antonye wrote:
> Andy Bonwick wrote:
>
>>Wik wrote:
>>
>>>Having met you, I suspect not. Ask Bonwick, who's nowhere near as tall
>>>as you, how comfortable his 748 was.
>>
>>Wrist ache.
>
> And what about the bike?
>
> I don't find it a problem *if* you go fast enough to get a bit of wind
> on your
> chest to take the weight off your wrists. If I ride around town for a
> while
> then they do start to ache but after a while you get the muscles in the
> right place to deal with it.

There are also special exercises you can do to strengthen the wrists :-)

--
Mike H
R1100RS

MikeH wrote:
>
> There are also special exercises you can do to strengthen the wrists :-)

Thank-you, Mr Murray.

--
Antony

On 25 Nov 2005 01:39:22 -0800, "antonye" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Andy Bonwick wrote:
>> Wik wrote:
>> >
>> >Having met you, I suspect not. Ask Bonwick, who's nowhere near as tall
>> >as you, how comfortable his 748 was.
>>
>> Wrist ache.
>
>And what about the bike?
>
>I don't find it a problem *if* you go fast enough to get a bit of wind
>on your
>chest to take the weight off your wrists. If I ride around town for a
>while
>then they do start to ache but after a while you get the muscles in the
>right place to deal with it. You can also remove the locating pins out
>of the bars and rotate the levers round slightly, as this helps get the
>wrists in a better line to stop the ache.

I'd only ever describe the 748 as "a nice bike but..".

The older 916/748 Ducatis are still probably the best looking bike
I've seen on the road out of the crate and in the right hands they
handle as well as most of the top line Japanese sports bikes but where
they fall down is price and lack of horsepower.

When I spent loads of hard earned on the 748 I didn't like any of the
600cc bikes around at the time and I paid a lot less for it than I
would have paid for a new 9R or a Fireblade. Given the fact that you
can now buy a K5 gixxer thou or a 10R brand new for less than you'd
pay for a similar 749 I wouldn't be making the same decision.

Andy Bonwick wrote:
>
> I'd only ever describe the 748 as "a nice bike but..".
>
> The older 916/748 Ducatis are still probably the best looking bike
> I've seen on the road out of the crate and in the right hands they
> handle as well as most of the top line Japanese sports bikes but where
> they fall down is price and lack of horsepower.

Horsepower yes, but in the right hands they can be just as quick
as any inline four out on a track/road. It's not how much power they
make but the way in which they make their power that keeps them
competitive.

The price is an issue, but they come with top kit all round - Showa
or Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes and Marchesini wheels. This
is the kind of kit that Japanese bike owners upgrade their kit to.

> When I spent loads of hard earned on the 748 I didn't like any of the
> 600cc bikes around at the time and I paid a lot less for it than I
> would have paid for a new 9R or a Fireblade. Given the fact that you
> can now buy a K5 gixxer thou or a 10R brand new for less than you'd
> pay for a similar 749 I wouldn't be making the same decision.

True, but since when has anyone bought a bike purely on a financial
decision? ;-)

--
Antony

On 25 Nov 2005 02:58:01 -0800, "antonye" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Andy Bonwick wrote:
snip>

>> When I spent loads of hard earned on the 748 I didn't like any of the
>> 600cc bikes around at the time and I paid a lot less for it than I
>> would have paid for a new 9R or a Fireblade. Given the fact that you
>> can now buy a K5 gixxer thou or a 10R brand new for less than you'd
>> pay for a similar 749 I wouldn't be making the same decision.
>
>True, but since when has anyone bought a bike purely on a financial
>decision? ;-)

The fact that I could get one on interest free credit and at a
substantially reduced price was the final factor in the choice between
a 10R and a K5. Every other bike was rejected as either too expensive
or not suitable. Not suitable meaning in this case underpowered.

antonye said...

> True, but since when has anyone bought a bike purely on a financial
> decision? ;-)

*waves*

--
Lozzo
GSX-R1000 K1