nice job ken - i spend way too many hours reading reviews of motorcycles i neither want nor can afford.  your words painted a picture of that spanish circuit, and gave us a real sense of how the duc felt on it's way around.

i still can't afford it, but now i think i want it! it's ok ... the feeling will pass.

tc

slo, ca

Aggcckk... Bart's a merciless bastard with STD, I mean WMD...lets attack his world and have no clear cut plan for what to do after we make him pay! Oh wait...that never worked in the past. Seriously though - I am an idiot but in my defense I wrote the damn thing on my death bed with the flu so...forgive me for being brain dead.

On to the Q&A...

The Wall: The 848 has more low/mid-range torque than a 748-749, certainly more than a latest gen R6 (Though Adam says the new R6 closes the gap on the 600RR so who knows about that one). The 3K window of power is close though. Once it gets up top it has comes on pretty good, but again, nothing like an R6 on top. I tried to keep Rube in sight for about two turns. It is sickening really, to see how fast these backs can go. I mean in racer terms I am a turd but versus normal humans I am pretty good but dudes like him are ridiculously fast.

Slot & Lucky: Join me. Join me and together we will rule the galaxy as father and son... Of course my wounds will have to heal first.

Steve: Oh sure, jump on the Hypermotard bandwagon now. Where were you when I was being fileted by the verbal knives of these heartless webbastards last month Steve! You know what, you should go by Hyper as punishment for your evil words. Seriously though... The Hyper is way cool but for some folks the 13K for the 848 is actually a value all things considered.

Kenny,

I can't get the pictures to come up. All I get is a big grey stripe. Can ya fix it please? Need some groovy wallpaper. Thanx. Cheers, Jack

GAJ,

The white looks much better in person. Very rich pearlescent white. It's as hard for me to fathom a white Ducati as it is to picture a Ferrari in British Racing Green.

GAJ: WebSOB Ts...Send 49.95 each to Kenny The R&D buffoon at MCUSA HQ with a self-addressed, stamped envelope and I will send you a nice T.

As far as which bike has more potential to be a better streetbike goes, the 848 vs 1098 were created with two distinct riders in mind. The 1098 is the best Ducati can offer. Its as fast as a literbike (for the most part), looks trick, and is expensive. As a result it is a sick bike across the board. The 848 offers a little less, for a little less. The riders who errs on the side of caution, is new to the world of Ducati, or simply enjoys a less-hairy ride is going to dig the 848. For me personally, I'd take the 1098 because its got the big motor.

As far as color goes. Ducati says the dealers are ordering the white like crazy in anticipation that folks will like that color. Remember the fuzz feels red bikes are faster than white ones...plus, by offering only 2 color selections it seems that it would limit the odds of a dealer getting stuck with a flat black or yellow version when they all sell out. When I talked to a few, that was something folks brought up a few times. As far as it being the bird bike...I dunno. It looks pretty trick to me in person. In photos its not so cool but its still a Duc though so I'd go Red.

Pat: As far as racing goes: It is AMA Formula Xtreme legal as far as I know. Ducati shot down any notion that it is part of some master plan to weasle it into Supersport racing too. But seriously, this company is built on it so even though officially there is no S or R version in the works I bet ya in a year or two...there will be. And if Ducati's pull in the WSB rules arena is any clue...you just cant discount the notion.