JonnyF

I saw a duc 899 last week and this thing makes the 899 look like a entry level motorcycle. Based on what ive seen so far.

No doubt, I'd imagine this thing will be putting out in excess of 200 BHP. Different type of bike for sure.

Great pics, amazing to see this event grow so quickly - well done to the organizers and hopefully be able to attend next year.

Wow, trellis frame and single sided swingarm. Looks like the love child of a Ducati and a transformer!

Not what I was expecting at all. Be interesting to see the specs.

Looks great. Sat on one a few times and was really tempted. Great riding position and power delivery. Congrats...

Thanks Nikster, I have a ride planned for next weekend. I wouldn't say there is no heat, that would be misleading. There is a bit on the bottom of the right thigh at certain speeds, but it's just so minor that I'm amazed at the furore.

Compared to other supersports bikes it's really a case of "same heat, different place" IMO.

PS my jeans are cool as...

I don't think it's the under seat pipe because I don't feel it at standstill. I think it's heat off the rear cylinder which blows into you at low speed. But at 32 degrees, sunny, the bike at 104 in a pair of 501s it was no more than warmish air. In kevlar or leather I am not sure I would feel it at all.

Maybe it's the open termi pipes. Don't know...

Yeah I booked this trip a while back when the bike was supposed to arrive early October then ducati brought the date forward. No worries I can go for a blast next weekend

Rubbish pics, but better than nothing

Yeah I read about the heat issues, I think all big bikes have heat issues in heavy traffic to some extent - I've had heat rash on the inside of both thighs from my gsxr600. The S1000RR frame reportedly gets so hot you have to stick your leg out to get away from it. Similar stories on the R1 and I've even heard er6f riders complaining that the fan directs a hot blast directly onto their leg. I'm expecting a bit of heat in heavy traffic but I'll be wearing either Kevlar or leather on the bike so I'm not expecting it to be too bad.

Riding in normal jeans or shorts through downtown Bangkok I'm sure you'd feel it but then it's got nearly 150hp so it's going to generate heat.

Have to admit I'm getting excited now. Pick her up on Friday. Here's a video that Tanin referred to on another thread, quite an honest review, he slates it for the first 8 or so minutes as he's got it in sports mode and then switches to race mode.

Anyway, like I said it's an honest review as he criticizes a few things (he's a blogger and tests bikes for a living) but really enjoys the bike... Think he bought one in the end...

The problem is that you ride, as you tell on this forum, Japanese motorcycles, and while Honda is trying its best to make sportsbikes for everybody, the Italians are still trying to make sportsbikes that only real sportsbike lovers would appreciate.

As someone who had left the ducatisti fold for a rice rocket, I wonder if you could expand on that a little? Thanks.

The 848 is not known as Ducati's finest hour. From what I gather you were commuting on it in Bangkok for several years which is kind of like buying a Ferrari to drive to 711.

I had a 99 CR250 which turned like a ocean cruiser. I also loaned a friends 2004 R1 for 6 months that constantly burnt my legs. It doesn't make all Jap bikes bad bikes any more than your 848 getting some issues after 30k kms makes all Ducati's unreliable. My girlfriends 2012 Honda City has been in the garage 5 times in 3 months, we never expected that from Honda but I don't bear a grudge towards them. It happens.

I get that you love your gsxr, I love mine as well. But I don't get this concept about 'changing team' from the 'Ducatisti' to rice rockets...

Here's hoping they don't just pin this on some poor guys to save Thailand's face!

If they were going to pin it on someone, I doubt they'd choose relatives of the village headman. Plenty of Burmese on the island if they needed a patsy...

This is excellent news, and the fact they are relatives of the headman explains a lot of the nonsense we've witnessed in the past 7 days. Let's hope they're arrested and not given bail to disappear to Singapore, Burma etc.

Some young and not so young tourists to tend to treat the islands as a hedonistic booze filled bucket "playground", and then the hard reality of life sometimes ruins the games. It's not nice, it's not right, but it's reality and being "PC" about it doesn't help. Yes, be direct, f***k "PC" ...... tell the girls...if they're going to walk around remote areas in the wee hours in a bikini, they're at risk. It's not nice, it's not right, but it's reality.

Exactly!

Well said.

There is a time and a place for public health warnings and this clearly wasn't it, which is why he has correctly apologized.

BTW, she wasn't wearing a bikini and she wasn't alone, which makes the anti PC rant look pretty stupid IMO.

First and foremost this is a tragedy for the victims and their families and "face" and tourism must take a back seat.

But the way this has been handled is far more damaging to the country than the event itself. I lived in Woolwich (SE London) for 3 years and people getting violently killed was not unusual. It made the local papers and that was it. The beheading of the soldier Lee Rigby last year was an exception to that as it was political, but there were fatal stabbings and shootings that didn't get any media attention whatsoever.

But the amateur nature of the investigation is astounding even for someone who has lived in Thailand for 8 years. It's worse than amateur. We've heard from the authorities that it couldn't be a Thai because they're too nice, the police uploading the dead victims pictures onto Facebook, indirectly blaming the victims, blaming every foreigner/migrant worker within sight, the PM's advice on bikinis (she wasn't even wearing a bikini!?!), the list goes on and may even get worse in the coming days.

People accept that people get killed everywhere and life is fragile, but the aftermath has been absolutely humiliating for the victims and I hope the families are able to cope. The expression 'adding insult to injury' doesn't come close.

I can't imagine what the families of the victims are going through, terrible.

Given the murder weapon I find it very hard to believe that another tourist was responsible for this. Let's hope they catch the real perps and don't just set up some Burmese immigrants for the sake of a quick conclusion to the case.

I'd prefer a portable solution along the lines of Google Glass. Having it integrated into a helmet doesn't appeal to me at all. I'd rather choose the helmet based on other factors and add something like this later.

3199 up to Erawan, go past Erawan and around the lake up there is really nice.

I was going to go to Hell's Pass before but came across a big immigration check point, as I didn't have my passport on me I decided to turn back, didn't want to get fined or any hassle - anyone ever had problems at this check point?

I went through the checkpoint on the 323 in a car last weekend. They stopped me and asked where I was going (I was going from Baan Ricky's back towards Kanchanaburi) so I told him 'Kanchanaburi' and he just let me go. I didn't have my passport but he never asked, on that route I think they're after Burmese workers being smuggled in rather than farang on day trips.

The 3199 up to the dam is a nice road, I'll probably ride that again in the next month or so...

Lovely.

But you still get wet if it rains.

If there's a three wheeler one with a roof and windshield.

I'd be tempted

A 3-wheeler? With a roof and windshield?

And you're worried about getting wet?

Maybe just buy a Robin Reliant?

Ducati is heading in the right direction with it's Panigale line. They're overpriced of course and, coming from someone who's owned 2 Ducatis in Thailand, upkeep could be an issue but hopefully Audi have sorted out the unreliability issues (also known as a Ducati having 'soul') and maybe these bikes will be spending less time in the workshop in future.

You might have had problems with your two Ducatis but I haven't had any serious problems with my two Ducatis. I know guys with new BMW's with more issues than I have ever had. You can have a reliable bike with soul. With my monster I had no issues, and with the Multi I only had a fuel sensor error. Was fixed in 30 minutes.

Lately Ducati have been making reliable bikes (even before Audi bought them). Same like Ferrari. In the past they would break done a lot but nowadays they are fairly reliable.

People on these forums have a tendency of saying that they won't buy a Ducati because it isn't reliable. I think that is mostly B/S and the main reason is that they are expensive to buy (NOT to maintain).

I'd agree with that, this will be my first Ducati but the recent Ducati's seem to be pretty reliable from what I've read on the forums, they seem to have stepped it up a notch in terms of service intervals and reliability. I have no interest in 'soul' but I happen to like the recent models and while I love Jap inline 4's, I've had one for the last 4 years and fancy a change.

As for reliability, even on this forum we've had issues with pretty much every brand of bike (e.g. a well maintained Versys engine blowing up) and the issues with BMW Barcelona's "servicing" have been well documented on other Thai forums.

Given the reports of their latest models and their commitment to the Thai market, I'm not too worried...