I ride a Ducati 848 Corse on road and lately on track, and since deciding not to upgrade to an 899 I'm going to keep the 848 and get another sports bike to compliment it. I wanted a gsxr 750, but pretty much everyone I've asked has said the same: don't, get a daytona! I have another bike I could sell or trade (vstrom 650 ABS) and wanted to keep it around the £4k mark if that's doable for something decent? Or less even. Of course there's lots of questions: should I get one that's had worthwhile track-centric upgrades done, or stick to a low milage stock bike? The great thing about the 848 Corse is it needed (almost) nothing doing to it for the track, it's superb as is. What I want to avoid is ending up with a bike that is not as capable as the 848 without spending loads more on it. From what I've read 675s are great out of the crate. So what years/editions/models should I be looking at? How old can you go? I've heard they all have fully adjustable suspension (essential) after a certain year (?) but aside from that I don't really know much. Not essential but I'll miss having a quick shifter and radial brembos with huge discs but I do want a bike that feels totally different to the duke. What do you say?
IMO the 675 is far better round the corners/less work there, while the 848 will eat up the 675 on the straights. This is based on a 45 minute test ride of an 848 in 2009, so I'd hardly call myself an authority though! For my £4k I'd probably get a stock 08 or an 06-07 with some toys on it. Tune ecu (for remapping) is free online btw, so not sure if a PC is worth it or not. Fwiw, my favourite performance upgrades are pipe, quickshifter, sprockets (-1 front, +2 rear) for better acceleration and SBS sintered brake pads to improve stopping power. I have just got an MWR filter which is meant to add a little bit more hp, but think it'll be less noticeable than putting fresh sticky Supercorsa SC's on it!
Thanks FF. I just bought a set of Sbs pads for the 848, hoping they have a little bit more initial bite than the stock brombos do. What is the stock suspension like on the '06-08 bikes?
The stock suspension is fine on the early bikes provided it is in good condition. Last year I raced on a stock rear shock and front forks sprung and serviced for my weight. Was plenty good enough. Admittedly the gucci stuff (Ohlins, Nitron, WP, K-Teck, etc) gives better range of adjustment and better 'control' however decent stock kit is easily good enough for the average track rider IMO. Saying that they're all getting on a bit noew and my race bikes are a bit 'triggers broom' If you can get an 09 on model do it. If you can stretch to a R, then do that.
Is your bike a standard 848 or an Evo? I've obv got a fair amount of experience of the comparison having had two models of 675 either side of an 848 Evo. Firstly I agree that a 675 is an easier bike to transition to and from compared to a GSXR. The GSXR seating position feels really alien but the 675 is fairly easy to get used to. I personally would look for a cat d standard road bike, as it will be cheap but probably had an easy life. It's totally up to you, trouble is for a really tidy track bike with toys you are looking at. Fair bit of cash, but better than buying a tired engined 2008-09 which has had a fancy shock and track fairings on it and is up for big money... If u look for a 675 though, check the lock stops on the frame! One of the mags did an article where an insurance assessor said they are a serious week spot and the cause of many write offs for otherwise small crashes. Most track day riders buy a 'steering saver' which limits steering a touch (fine for track) but will give u loads of confidence. Also, the engine (especially the alternator side) is really exposed on the 675 so engine covers should be bought. I've gone a little off post but I yeah, early tidy bike, or a cat d newer bike that's been knocked over by a granny in a car park are my options. Also no point buying a track bike because of the fancy suspension and realising its weighted wrong and u need it rebuilt spring wise else u may as well just re spring the stocker
That's good info thanks. Nice to here the stock suspension is good enough for racing on Bob, I'm 12 stone and didn't need the 848 springs changed, a stock bike is fine by me if it works well My 848 isn't either Phil it's an SE corse, like a mini R, though some say parts bin special Alu tank, QS, 320mm discs, traction control, onlins shock. Think the engine is tweaked for a few extra ponies, but otherwise like an evo. Very good point about suspension too. I'm fine with cat D as well. So looks like, ideally I'm after an 09 on, road bike, that's got a few scars.
Sounds perfect! The Evo Corse SE is a nice bit of kit, definitely keep it for road use, especially as it probably does more than 80 miles to a tank with the bigger capacity! My standard Evo was about that! I would say the stock 09 rear shock is pretty poor for road use as the damping Is really firm but on track I am sure it's fine! Ducati's are really stiff so if you are use to that then they will feel soft
The showa (?) shock on the Evo was pretty poor out of the box, very, very stiff, probably needed a different spring. The Ohlins on the Corse is a huge improvement (I had an evo before), its plusher on the road and works well on track once set up correctly. I'd like to redo the fork internals at some point but that's being fussy, I'm not racing. I was having headshake due to too much squat but it only took three clicks of comp to dial that out on the Ohlins, the range of adjustment is huge. I haven't touched the geometry. If the stock shock is firm that's fine, as long as I can control comp and rebound well enough it should be ok. I'll still take the 848 to the track, it belongs there, but I won't go mental on it.
That sounds fair enough, yeah stock Showa but I had a Ohlins from a Corse and didn't feel an improvement, perhaps it has been messed with or something! The front forks are better on the Daytona I think, but again it's all about preference!
Really? That's interesting. It was night and day for me. Could be that on my evo, which was 2nd hand, the showa was fiddled with to be really firm. Maybe set up for a fat bloke I'd love the full ohlins pakckage of the R, but I've read plenty of times that just changing cartridges and getting stock forks set up for you is as good if not better than off the shelf gucci kit (as trackdaybob put it
Again everyone's personal opinion, I had a Ohlins RSU (not a TTX) in my 2010 Daytona set up for my weight, with K Tech valves in the front and again set for my weight and it was really good, but I still felt that the 2013 'R' was just as good out of the box and I had spend £1100 to get to that point, which is probably the difference between a standard 2010/2011 and an 'R' model. Dunno if that makes sense, I guess with the standard bike u can do it in stages and u can pick up shocks for less now, there are lots of TTX shocks around for them as the race teams change them out. Ultimately I'm not a regular trackday guy, all my feedback is road based as I pointed out so its a different ball park in terms of what u want from the bike. One thing is for sure... The pre 2013 with a 'shark mouth' arrow is nearly hard on territory! Much nicer than the new one as it cracks and bangs and pops about 25% more than the new bike
