| Hi Karl,
Let's clear up this exhaust size issue once and for all. 748R has 45mm standard exhaust, not 50mm!!!!
I've got the same bike as you and been there, seen it and done it exhaust wise. I initially replaced the standard cans and balance pipes with Termi 45-50mm half system (big improvement), then a full 50mm system (even better) and I've now moved on again.
For the money, the 45-50mm half system is great value, more grunt and sounds bleedin' marvelous!
The best chips on the market are arguably the FIM Ultimap chips. Really good straight out the box but they are also mapable so you can fine tune for optimum power delivery.
As for the bottom end power, that's the nature of the beast, although a 39T rear will help make it "feel" better. The 748R was basically manufactured solely to homologate the 748RS race bike. In essence it is actually a detuned 748RS - the RS is not a tuned R! So there's the main problem with running an R on the road. Ducati had to make a bike that sort of works OK on the road but still be able to race it in RS spec within the very strict confines of Supersport regs. More than any other Duc, the 748R lives to be thrashed! Keep it above 7K and it all makes sense. Awful around town though!
Hope that helps, if you want any more info drop me a line.
Cheers,
Neil.
P.S. I've got an FIM Ultimap chip for the 45-50mm half system, which for the right price, I could be persuaded to part with.  |