Morning all, Tough choice to make - choosing between a Desmo or a Testa 748…both 02 plates, but the Testa has 17k miles and the Desmo just 4K from new?! pros and cons of both please!! thanks for your help folks!
I’m going to stick my head above the parapet and say all 748’s had Desmoquattro heads. The Testastretta heads were fitted to the 996R, 998, 749 and 999. Andy
Wait wait wait….i am of course talking complete rubbish!!! (It’s been a long morning already…) so, the 2nd bike has what my little brain would refer to as ‘testa’ fairings on it like the 998’s had (little grills where your knees would go)…. So I guess my question really is, other than the slight change in the side panels, is there a huge difference internally engine wise?? applogies for the confusion - I’ll take myself outside and have a strong word!! ♂️
so in essence the bikes are the same with a 13k mile difference between them? all else being equal inc price, the rational person would buy the lower mileage most original bike etc etc
Completely hear what you’re saying….in terms of potential future investments though, the older shape one with termis, or the newer fairing one with 5 spoke wheels??
but NEVER buy a bike/car for investment purposes only (although many of us have done ok in paper terms at least)
From the subsequent posts, I infer you are looking at a late, slab side fairing, 748E, run out model and another 748 BP that has the earlier fairing which was registered in ‘02 (which may or may not be an 02MY) ? The ‘02 748E was nothing special, it just got the later fairings and possibly some extra bits like colour coded mirrors to help it sell before the 749 arrived. Aesthetically, for some, the 748E is a better looking shape but the earlier model doesn’t come with the perceived stigma of a ‘run out’ model. IMO, buy on condition and service history, not the mileage. Again, just my opinion, neither will ‘appreciate’ in value but you shouldn’t lose money. Andy
they are pretty much same bike. imho the very early bikes (with the original style decals) are the prettiest followed by the last version with the grills. on that basis I'd go for the later faired bike. is the bike a E model? Worth bearing in mind that as Andy said it's the base model with sachs rear suspension and non adjustable headstock. I own a 748e too and it's mega so don't be put off. just get the cleanest, we'll kept bike you can within budget
It's worth noting that the 2002 748 with the 998 fairings without the big vent had different heads. Known as Testabassa these have shorter exhaust valves and the head is a different casting. The timing belts are shorter by a couple of teeth so you can't mix them up. The heads are the same design as the S4 Monster and ST4 bikes. Sometimes known as "drop cam" heads there are quite a few differences between them and the "old" desmoquattro heads. Performance wise there is no difference. Anecdotally I believe these heads suffered no rocker flaking issues
All 916 & 996 cc ST4, ST4S, Monster S4 and S4R engines had testabassa heads. As well as the base model 748 from the last year of course. That was it. After these all 4 valve water cooled engines were testastretta variations
