- Jul 3, 2003
- 74,544
- 924
- 126
Wow. I think I bought the wrong bike. This bike is fun fun fun.
So, this morning I decided to ride over to the Ducati dealer to check out the new 1199 Panigale they got in yesterday and they were having a demo day so they offered me a ride on any of the demo bikes they had there so I chose the 848 Streetfighter. They have a metallic yellow one that looks pretty cool and I've always kind of liked the streetfighter so I chose it.
The first thing that struck me as we set out on our 8 mile loop was how narrow the tank is, even more narrow than my bike. The riding position is also surprisingly comfortable and roomy and the controls were all very Ducati familiar. The dash is easy to read and even though it is quite low it's not hard to see at all.
I wasn't really paying much attention to the dash though because we were tearing up some nice curvy back roads in Escondido. There were 3 of us, the guy working the demo day, me, and one other guy on an MV Agusta F4. The guy leading was on a Ducati 848 sportbike in flat black. He took us on two loops even though we were only supposed to do one.
The 848 Streetfighter is great fun, very smooth, very even power delivery and it just seems to rev forever. I never hit the rev limiter because the bike has plenty of power (130hp to be exact) and it really gets down the road when you twist the throttle. I found my vision getting blurry on a couple occasions as we were powering out of some of the tighter turns.
Wheelies would be easy on this bike in 1st and 2nd gear... maybe even in 3rd. Ducati really got it right with the exhaust too. It has a nice burble at idle and really screams when you open up the throttle. When you close the throttle on decel it pops loudly and burbles which is really cool... gives it a nasty raw sound which I like.
Brakes are excellent as is the chassis. The bike was very easy to transition from corner to corner and the route we rode really tested the ability of the bike and rider to corner. I've read that the 1098 Streetfighter has some chassis geometry issues that make these types of transitions more difficult but that Ducati had addressed that with the 848 Streetfighter and I'd have to say they succeeded. This bike has no handling issues and it was easy for me to jump on and get comfortable pushing it right away. It is also easy to setup for the corners and then power out of them with that wonderful 4 cam V-twin engine. It just made me grin every time. We were practically dragging knee on the second loop.
I wasn't too crazy about the Streetfighter when it came out but it has grown on me and I like the color on this one. That yellow just screams LOOK AT ME!!! It is quite stunning and the finish on this bike looked perfect.
Did I mention that I like it?
So, this morning I decided to ride over to the Ducati dealer to check out the new 1199 Panigale they got in yesterday and they were having a demo day so they offered me a ride on any of the demo bikes they had there so I chose the 848 Streetfighter. They have a metallic yellow one that looks pretty cool and I've always kind of liked the streetfighter so I chose it.
The first thing that struck me as we set out on our 8 mile loop was how narrow the tank is, even more narrow than my bike. The riding position is also surprisingly comfortable and roomy and the controls were all very Ducati familiar. The dash is easy to read and even though it is quite low it's not hard to see at all.
I wasn't really paying much attention to the dash though because we were tearing up some nice curvy back roads in Escondido. There were 3 of us, the guy working the demo day, me, and one other guy on an MV Agusta F4. The guy leading was on a Ducati 848 sportbike in flat black. He took us on two loops even though we were only supposed to do one.
The 848 Streetfighter is great fun, very smooth, very even power delivery and it just seems to rev forever. I never hit the rev limiter because the bike has plenty of power (130hp to be exact) and it really gets down the road when you twist the throttle. I found my vision getting blurry on a couple occasions as we were powering out of some of the tighter turns.
Wheelies would be easy on this bike in 1st and 2nd gear... maybe even in 3rd. Ducati really got it right with the exhaust too. It has a nice burble at idle and really screams when you open up the throttle. When you close the throttle on decel it pops loudly and burbles which is really cool... gives it a nasty raw sound which I like.
Brakes are excellent as is the chassis. The bike was very easy to transition from corner to corner and the route we rode really tested the ability of the bike and rider to corner. I've read that the 1098 Streetfighter has some chassis geometry issues that make these types of transitions more difficult but that Ducati had addressed that with the 848 Streetfighter and I'd have to say they succeeded. This bike has no handling issues and it was easy for me to jump on and get comfortable pushing it right away. It is also easy to setup for the corners and then power out of them with that wonderful 4 cam V-twin engine. It just made me grin every time. We were practically dragging knee on the second loop.
I wasn't too crazy about the Streetfighter when it came out but it has grown on me and I like the color on this one. That yellow just screams LOOK AT ME!!! It is quite stunning and the finish on this bike looked perfect.
Did I mention that I like it?
Last edited:
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