It's no flat-crank R1, but it looks like I have also completely lost my mind

[Bill_Rockoff]

You all saw this coming a couple of years ago.  You also know that this particular insanity is hereditary, and my kid and I are both afflicted.  Well, now we have the same symptoms.



Ducati Dave is cured of this affliction, having sold his original 916 to a coworker earlier this summer and his last remaining Ducati to me.  He is now just "a carrier" of this disease.  (Although if anyone knows of a good MultiStrada for sale, he is interested...)  I also bought all his Ducati spares - clutch, carbon-fiber bodywork, AirTech bodywork, a spare set of wheels (track day tires!) and an Arrow carbon-fiber/titanium exhaust, along with two factory exhausts and three computers.  Josh at work will probably want the Arrow and corresponding computer, because these things are so much fun with the free-flowing exhaust.

"What's it like?"

I drove a friend's 2015 Z06 last week, a supercharged 650 hp Corvette with computer-selectable parameters.  (Amazing electronics nowadays.  That's supposedly the big deal with the R1 and the Panigale; it's a huge part of the Corvette experience.)  With the drivetrain set to "track" a Z06 sounds like a NASCAR or Touring Car race car.  It revs immediately with seemingly no flywheel mass, it bellows and howls under load during acceleration, and it snaps and pops on trailing throttle.  "Way too much power" is always an option at any time at any point on the tach,  and anybody within 100 feet can hear that this is the case.  The 998 with the Termingoni pipes is similar. 

Also like the Z06, I have only gotten to try full throttle a little bit, and not even at the deep end of the powerband.

More to follow.  Also, see it / hear it at the Fall rally.

[rlucas]

Nice, but it lacks that certain je ne sais quoi that your son was able to achieve. Needs more zip-ties.

[Bill_Rockoff]

Zip ties make it faster.

That's my theory, anyway.

[Steve_in_Florida]

I do like your Ducks.

Steve

[fjfool]

wow! that is all kinds of sexy
i am afraid to touch the Ducati for fear of falling head over heals for it
is that air or water cooled?
congrats on the acquisition

[Pat Conlon]

Very cool Bill
One (of the many) good things about the Duc is that when it comes time to adjust those desmodrodic valves (every 7500 miles?) it makes the FJ procedure seem like a cake walk.
The closest Ducati dealer to me is 70 miles away and they want over $680 to do a valve adjustment on a desmo engine.

[Bill_Rockoff]

These are water cooled. (My only air cooled Ducati experience felt more like my friend's diesel pickup than his z 06 corvette.)

As they get older and fall in price, DIY becomes more typical. "Dealer" is fine for the guy who bought it new and doesn't ride it in the rain and has it "done" for him for $680 while he is off doing whatever he does instead (litigation? Intubation?) for >$680. I think Andrew has already done his valves (checked, they didn't need adjustment) outdoors. And with appropriate updates, the adjustment interval is almost FJ-like. Ducati Dave *does* tell me that doing the belts (or is it valve shims?) is easier if you drop the motor.  I'll keep you all posted.

I assume that Anyone who has done to an fj what Pat has done to his fj, for that matter anyone who can fettle a carbureted bike from 20-30 years ago, can probably handle a modern fuel injected bike.

[yamaha fj rider]

Congrats on the Ducati. Enjoy.

Kurt

[racerman_27410]

LOL  Bill.... I knew you were "sick"  with Duc fever.

Nice bike....Should be a real hoot on the Cherohala.

See you in Tellico.


Frank 

[Bill_Rockoff]

Looking forward to it!  

I put over 1,000 miles on Andrew's before he bought it, but I had literally never gotten it leaned into a corner; I did all the highway miles from Connecticut back to Georgia, but he rode it for the 200 miles of Blue Ridge Parkway while I rode his Ninja 500.   Until last Saturday when I spent a couple hours riding the 998 up to TWO and back, I had literally never ridden one of these things on a curvy road.  

I had enough twisties to get into a rhythm and really enjoy it, and I think "yeah, I'll keep it."