Fairly certain he's pulling the trigger. Has MSF on the 17th and taking the permit test tomorrow. Has financing approved.
Will be making him do a lot of clutch drills, braking drills, and throttle control drills. Goign to be great to have another riding buddy, go Ducs lol.
Handing him
Sport Riding Techniques right now.
In my opinion and based on my experience I would say for a brand new rider who hasn't even completed MSF yet the 848 is too much. We are talking about a bike that has the same HP/weight ratio as a 7-800HP Corvette and can run a 10 second 1/4 mile bone stock. Would you give someone the keys to a car like this who just finished drivers ed? A car at least offers 3000lbs of shielding, the bike offeres you nothing.
There have been plenty of people who started on middle weight sportbikes without issue, but the odds of getting hurt are much greater if you do. And it's not about are they willing to stay in parking lots and do practice drills to learn the controls, it's about reactions and panic and what is going to happen the first time they are in over their head - the type of automatic response that only comes with miles of riding, situational awareness, and experience. A car pulls out in front of them when they aren't necessarily even speeding and they panic and grab a handful of front brake - game over.
If you are looking at SBKs at all, it means you have an aggressive thrill seeking personality, which we all do. So even if they manage to behave themselves by definition it's just a matter of time before they crack it open and get on it. The first time you go wide open on a bike shouldn't be on one that can power wheelie in first and second.
In my opinion if they have their mind set on a Ducati, which I can certainly appreciate, start with a used Monster and get the basics down first. If there is anyway at all you can convince them to start on a 250, even if they ride it everyday and outgrow it in a few months, the time and money spent will dramatically improve the odds of them not getting hurt.
It's a free country and if they do insist on starting with an 848, watch them like a hawk and drill into them that they should never ride at any speed they aren't capable of making a full on emergency stop from. Make them watch crash videos and make them acknowledge the fact they they are getting on a machine that they lack the skills and experience to properly handle and there is a real chance they will be hurt or injured in doing so. Make them write a note to their friends and family for you to hold on to explaining to them why they made the decision to ride a bike they weren't capable of riding and got killed doing so. I know it sounds harsh but it stops 1 in 100 people from doing something stupid and only costs a couple grand or a few months of times it's worth it.
And when I say I speak from experience, I mean it. Show them the attached photo and tell them this is what happened to me when I went down on my 848. Four broken vertebrae, three ribs. broken pelvis, shattered right femur. The bike and pavement didn't care I thought I was riding safe that day. Another rider cut me off, my front wheel touched there rear, I panic braked, lost the front and tumbled 150M head over feet. Happened in the blink of an eye without time to even make a conscious decision.
