I'm lucky enough to own an 848 evo and a Honda Fireblade. I like the overall package of the Blade and the character of the Ducati. I do find the handling on the Ducati is not as good out of the box compared to the 'Blade (personal opinion...not a blanket/bike magazine statement) and I'd like to improve it. I know there is an obvious power/delivery difference between the two bikes. As I understand it, the best way to get there on a money no object route is to order a full Ohlins suspension setup and then get the shocks setup to my weight. Has anyone else does this with good results? Does anyone have any experience with the OEM Ohlins setup on the 1198SP? How does it compare to the aftermarket Ohlins please? thanks
I got my OEM 1198 (non ohlins) properly set up for me. It made an enormous amount of difference. When I'm on the road I let of 1 click rebound front and back and its perfect. I do opposite for tracks days. Thats all i need to do once it was set up for sag, ride height, preload etc etc. I cannot emphasise enough what a difference it made to the bike for me. Best £60 ive spent.
Either ohlins front, 1198 ones were great on my 848, or ktech conversion, and a TTX shock. Nothing else needed
Thanks to you both. I think that sounds like the way fwds...is the 1198SP a massive jump up from an 848...separate question I know but very hard to find one to try.
Have a look at changing the internals on the forks. K-tech/Maxton or similar. Much cheaper and should get excellent results. Maxton internals are on my to do list.
Standard Ducati OEM Ohlins forks are not great. They are of a lesser quality than aftermarket Ohlins (true for all Ohlins fitted to any brand bikes). Worth upgrading standard fit Ohlins with KTech internals for equivalent/better than full fat Ohlins. Ohlins TTX is the same whether standard fitment or aftermarket.
I think you'll get the improvement but I think it will still feel different to the blade IMO simply because of how the weight is so well balanced on them, its all so low down on the blade it really helps with the planted feeling you get from the bike even in stock form. don't get me wrong I think the ktech upgrade would be worthwhile but its still wont iron out certain characteristics but I'm sure your well aware of that. both bloody great bikes though and I'd love to have both of mine back in a heartbeat.
Damodici, thanks for that. I've come to the conclusion that a full Ohlins set will be the way fwds, that way if I want to sell I'd put the standard stuff back on and sell the Ohlins. Can you please clarify what characteristics you're referring to? I'm on the cusp of part-exing my 848 for a new Multistrada or an 1198SP instead. Although, I understand that the 1198 might not be the best road bike in comparison to the 848 it might be an improvement on track.
Imho I had a 04RR blade and the 848 of same age was just as well balanced and easy to ride. Not ridden latest blade. The ohlins I had, the official Ducati kit, and TTX on my Evo were a fantastic set up and good enough for anything. Superb front end feel and a couple of clicks were noticeable. If I was buying new, I'd probably go Kteck or Ohlins 30mm cartridge kit in std showas if performance was more important than gold bling but TTX rear is the best place to start
I run FGRT803 forks and TTX36 in my 848, I also have FG329 Mk2 Ohlins superbike bike forks with antidive shim stacks in my blade and an X stobart Honda HO606 TTX rear shock in my 07 blade, what are they like well nothing like each other at all, the 848 even after reworking still need the shim stack revising as hi speed is too harsh for the road at speed it's not bad bad but needs to be moved one stop back. The blade is just perfect at any speed! soft compliant and easy to ride fast or slow, the 848 is GREAT but nothing like the blade.. IMO if you upgrade to Ohlins you will still need to rework the carts the FGRT fork has 30mm carts as standard but they are VERY track focused and nothing like OEM Ohlins forks fitted to any of the S model range.
