Right, so I lost my 899 in an accident (not my fault). Now I need to chose a new ride and not sure what to get. While I do love how the 1098S and 1198S look over the 848. Im put back by so much bike. I do most of my riding through mountains so all that power is not really important to me. I rather have something that handles great and its easy to through around. Can de experienced owners chime in. Opinions, comments and constructive criticism welcomed. Thanks!
If the bike you’re getting is definitely out of those three then I think you know the answer already. Did you ever feel while riding your 899 that you could do with a bit more power?
No, never even put it in a race mode. At first the speed gave me that silly feeling but I eventually got used to it though.
I've had an 899 which I sold and I've gone back to an 848Evo. The only thing I would say is that if you buy a 899, you can spend a little on getting the rear shock serviced (a bit of a weakness IMHO) and then it's pretty much spot on. The 848 by comparison needs the correct mods to make it something that you can both love and live with. My current one has an Oberon slave cylinder on the clutch, and an Ohlins rear shock with a spring that's been softened a little. Also it has the Termi pipes and DP map which actually make for a really nice 'soft' power delivery compared to the remap I had on my old one which felt quicker but was really aggressive. It's horses for courses, for me I wanted something that was a little more 'simple' with mechanical throttle etc and something that had that old school thing going on. It has 6k miles on it and is immaculate and all those mods and a cambelt service were in the £8k price. But as others will point out you can get an 1198s for that. I've recently let my mate ride it who has owned the 959 and he commented that something about the engine just felt more like what he wanted from a twin, yes it's slower, but seems to have that more traditional delivery. I'm loving mine as you can probably tell.
Thing is I can’t do much mods on street bikes over here. I have to pass technical test once a year for the vehicle to be street legal. Thanks for the tip
Ah, then in honesty I think I would buy an 899. In a pure technical sense and to ride I think it’s a better bike to live with.
Currently second hand 899 here are going for 14.000€ an 1198S can be had for 9.000€ maybe less if I haggle.
That’s cool, but I guess you need to be sure that you can live with a stock 1198 if you aren’t able to modify it in any way. Even the lovers of 1198 on here will probably say that it benefits from shorter gearing and a clutch slave change.
The 1198 is awesomely outrageous. It can be hard to live with at times coz its a freaking monster. It can be in yer face and hard work. But for me thats a Ducati. The 1198 will be considered a future classic. No doubt about that. Its a serious alternative to the ultimate beast, the 1098R. I seriously miss my old one. Esp the way it leaps out of a corner like a mad rhino with a hot iron up its arse. Its physical, visceral and downright insane. I now have a 1299S but I'd still say the 1198 was the best goddamned nutjob Ive ever owned. The pani is too, but I can switch the madness off. You cant on an 1198. The torque is never ending.
Is it manageable or just total full on crazy all the time? I'm not going g into town with it but I'm not ridding at 300kmh
Its a pain in town. But fine on open roads and yes you can lower the urgency and blip around. The torque can make it feel quite lazy if you want. Mine was nicer before I put full 70 and a remap. After that it was a different bike. But on just termi end cans, it was reasonably civil. (nicer sound too on just end cans, not as harsh imo)
