ducati 1098
 

my 05 gixxer1000 has a frame recall. aparently this is no big deal to most riders, but it's a big deal to me. so, i'm selling my gixxer.
superhawk is solid and i will not sell it. i love that bike.
i'm heavily leaning to buying a 1098. when i see that bike i drool. it's just so darn sexy. i can't get it out of my head!!!
anyone have any advise or comments for me?

save your money.

there is a perfect condition superhawk at the dealer. 2005 with low kms. prob get for $6000.
but man, that 1098 is sooo sexy!!!

Unless you get the R dont bother...:)

hey j,
the young lad(5 years old) loves your avatar!!!

how much hp does the standard 1098 have?

there is a $6200 2005 rc51 in montreal but it's rough. i have ridden my old roomate's rc51 and i was never that impressed by it. that was back in my early 20s, before i discoverred the v-twin layout. the rc51 is def a nice bike. $6200 is much better than the duc to.

Go with the 1198S or better. Traction control and more power. Also, the gixxer frame recall is no biggy. They weld them up all the time at races as they crack away. Do what your comfortable with. Do you really want to v-twins?

Be sure to use other funds to buy the Ducati, then sell the Suzuki so you'll have the money for a couple or three years maintenance on the Duc.

i have been thinking that i'd have the hawk for v-twin and gixxer for inline 4 shennanigans. now that the frame recall has turned me off the gixxer and suzuki i'm looking at all bikes. the one that is telling me i have to have it is the 1098. two twins would go against my wanting two diff styles but i keep thinking about the 1098!

maintenance is an issue. 12000km maintenance intervals, and they are expensive. i have a guy that i use for valve adjustments and other more involved jobs that i am nervous to tackle myself. i trust this fella. he used to work at the duc dealer and he knows what to do with them. prob is that he doesn't have the special tools to do stuff like adjust the belt tension.

i feel like a horny 16 year old.

I agree with the two twins comment....I enjoy swapping to the I-4 often. With a Duc guy as a friend, that will help. Is it worth holding out for the 1198 instead of 1098?

yeah, i've been wondering about that 1198. what is the hp difference between the 1098 and 1198.
i'm also thinking used because the used ducatis are usually well taken care of and a bunch cheaper. that would make the 1198 less attractive but still an optioon.
having i4 and v2 both available is good.

The new CBR1000RR gets my vote

Doesn't Buell still make a sport twin? I think it is the 1125S....

I'm gonna sound stupid here, but, If i won the damn lotto....I still couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a bike! What can YOU do with a duc that YOU couldn't with so many other sweet bikes on the market for a fraction of the cost. I just love learning to ride better every time I go out.

you don't sound stupid at all. oh yeah, it's not cheap. and you're thinking with your head. thing is that you need to balance between your head(wife, bank account, economy, etc...) and your heart(desire, lust, fun...).
i've bought, and spent a lot on brand new gixxers over the years. if i can get a good used 1098 for a couple grand more that i used to pay for the gixxers, is it worth it?

hawkfanatic - you like the cbr1000rr??? it is ugly but has great performance specs. i was at the local dealer and looked at the cbr1000rr. i told the dealer that it's ugly as sin. he laughed and told me he didn't sell one!

Anyone know the weight difference between our hawks and the new CBR's?

alot

VTR = 423, CRB = 388......wow!

the hp

hawk 109 - cbr 178

it's a blow out!

The CBR even has a 10 HP advantage through the entire midrange over the gixxer and kawi too....I'm tempted to try one, but I love my gixxer. It would be an awesome bike for sure.

The 1198 has 10 more HP and I think around 17? more torque. It's in the new Motorcylist and Sport Rider. The traction control sounds neat, and I think it's even better than the control offered on the 1098R. Of course, buying a used 1098 could be a bargain, but in my part of the world you hardly save anything since they are so rare.

I think if you had the Duc the Superhawk would soon be parked for long periods of time. Their too similar and the Duc is a better built bike.

I like having different bikes for different purposes. The Superhawk is great for bombing around town, club hopping, going to the bank - short stuff. The VFR is better for full day outings with greater miles. For fishing in East Texas or New Mexico I would have an ST.

The only diff in traction control on 1198/1098 is that the 1198 can enable all settings at road spec... 1098 needs the race exhaust to get the onboard brain to let you have any fun... No race spec exhaust on = stuck in "normal" ie wussy mode...

nuhawk, sounds like you have all the bases coverred!!! good for you!

i agree on having different types of bikes. that's why i bought my hawk(already had the gix1k). now the gox has to go but there is no i4 that "turns my crank". suzuki has pissed me off this time. kawi pissed me off years ago. yamaha is ok but i don't get excited by them. honda has always treated me good and i do like them a lot. the prob with honda is the looks of that cbr1000rr. it's horrible. i'd almost like to find a cheap crashed cbr that is mechanically fine, patch up the body work and put a layer of truck box liner on it!

so, i started thinking about how much i love the hawk. i bought it in july 08. i think i rode my gix twice after that. so now i'm thinking that perhaps another v-twin would be good. but i'd like a sportier v-twin like a 1098. i sat on the 1098 again yesterday and i like the seat 1000% more that the gixxer's seat. much better.

also, my woman is taking the moto safety course this spring. she's saying that she might like to ride and she hopes to find out if she wants to ride at the course. if she wants to ride and get a bike that changes the equation again.

so for now i have the gix for sale. the bike show is in just over a week. there is an 08 1098 with 4000kms and termi's on it at the dealer and i'm waiting for them to give me a price. all said, there is no rush.

oh yeah, i was also thinking about the vfr. it need more power. it also might be a bit too refined.

Duc
 

848

I have all three SH,RC51and 1098! If you can afford the Duc get it nothing sounds better. If you want the preformance without the head ach get the RC51. I put a full ti carbon Akro"s on the 51 and it's sweeet! Good luck

I got to see a 1098 up close last night and talk to the owner for a while. Had the 109 dB race exhaust and chip for it. Was around 40 degrees but he still managed to redline the thing on the street and pop it up for a few blocks and wake every soul in a 6 block radius. Kinda gives you that good old fashioned "Holy shit, I totally just banged that blazing chick" feeling experiencing something like that. I fear that if I ever rode one I'd be hooked and have to buy one, which isn't in the budget in the next decade.

Dude fullfill your dream. Get the 1098. You'll never regret it.

If I'd soured on a GSX-R and was deciding betwixt another I-4 and an Italiano twin, I'd consider splitting the difference with one of these; A 1078 MV Agusta Brutale.

those mvs are cool!!!

Finally, someone with some sense!

Have you guys ridden a 1098? I have, and it was even a base model. All I can say is - what a machine. Holy crap! That thing wants to haul the mail like nothing I've ever ridden. Sure, the new CBR1000RR has gotten more than one look from me because it's the most ultimate Honda ever. Even so, on the street the 1098 kills it.

A Ducati is.... well, a Ducati. There's just something about one.

Go ahead, get a 1098! Make sure it already has the recall mods for electrical system overheating! And be prepared to ride your Super Hawk a lot, while your Duck is in the shop.

I've got a duc, a 93 900-ss (Red, full fairing). Great bike, a lot of fun, but not half the bike a VTR is (I've got both)
If you are going to be riding on the road, there is nothing a 1098 can do your Superhawk couldn't do if modified in a few areas.
And why the hell would you take a chance on balling up such an expensive and exotic bike like the 1098 at the track?. The smaller (893 or sopmething) Duc superbike is a much better deal and a better road bike. It'll still spend a lot more time in the shop than your superhawk.

<i>I got to see a 1098 up close last night and talk to the owner for a while. Had the 109 dB race exhaust and chip for it.</i>

The test bikes Duc sent out had the exhaust and the chip because without it, the O2 sensor causes the bike to run lean and overheats the electrical system. There's been a recall. And the 1098 has been superceded by this year's 1198.

For road use, I'd take a lightly modified Hawk over a Duc Superbike anyday! I like to ride 'em, not spend money about them and worry about them.

But it's your money.

I may be, I admit, somewhat cynical. Here in Warshington State, the spped limits are ridiculously low, and the roads heavily patrolled. A guy could go out on the backroads, what's left of them after all this developement, early on a week-end morning, but then if you crash, you're on your own, down a ravine, and they dig you out next spring.

The Duc 848 seems like a good deal, if you don't mind paying for some very expensive maintenance, and worrying whether the shop can do it right.

And I'll tell you a secret I learned from riding my 93 900-ss. If it says "Ducati" and has a fairing, lots of people come over and tell me how fast that bike is! I can't convince them it's not! I say look: air-cooled! Look: carbs! But they won't believe me! They all tell me how fast it is, but they won't believe the guy who owns it, when he tells them it goes about 130, tops.
And even that bike, one of Ducati's best product, needed new carbs (41mm flat-slides) and different gearing before it would run in a satisfying way.

A Duc makes a great second bike, tho.

"A Ducati is.... well, a Ducati. There's just something about one."

I'll tell you a secret. A Ducati is a motorcycle, built by a relatively small Italian manufacturer, who has made some real dogs in the past, and still has trouble producing a fault-free bike.

It's a funny thing, since Ducati won WSB and started selling the 916 than 996, than 999, than 1098 than 1198, I see a couple after they come out, usually on the Puget Sound Ferry, cause the guy is on the way to Seattle Ducati for service. Than I never see them again. Where did they all go?

I have several friends who have owned Ducatis over the years, and none who have stuck with them.. eventually they all swapped to a Japanese bike that ran every time they turned it on and cost half as much to own.

or this 410 CI V-Twin
http://www.leonhardtweb.de/

I'll keep my 93 SS-900 until I die, that was, in terms of enjoyment/reliability/fun/modifying, the best product Ducati ever made. And there are still plenty around, too. I've seen those with 51mm Mikuni flat-slides for racing and straight exhaust, what a noise. Since the 904 engine was used in Monsters, too, there are lot's of those for rebuilding and modifying.
And it was a very handsome bike, so handsome my wife made me buy it!

Amen.

yup, the ducatis are special and exotic. the maintenance adds to that. second bike, yes.

so, today i went to the dealer again. they have two 08s that they want 17500cad(list is 20k). they are taking an 08 with 4000kms on trade. i had my hopes up that they'd be able to sell it to me for $14k or under. no sir, $16500 is the asking price. deal died right there and the salesman knew it. my heart rate went from 125 to flat line in that split second. total loss of interest and it was written on my face and in my body language.

so, let me look at the shiny side of the coin. i'll sell my gixxer and keep my eyes out for another bike. i have my hawk and there's no rush for a second bike. perhaps i will get something that i won't have to(as someone else said) worry about. that's the way i am with my hawk. i ride it.

bike show in a week.

perhaps a duc in the future.

oh yeah, my gf was sincerely disappointed for me. what a woman! she's a saint!

They really are in demand...same story around here. I actually was tempted myself on the link below, but now it is pending sale, so the temptation is gone. I think they are the nicest Ducati out there.
http://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/992117817.html