that as well, we estimated £500 to £600 a day to race his 1098

If I was doing it all over again it would be
DD, Mini Twins, 848 and race the 848 in Streestocks with North Glos as well as Sound of Thunder, Powerbike and the Open

What I did do was
Novice 600, F600, Powerbike, Open, Streetstocks, SoT then DD and some Minitwins, bikes went CBR600FN, CBR600FS, CBR900RRP, CBR900RRV, TL1000SV, 916 Strada, R6, 748Bp, 600SS, 750SSie, 620SS,
I still ahve the CBR600FS, the TL1000SV and the R6

At some points I was doing 6 races a day, 12 races over the weekend in 3 different classes. Can't say it was cheap but with the shift pay and weekend enhancements funding wasn't an issue, it even got to th point where I was putting bikes together for my mate to race at the TT.

DD is by far the cheapest form of racing I have taken part in but if I was earning what I did when I was on shift I'd certainly be looking at progressing to the 848 series. When I moved in to Sound of Thunder it wasn't long before I was sharing the grid with Phil Bevan on an Ex INS Ducati and Mark Edwards on an Ex DFX 748RS and there was me on my TL1000SV road bike that I also raced in Streetstocks, needless to say it was outclassed in SoT something that can't happen in DD or with the 848s

I don't know about that Kev....:confused:

I think Shep' and Sam West "outclassed" quite a few this season you must have noticed them disappearing into the wide blue yonder:lol: :lol:

But Charlie they weren't anywhere near the front runners in SoT, even I've beaten the odd RSV1000 and 996 on my 583, but take Pembrey, Phil Bevan does sub minute laps around there while the Class A lap record is a 1m 06s by Ian Coby and no matter how hard Ian pushed a 620 he's not going to find another 5 seconds a lap round there just to be with the front group as the bike just isn't capable.
There is a lot to be said for a race series where all the bikes are capable of the same lap time leaving it to the riders to sort out the winner of the race.

Kev'....I knew exactly what you were getting at.....

....it was a joke that's why I put the smily's on the end :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :frog:

instead of estimating we know how much it cost to put tyres on the 1098s this season and it worked out at 1 front and 2 rears per meeting so if using something like dunlop ntecs this cost about £330 for 2 days racing and also the test day for a bike running at the sharp end. normally have some life left to start off on the next test day.
only downside to this is using wets if weather bad but have used 1 front and 2 rears this year in total and lots of life left in the 2nd rear to kick off for next year on test days if needed.

I thought you were taking the pea as in I haven't seen which way those two beggars have gone this season, which is very true, but at times there is less of a gap between me and them and them and the front SoT guys

Andy and Sam are ideal for the 848 series not having to wonder what level of machineary they can afford

i thought sam already had a 1098 as he was out on it racing at mallory at the begining of november when we were out testing a new rider in the sot class