Quote:
Originally Posted by 2wheelmike
No doubt the Duc is beautiful and FAST. But comparing to the donkey, er R12S? I think a better comparison will be made in the late fall/ early winter when the S1K is out. I found the stationary seat of the pants impression of the S1K to also be more comfortable than the R12S. And the thrust/performance will be much more comparable. My friend has offered to swap rides with his new 1198S when we ever get time to get to Jalama Beach, so I will get a chance to do the same comparison you've done. Can't wait-  |
First off the R12S is no donkey, well if it is it’s a very quick and effective one.
The S1K is a different sort of bike, it’s much cheaper for a start and it’s yet to be seen what limitations that will impose, but more importantly it will feel totally different to ride. The I4’s deliver all their power at very high revs, they just don’t offer big twin torque at middling rpm which is used most often on the road. The Ducs have the highest torque to weight ratio of anything out there and that’s obvious when you ride, you don’t have to rev the cr#p of it to make it go really hard. Strong torque over a wide rev range with excellent throttle response and control is what sports riding is all about as far as I am concerned and that’s what the 1098 delivers.
I don’t know what Ducati have done with the 1198, but the one I rode had very abrupt and unpleasant throttle response, surprisingly it did not run as well as the 1098 at low rpm either, although that could be an individual bike issue.
After riding the 1098 and the 1198 back to back I chose the 1098 as the better overall package.
The Termi 70mm full exhaust system as fitted to my bike is supposed add 12hp and improve torque in the mid range and top end. One would expect low end performance to be a little worse then a stock system but its not bad and still runs cleaner then the 1198 I rode.
The Ducs are tall geared probably for top speed, which is irrelevant for road use. A common mod is to replace the front sprocket for one with 14 teeth in stead of 15 to lower the gearing and improve low end performance, this works particularly well with the big exhaust system.