So I put a deposit down on an 848 yesterday, I had one a few years back and maybe didn't give it a fair crack before moving it on for a Daytona and then the 899 which was a great bike to ride but I want to get a more 'classic' Ducati that will hopefully have done it's depreciating. Also my budget was £8k and I could only find higher mileage 899's for that which I'm not interested in having had a really low miles minter previously. I paid £7995 for it, there are cheaper ones around but this has the pipes, Ohlins rear shock, Oberon slave which are all bits I would do, and it's having a full belt service and Brake pads etc for the money. Hopefully I'll get it in a few weeks and it can sit alongside it's stablemate. and it's little Garage mate...
Nice one Phill, glad to see you back in the fold, slash cut Termis are lovely , seriously thinking of selling my 1299 and getting 2 or 3 classics.
You really know how to upset Ducbird don't you!! At least she will be happy with the colour. Bike looks very tidy. Steve
Thanks mate, yeah, loved the 899, there is however something about the old 'steely's' with old fashioned cambelts that I can't let go of, they just look like the racebikes I grew up watching and so when looking at something I can hopefully keep for years and home service, it fitted the requirement best.
Why have I upset Ducbird? she likes Red, and both my bikes are red...? ;-) Yeah, the bike has done 6k miles and tbf looks honest, bit of wear to the lower radiator but all around the engine is nice and clean. There are a few jobs needed on it which are being done, the front brakes were really 'soft' so it's having new fluid and pads as they are probably the originals and not much life left. Also the bike didn't start, and he said he had it running a few days ago so he wasn't happy with the battery and would put a new one in, can't argue with that really.
Other mod I would suggest is a set of upgraded battery cables, made a big difference to mine it was much easier to start! Exige on this forum supplies them very reasonable price and come with easy to follow instructions
Ah yes, that was at the dealer, don't worry I'll get a bin shot up as soon as it gets home in a few weeks.
Yep, I know all about them, I'll see how I get on, probably get some and fit them over winter along with a Lithium-Ion battery perhaps.
Pretty straight forward job, only took me a couple of hours to fit them, main thing is to get the surfaces clean and use the dielectric grease provided, not sure about the lithium battery, they are lighter but you need a specific charger/optimiser along with the fear of it going on fire
Which without going off topic is a concern given that my garage is integral to the house. It's not something I am rushing to do at the mo.
If you are set on a LiFePO battery, would be best to consider upgrading your rectifier/regulator to the latest MOSFET fitted to the Panigale and Diavel. Bit of a faff with making up an adaptor for the different plug/socket combination but well worth it IMO. Andy
Lovely bike How did you find going from a Daytona to the 899? I went the other way and much preferred the 675. I think the 848 was the bike I really should have bought to start with.
@Phill748 good guys at completely motorbikes there just up the road from me, my mate does all there Ducati work. All the bikes they have are excellent condition and always serviced, they wanted to buy my 1198 last time they saw it.
That's really good to know, thanks for giving me the heads up. I got a good vibe from them and they weren't secretive about the fact they had a specialist down the road. So it's off to your mate for a cambelt service and a brake service because the front brake lever nearly pulls back to the bar it's so squishy, which isn't correct for that brake set up for sure! They also said they are putting a new battery in as it had been started a few days earlier and then didn't start so they weren't comfortable letting it leave like that. When it was running I flicked it over to the battery menu though and checked it was charging and not over-volting when revving etc and all perfect staying at 14.6-8v so happy enough it's just an old battery.
I had a Daytona before my first 848, then I had a 675R between my 848 and my 899 so I have jumped between the two quite a bit. The 899, other than the rear suspension being super vague feeling was a great bike. I had the shock rebuilt by MCT and then the bike was bang on, I didn't find it particularly harder to ride than a 675, just loved it. One thing I didn't like was when I saw the pics of myself on a trackday and I look like I'm wearing the bike, it just felt small and I'm 6ft and 14stone so not a super massive bloke. The 848 definitely has a lot more room to move around. Also, if I'm completely honest, apart from the quickshifter I never used any of the electronics, just had it all set in race mode with the TC somewhere around 3, and just rode it for a year including on track so I don't think I'll miss the electronics
