At 8:45am this morning i left home to ride the 35 miles to Ashford in Kent to collect my ride for the morning. Overcast and cooler than of late i had trouble getting heat into the Racetecs and had a steady, if uneasy ride to Laguna Motorcycles and was praying it would stay dry for the next 4 hours.
At 9:15 Steve the salesman handed me the keys and showed me around the dash and controls and tbh it all looked very familiar, after all, just how much can they change in the way of controls and dash?. I must admit the dash did look very Race-esque with the revcounter the most prominent thing you notice. The nice added touch of being able to cycle through all the settings via a left thumb switch and easily used with a gloved hand, instead of having to stop and press tiny buttons like i do on the gixxer dash.
After riding inline fours for the last 5 years I was slighlty worried about the transition to a twin again after so much time away. My last bike was an early 999 and before that a 748. My fears vanished as i thumbed the starter for the first time and the twin barked into life. Now, the sound of a v-twin is something to behold, the deep throaty roar was music to my ears and she was only ticking over!
Pulling away from the forecourt I was instantly shocked by the vibration of the pulsing twin and had completely forgotten what it felt like. I stabbed the gear lever into second on the short industrial road to main road and had to give it a second stab, stiff; and like nothing i've ever experienced before. Maybe it was just me? but I wasn't ready to pass judgement yet. After 2 miles of riding in traffic and I suddenly remembered how useless Ducati mirrors are, no rearward vision at all in the normal riding position, and you have to move your arms out of the way to see anything. Things are not looking good are they?
10 more minutes and i am now settled and the gear lever behaving itself, or should i say that i am having to stab the lever with more pressure than i'm used to and she is behaving perfectly. Now on the open road and amongst the national speed limits the bike really begins to comes alive. In second gear i wind the throttle to the stop and what happened next shocked me to the core....No big leap forward and an engine that was reluctant to spin up quickly. Oh how 5 years of inline fours changes your perception of speed, it seemed that i was being held back, as if restricted in some way. 130-140bhp they say, if thats true it may be over exagerrated somewhat. i look down at the speedo..whoah..70 miles an hour in the blink of any eye i back off and short shift into 6th and the bike really begins to labour. For a twin the 848 really loves to rev.
The route i decide to take on my journey takes in stunning A-roads with plenty of bends and open stretches and a mixture of B and C class roads. 45 miles of different surfaces and different speeds. What struck me early on was the that the harder you push, the better the feedback. Now i am only 11 stone but the set-up was hard...i mean, race track hard. No give over the bumps at all and it felt like my fillings would be shaken loose! but on the super smooth surfaces the turn in and ride was second to none. The faster the approach to a bend, the more the front seemed planted. Testament to the Ducati racing heritage, The ability to trail brake into the apex on this bike is outstanding and the line it holds once there; is surreal.
Now,Ducati state that this model weighs in at 168kg and tbh i can believe them, the bike is so light in traffic and the balance is perfect, changing direction when going straight ahead at roundabouts for instance is just a matter of weight transfer on the pegs and some slight pressure on the bars and countersteering is the easily the best on any bike ive ever ridden. Again testament to the racing heritage.
After my first planned 45 miles i am beginning to fall in love. Heads turn when at lights or junctions and for the first time in years, i find myself looking at myself in shop windows to see the reflection. come on, admit it. you've all done it. What i saw i liked very much. Then down to earth with a bump. Petrol light on and that's a tenner burnt already! 45 miles..shocking. even my big gixxer thou does 65 miles on the same.
Still, time for a coffee and reflection and plan the ride back to Ashford. Whilst sitting in costa coffee i looked over to the machine parked by the side of the road and it looks like its moving even when stationary, if there was ever such a thing of beauty in the bike world, then the 848 is it. I sat there thinking about how much they have come on in 5 years since i owned the 999 biposto, more power, better looks and the technology a massive leap forward. I remember thinking that 5 years is a long time in biking terms.
One thing i havn't mentioned are the brembo monoblock brakes. The stopping ability is unbeleivable. One finger application from motorway speeds is all thats required to lift the rear wheel and have it hopping across the tarmac looking for grip before you tip into the next corner, Exiting the corner is as exciting, sit the bike upright with pressure on the pegs and twist the throttle and it fires away ferociously with the front wheel pawing the air until you upshift and kick in the seat of the pants is immense. After the first 45 miles i was beginning to enjoy the ride and now not missing the extra ponies.
My return journey began with reluctance and had 25 miles of motorway. I planned this into the journey to get a real world test as i quite often hit the concrete purely as a way of saving time on my rides. At 70 miles an hour there is an unpleasant wind noise from the front screen and pretty loud, i choose not to wear earplugs as i love the sound of the exhaust and airbox but i felt i needed them at this point. I increased the speed to see if it would disappear but only got worse and at 90mph the wind force in the chest is to say the least, a pain! the upside of this, is it releases the pressure on the wrists caused by the arse up head down riding position, again racing orientated. I wasn't sure what was worse, aching wrists or being smashed in the chest by 70-90mph winds. I suppose this can be altered by adding an aftermarket screen but would i want to ruin the look?
Another thing i noticed on the concrete motorway at 80mph and riding over the joins across the carriageway was the pitch and yaw forwards and backwards like being on a see-saw, after 20 minutes i had enough and made me feel sick as my internal organs felt like they were in a washing machine. Boy was i glad to get off the motorway for the final 5 miles.
After getting off the bike i can honestly say Ducati have done a great job on the 848 and the developement really has moved on in 5 years. The experience they have in Superbike racing really shows in their road going models now, and i can imagine that they really will come alive when pushed on a track, but as a real world bike for every day living this maybe a step too far for me, at my age.
I have been home for 3 hours and i ache like mad, my shoulders hurt and my wrists really ache. but part of me wishes she was in my garage and i want to jump straight back on her for another 100 mile rideout.
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