Mine wasn't bottom end bearing, mine was down to bad mechanical work which caused a gear to oval the hole it sits in in the engine casing.
1198 Base model is where my money went when in the same predicament as you, not regretted the decision and slightly longer wait on bit. As has been said above, last proper old school Ducati SBK that was built, an absolute animal, trellis frame, under seat twin exhausts and no fancy electronics... And no bottom end worries. Wait that little bit longer and you won't regret it
If you can track down a stock 1198 from when the Panigale was launched they all came with DTC and DQS as standard. Just do not have the Ohlins kit.
The 1098S is a cracking bike. And don't be put off by thinking they all crap themselves with bearing collapse. My trackday buddy ran one (2007 model I think) for yonks and must have thumped 5000 track miles on it. It never missed a beat and pulled like a train til the day he sold it. It was obviously looked after regards maintenance schedules mind you but that's pretty standard I'd say.
The base 1198 does not have DTC or DQS but to shift stock when the Panigale was launched Ducati fitted DTC and DQS to the base model. Post 2011.
Bought my 1098S two years ago. It was was my dream bike in 2007 but the kid & mortgage thing put a hold on it then. I specifically targeted the 1098s because that was what I fell for. I suppose the 1198s would’ve worked too, (but only the “s”) but I have no regrets. It’s immense, still gets more looks than the latest blade or gixxer & I wouldn’t give it up for any bike.
There’s a 2012 1198 in Sheffield Motorcycle Centre that’s presumably overpriced at present. It’s been there nearly two years so I wonder if a low offer would get it?
I've been looking at an ex Laverty gsxr he's had there for ages , it started at £20000 now down to £12950.
Plusses are it’s a late model, one owner & in decent shape, but...it’s not an S. The S just has that something extra that makes the extra cost worth it imo
I retro fitted both DTC and DQS to my base 1198. Neither were worth the effort tbh as I never used either. The QS is agricultural and there's numerous threads about them chewing gearboxes. I always had DTC switched off as Ive always been reasonably progressive on throttle and never once saw it active when I had it on. Except when i set it to 8 once in rain and i thought my bike was fucked afterwards it was so awful. I switched it off and left it off. The base forks are pretty good as is the rear as long as you get it set up for you. I found the base suspenson pretty much okay and would only need to dial rebound up a click for track days and back one for road all round. Do not discount the base as its that engine your buying. The 1198 engine is bananas.
1198 has enough torque to pull a house down. Proper job! No replacement for displacement as my wife would say
