Well guys.. again it seems to be the culmination of small things leading to a vast improvement.. going through the specs this morning, nothing seemed out of the ordenary. 166KG wet wo gas... ok nice but i'm not too far off.. but then thats with plate holder and lights... so that is 164kg 's... then 200bhp+ at the crank. I'm at 192 at the wheel and should get 3 or 4 more with a the latest mappings. so nothing waw there... Even over an R it doesn't read all that 'overthetoppish'... suspension : ok , nice but what's in them as to kit and shimms? but then what caught my eye was the 1:54 at Mugello. and then i started getting how different and special this bike must be. Now, many bikes claim to set new best laps and records on all sort of tracks. The nurburgring being a notorious testbed for supercars to claim records.. the fact is i just got back from Mugello and remember vividly the best times done over a 3 day Rennfahrertraining weekend. Let me tell you first that my bike was just one in a loong row of specials from Ducati, BMW, Kawasaki and Aprilia's. And it being a SPEER weekend, loads of fast riders from Italy, Switz and Germany.. so to cut a long story short : here's to some comparison: A desmo with over 200bhp at the wheel and ridden by it's owner, an ex IDM champion, did a 2:02. the racers doing some testing on some superdooped Beemer did best of 3 day laptime of 1:58:00 with only 2 riders going under 2:00 and 60% of the riders doing 2:08-2:12... me doing a 2:15 which is almost 30 seconds or half a minute slower... Alex Hofman, develoment rider for the APE did a 1:53 on a Ape racebike... I 'm over the moon with how my bike turned out. and the sourcing of parts, development of ideas en actually see the thing grow has been a huge part of the joy i now derive for it. But i've been blessed and Lucky with finding people who guided me and did an awful lot of work in their own time. I got Lucky with finding and having been offered some of the trickiest parts at 'do you a favour' prices.. and still, let me tell you that the price tag of the SL is correct... not cheap, not for everyone, but correct.. if they say it's an 'at cost bike' if i add all the bits up, that i tend to believe them... So for those not wanting to take the risk of developping a bike themselves or having to pay full hourly rates for every hour worked on the bike , and still wanting something ultra special, there is no reason not to go for it.. this is one hell of a bike with a 2 year warranty and no develompent risk.. and some trick bits that will def be unobtanium for a while and electronics that may remain elusive for a a year or two... But as special as the bike is ; i still am not impressed with the powercurve, especially the torque curve. and the fact that the bike will probably run even hotter with no improvement of the cooling system... so let's see what we can do there ...
Or this Ducati Desmosedici RR | eBay and then let the guys at JHP loose on the engine for gas flow etc.They have seen figures very similar to the pani RR from both desmo and 1098R with mild tuning work.In fact they said maybe a bit much for a roadbike.Still remember a 999R they tuned with the full works and owner ended up selling it as it scared him shitless. I cant for the life of me understand why people want to pay £24,000 more for that panni RR that 499 others have when you could have a truly unique bike and spec of your own for less.Well maybe not less in the case below lol. JHP Projects - Ducati Coventry - West Midlands Motorcycle Dealership 217.7HP at 14,000 rpm
That would be the first thing to get the boot and you would still have enough spare after JHP tuning work compared to Pani RR price to buy a nice 916/996SPS/996R OR 999R to be a daily hack. I know which option id take.
You know what, fuck it, my order has been confirmed by Ducati. You only live once. I've thought about this long and hard and reached the decision that it's a special bike, one I'll enjoy riding and never sell. My wife influenced my decision, she recalled when we met, we hadn't got a pot to piss in. We were completely skint. I'd decided that I'd had enough of shitty jobs and wanted to follow my dream and become an airline pilot (I now work as a Training Captain for a well know Middle Eastern airline). When we met my wife was training to be a lawyer (at her expense). For four years we never went out (other than buying a travel card to go to London and wander the streets). We only bought "saver" products from Safeway (remember them) ? We skimped and saved and lived off baked beans on toast because and our combined studies/training costs were over £200k. Luckily, now we're reaping the rewards and, as she says, money here is cheap to borrow, if I decide to go down that route. She'll no doubt expect me never to moan again when she buys a handbag or pair of shoes (all of which end up in boxes in her wardrobe only to see the light of day when she shows them to her sister/friends) but it's a small price to pay.
I applaud and congratulate you (both). Damn right if you got the invite, opportunity to go for it. I in similar circumstances and just about to place the deposit too. I came from humble beginnings, worked hard, lost it all 7 years ago in marriage fuck up, rebuilt my life, now working my arse off in Iraq and finally in a position to get one (I missed out on the Desmo and still gutted about that!). I will take the race fairings off my R, along with the race change gear lever and light tech foot pegs and track it to the best of my ability. No cosy room closet for this puppy! Why am I sharing this? To help others see some of the owners of these bikes are just normal fellas. I've always wanted a "special" bike from Ducati and now is the time.
