Timing is everything...

i hear ya man..alot of people have told me to wait for the second year and thats always a smart move..Sux for me i sold my bike for the down on this one and its been killing me that i haven't been able to ride and not knowing when these bikes are going to arrive.

crank issue on ur 1098.....ur like the only person I heard with that issue

Trinity636 said:

Unfortunately, no. Going to cancel my order and get something else. It really is a great bike, but my test ride didn't absolutely blow me away compared to what I already have so I'm going to wait and see what comes along after the 1st year run-in. Handling at aggressive speeds wasn't quite what I wanted, but to be fair, I'm sure it would be easier to get a killer set-up vs. the xx98 series. Lack of low-end/mid-range was also a factor.

Good bike, just not special enough for me to buy at the moment (and I want to avoid the first year issues typical of a new model introduction - I had terrible luck with a 1st year 1098 that had the lower engine quit on me after only 14k miles - crank issue).

I'm sure many will love this bike. I'm just going to sit out until next year.

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Fair play to you. I always avoid 1st year models unless I really want to take the risk. If you're not blown away by it, I agree it is not the time to take the risk.

d1098man said:

crank issue on ur 1098.....ur like the only person I heard with that issue

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It was a rare defect, but I searched and found a few that had this unfortunate event - should have had it blueprinted. Never abused it, no racing (that 1098 was only tracked once and I "babied it" - hell... I was even cruising at a mellow 50mph when the engine simply died)

Believe me, I was shocked and upset when I got the news. Been riding bikes for 30 years... raced since '07, never blew an engine, never even lost a clutch. With my 1098, had the typical issues... stalling, leaking radiator, bad clutch, rear sprocket recall, etc. Chalked it up to bad luck on 1st year model. Still liked the bike despite it giving me more "glitches" than all previous bikes combined. My love of bikes is diverse (I've had Kawis, Yamahas, various in-line 4 race bikes, even a Buell X-1 Lightning!)

I still feel Ducatis are extra special machines. I'll own one again.
Currently mulling over the '12 RSV4 and Aprilia SVX550 before making another run at a 1199 after year one...

sqd8r said:

Fair play to you. I always avoid 1st year models unless I really want to take the risk. If you're not blown away by it, I agree it is not the time to take the risk.

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Yeah, it was a difficult call. I'll buy one, just going to wait and get the full scope of the 1199 regarding performance and reliability.