strange one but is it just me who feels more at home on the older bikes? I have a 1098r and initial impressions is it doesn't handle quite as nice. it could simply be down to less rotating mass in the 748. the 748 feels like a little Gp bike in comparison. 1098R feels far more bulbous and not as accurate. it's comfy mind!
Have owned and ridden multiple 748’s and a 1098R. IMO, the 748 hits the road riding sweet spot. Agile, responsive and real world fast. The 1098R took time to set up but when done, was very rewarding but made no sense to me, on public roads. It was the first of 2 bikes I’ve owned that won’t just lose your licence Andy
that power Balance between fun and frightening is so difficult to find on the road. I always said you don't need more than a well set up 400cc or 250 2 banger on road yet my 400 ended up 414cc and 76hp and my 250 is now 350 and 90hp too easy to get carried away. that 1098R motor is something else however. its wild!
My 748 is a peach, especially with ultra sticky rubber on the track. I do moves on it that I could not even contemplate on the twenty years younger, way more powerful bikes. They need electronics to keep me out of the gravel. She will be at Doni July 26th garage 26.
My experience from the 848 Evo was that Ducati started trying to get them turning better with more ‘nose heavy’ weight bias, which in the 848 as standard overloads the front tyre. I couldn’t believe it when I told MCT that I had bought an adjustable rear link as they were servicing my Ohlins shock and they told me to take 10mm out of the rear ride height, I noticed no ill effect on steering speed but did notice a more stable and nicer bike on turn in with the brakes on. I would guess the 1098r wheelbase is longer, the trend is to get closer to 600mm swingarm length which they were trying to do with the newer bikes, but don’t forget it’s also got wider fatter rear wheel which will have a small affect. IMO the better direct comparison would be the 748 to a 848 Evo, as the tyre sizing is the same, and yes I think the 748 is still the slightly nicer steering in totally standard form.
I came from a 916 to an 1198. The first thing I noticed was understeer on the 1198 base. But once I had the suspension sorted and adjusted for me, this kind of sorted itself out. It still wasnt as flickable, but I have mag wheels and v.good ohlins on 916. I had bog oem base on 1198. It was still not as quick steering as 916, but a huge improvement.
Fact of the matter is both bikes share the same engine mounting points, swing arm pivot point, and steering head angle. so the fact is they can be exactly the same if set up that way! I would suggest if you scanned your two bikes and put the info into moto spec it would show what to alter to which bike to make them the same..
best handling bike i ever had was my 748r ohlins model, dropped the forks down a few rings and that thing would go round any corner as fast as you dared.
somewhat over simplification? 1098 uses different diameter frame tubing and stiffness, the swingarm linkage is totally different with a different rocker, this alone will change things. The triple clamps also are different with u think 2 bolt lower mounting on layer and 3 on earlier or the other way. Oh and totally different swingarm either way architecturally they are very different. Unless you meant between the 1098/1198 models?
You must be really good if you are picking up differences in frame stiffness … you can dial into both bikes the same numbers if you really want to. Even changing swing arm lengths… hell, even a 1098 swing arm fits into the 748 frame… you can even have the same rocker set up.. my point is to say this is better than that is a comparison that can’t be made.. apart from this in its current set up is better than that in its current set up!
it's funny that you mention the weight bias as I'd weighed the 1098r and it is nose heavy. 52 front 48. the 748 is the other way round
much more relevant information to compare the two that Andy’s argumentative responses! I don’t know how much you have to change the swingarm etc to move that weight balance but yes it would certainly explain why they feel different
Dear me… 52/48 is about the right place for the majority of bike set ups… or is that too argumentative♂️ I would also argue when they made the 1098 series set it up with the classic Ducati geometry, it was too high at the rear for the vertically challenged. So out of the factory they were lowered rear ride height at the rear putting more weight to the back to appease the seat height issue. Raising the rear ride height on the 1098 models brings it back in line with the set up of the previous models …
