Yea, The bike truly deserves the reviews its getting. I guess its time for me to add mine for anyone that is interested:
It took me a while to get the thing broken in just because of my work schedule and had a bit of a time finding people to ride with. Now I have a regular weekend group and have clocked almost 4000 km on the bike. We did an 800km overnight ride all through kanchanabury this weekend. Now that it is broken in, all I can say is Wow! Its a totally different machine between 7k and 11k rpm than it was from 4-7k. I actually broke it in properly. This weekends ride was on all kinds of road surfaces and conditions. From pouring down rain, high winds and trees down across the road trying to dodge pot holes filled with water to perfect wide winding up and down dry roads with little to no traffic. The last bit we were able to do at fairly high speeds for about an hour and a half. This streetfighter sticks to the pavement like glue. I had the traction control set on the most conservative setting(8) due to the wet conditions of saturday and sunday morning when we departed. I have just been getting used to riding again as I have not owned a bike for about 10 years. I have not owned a sport bike since 1988. The wet to drying road conditions we had this morning were a perfect warm up. Most of the guys I ride with have 795 monsters but we have a new member in our group and he is sporting an 848. He was leading this morning and I was number 2 of 7 in the line up. Before long the tires were warmed up and we really started to pick up the speed. Having him in front of me really gave my confidence a boost and I started to trust the bike more. I have been somewhat timid on wet roads since I have always considered myself a fair weather rider. I have found that if you want to ride all year around in thailand, you better learn to enjoy riding in the rain. Anyway, with traction control engaged and a fresh review of how well this bike rides and another on the Diablo Rosso Corsa tires and how well they perform on both wet and dry surfaces on my mind, I started letting the bike do the work. Before I knew it I was tipping in to corners faster today on wet roads than I had been on dry. ( I cant say enough about these tires) As the road dried, the surface conditions got better. Before i knew it the roads had a perfect surface, wide with a very wide shoulder and long, rolling sweeping turns. It really was incredible. this is hands down the best day of riding I have ever had. Even as the roads dried I didnt mess with the traction control settings. With it on 8 I was able to easily accelerate coming out of the apex with confidence. This is the first bike I have ever ridden with traction control so it took a bit for me to get where i actually trusted it. Twisting that throttle while still in a turn on wet pavement was something that would have just sent me into the ditch or oncoming traffic at any other time in my life : / My friend on the 848 and I stopped at the entrance to the area we had been riding to wait for the others to join us. We walks back to me with a big grin on his face and a big thumbs up. He says wow, the new streetfighter handles really well! I wont mention how fast he said we hit. To sum it up, The bike handles like a dream on all road condtions I have been on. I thought the thing pulled on the low end while I was breaking it in but the acceleration at the top of of the tac is so good it that I cant help grinning from ear to ear every time i do it. The new traction control puts all that power to ground in a way that suits every rider skill in any condition. 1,2 and 3 on the settings will actually allow the tire to spin and is recommended for the track only. The upright seated position allows for great visibility especially in city traffic and makes for comfortable long rides. I have have ridden 600 km in a day and had no problems at all. I do have the comfort seat installed and that is a must get for long rides. The rear set works great for me. At first I had problems getting to the rear break but after an hour or so on the bike it wasnt an issue. I am 180cm tall with somewhat long legs and it fits me perfect. The seat height is fairly high and the comfort seat adds another inch or so. The clutch pull is fairly heavy even though its a wet clutch. It doesnt bother me at all now but when I first started riding it my left hand and fore arm were a bit sore. ABS is not offered on this bike but braking is strong and predictable. As far as what the Bike looks like. Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder. I will tell you that its almost like being a rock star anywhere I go on this bike. Just about anywhere I park it people are taking pictures with it when I walk out. Last but not least, the sound. I have Termi carbon fiber cans with removable DB killers. The sound of this bike is an audio orgasm! It cant help but excite you when you hear it. At idle, the L twin is rough and sounds unrefined. Almost Harley like(I have owned and enjoyed them also so I can say that
) As you pull through the rpm's to 6 or 7k it starts to sound more like the engine of a ww2 fighter. At 8000 rpm and up it screams like a Formula 1 car. As you decelerate through the gears its makes this delightful popping and snapping sound that to the majority's ear probably makes them think there is something wrong with the bike. There is nothing wrong with this bike! At any rate, everywhere i go people hear this bike stop what they are doing, look, smile and point. Then they wave and come over to ask if they can take a pic. Add that to the fact that it is an easy to ride commuter and a formidable track contender. What more can you ask for?
This is my review of the 2012 Ducati 848 Streetfighter. I might be a bit bias but it has been as honest as I can be.
Cheers,
Mike
