[Speedist]

Have been scouring through these posts for some time before signing on just now—many thanks to all of you for the amazing advice, opinions, warnings, raves, etc.
There's an 848 at a local dealer—not a Ducati dealer and they don't seem to know much about the bike, which comes with no records so entirely unclear about servicing, etc. 2010, not quite 18K miles.
Two concerns:
1) Does anything stick out from these pics? Bike has been at the dealer/on the site for a couple months, during which time price has come down $500, maybe more; maybe that's just people not buying in the middle of winter in a cold city, or maybe they're seeing something I'm not?
2) I've mostly been riding a Triumph Bonneville, occasional excursions on a borrowed Monster. This would be my first sportbike, and while I'd be getting it out on the highway often, I'd also be using it for a city commute which is part highway, part streets (not long—25 minutes total. Can this bike do that? I test rode it briefly, through heavy street traffic; first half of that was "WHOAH, HOLD ON, THIS SEEMS A LITTLE NUTS." Second half of that was "Aha—I'm already getting used to this." But my visibility/range of motion is a concern.
AT ANY RATE, I appreciate any wisdom. Many thanks.

 

[BOTT]

$5,300 - $7,700 is the kbb lo-hi. Since it's far from being OEM stock, it's not a keeper kind of bike. Keeper meaning will it be worth anything down the road is no.

You more have to think of looking at a turnkey trackbike/race bred ready for the seating position of turning the bike for the sport of it. Like buying a top of the line corvette, porsche, a very high-performance type of vehicle in its two wheel form.

It's still air cooled so it has to move in traffic, even though you have an air cooled, oil cooled, water cooled or any combo there of, it still needs that whoosh away from your ass being cooked while you sit in traffic. Especially when in hotter months of the riding season.

Never dropped is a plus. Clean looking oil is a plus. Starting up cold and no puff of smoke is a plus. Tires with wide chicken stripes is a plus,
No history is a minus. Dry chain looks like a minus. No compression check is a minus [before buying]. That means right off the bat I would not run the bike without a full on service, starting from a new air cleaner, new plugs, new belts, new fuel filter, fresh oil and filter(s) needed or checked, valve adjust, throttle sync. General look over like a tool check of the nuts and bolts and/or missing.

With 17k you might want to look at things like the frame to engine hardware has remained looking brand new, is a plus about the dependability of the 848 . Engine case hardware looking as new, but with the age and patina, looks untampered with is a plus. Paper towel in hand, wipe the very bottom

of the engine area, and come back caked black, or oil wet, is a red flag. No hardware messed with, seems the engine is running fine, is back to a plus.

Only the group here knows for sure the typical problems with this bike being out in the field [this long] and the breakdowns of this bike are...???

Signed,
NOLTT (no one listens to turtle)​

 

[Speedist]

$5,300 - $7,700 is the kbb lo-hi. Since it's far from being OEM stock, it's not a keeper kind of bike. Keeper meaning will it be worth anything down the road is no.

You more have to think of looking at a turnkey trackbike/race bred ready for the seating position of turning the bike for the sport of it. Like buying a top of the line corvette, porsche, a very high-performance type of vehicle in its two wheel form.

It's still air cooled so it has to move in traffic, even though you have an air cooled, oil cooled, water cooled or any combo there of, it still needs that whoosh away from your ass being cooked while you sit in traffic. Especially when in hotter months of the riding season.

Never dropped is a plus. Clean looking oil is a plus. Starting up cold and no puff of smoke is a plus. Tires with wide chicken stripes is a plus,
No history is a minus. Dry chain looks like a minus. No compression check is a minus [before buying]. That means right off the bat I would not run the bike without a full on service, starting from a new air cleaner, new plugs, new belts, new fuel filter, fresh oil and filter(s) needed or checked, valve adjust, throttle sync. General look over like a tool check of the nuts and bolts and/or missing.

With 17k you might want to look at things like the frame to engine hardware has remained looking brand new, is a plus about the dependability of the 848 . Engine case hardware looking as new, but with the age and patina, looks untampered with is a plus. Paper towel in hand, wipe the very bottom

of the engine area, and come back caked black, or oil wet, is a red flag. No hardware messed with, seems the engine is running fine, is back to a plus.

Only the group here knows for sure the typical problems with this bike being out in the field [this long] and the breakdowns of this bike are...???

Signed,
NOLTT (no one listens to turtle)​

Many thanks Turtle/BOTT! Your advice is much appreciated. One question though: When you say at the top that it's far from OEM stock. . . you can tell that based on these pics? Which parts? (As I said, I'm a newbie.) It's not about the weird stickers, is it? (I don't understand why people put stickers on bikes like this and my first order of business would be to heat-gun these off.) I'm not thinking of this bike as a collector's-item-in-the-making or a money-maker or something, I'm just curious what you're seeing that's non-OEM. (And yeah I'm anticipating spending a grand or two on some fairly decent servicing/fluids/belts etc.; I'm just wondering if there's anything else here that the expert appraiser would see, a red flag or something that screams DON'T BUY THIS BIKE!) Again, many thanks! All best. . .

 

[BOTT]

Right off I see the levers, and no rear winker bracket/license plate assembly. The exhaust looks stock, paint is stock. Those are minor and don't know the laws of your state, but this would be a fix-it-ticket and get it written off at a patrol station.

One other give away would be the wiring. Tape, blue snap connectors, any cutting of the OEM harness shows the novice approach. Say $5,900 - $6,100. He's not dealer level and something that is not moving is move it on your end of the negotiations. Or I'm way off on the pricing? Stock would bring the higher price.

 

[ricoshai]

If it was a 1098 i would want two keys and the code card that come with these bikes. Not sure if the 848 has a code.

 

[MikeyG2323]

$5,300 - $7,700 is the kbb lo-hi. Since it's far from being OEM stock, it's not a keeper kind of bike. Keeper meaning will it be worth anything down the road is no.

You more have to think of looking at a turnkey trackbike/race bred ready for the seating position of turning the bike for the sport of it. Like buying a top of the line corvette, porsche, a very high-performance type of vehicle in its two wheel form.

It's still air cooled so it has to move in traffic, even though you have an air cooled, oil cooled, water cooled or any combo there of, it still needs that whoosh away from your ass being cooked while you sit in traffic. Especially when in hotter months of the riding season.

Never dropped is a plus. Clean looking oil is a plus. Starting up cold and no puff of smoke is a plus. Tires with wide chicken stripes is a plus,
No history is a minus. Dry chain looks like a minus. No compression check is a minus [before buying]. That means right off the bat I would not run the bike without a full on service, starting from a new air cleaner, new plugs, new belts, new fuel filter, fresh oil and filter(s) needed or checked, valve adjust, throttle sync. General look over like a tool check of the nuts and bolts and/or missing.

With 17k you might want to look at things like the frame to engine hardware has remained looking brand new, is a plus about the dependability of the 848 . Engine case hardware looking as new, but with the age and patina, looks untampered with is a plus. Paper towel in hand, wipe the very bottom

of the engine area, and come back caked black, or oil wet, is a red flag. No hardware messed with, seems the engine is running fine, is back to a plus.

Only the group here knows for sure the typical problems with this bike being out in the field [this long] and the breakdowns of this bike are...???

Signed,
NOLTT (no one listens to turtle)​

Have been scouring through these posts for some time before signing on just now—many thanks to all of you for the amazing advice, opinions, warnings, raves, etc.
There's an 848 at a local dealer—not a Ducati dealer and they don't seem to know much about the bike, which comes with no records so entirely unclear about servicing, etc. 2010, not quite 18K miles.
Two concerns:
1) Does anything stick out from these pics? Bike has been at the dealer/on the site for a couple months, during which time price has come down $500, maybe more; maybe that's just people not buying in the middle of winter in a cold city, or maybe they're seeing something I'm not?
2) I've mostly been riding a Triumph Bonneville, occasional excursions on a borrowed Monster. This would be my first sportbike, and while I'd be getting it out on the highway often, I'd also be using it for a city commute which is part highway, part streets (not long—25 minutes total. Can this bike do that? I test rode it briefly, through heavy street traffic; first half of that was "WHOAH, HOLD ON, THIS SEEMS A LITTLE NUTS." Second half of that was "Aha—I'm already getting used to this." But my visibility/range of motion is a concern.
AT ANY RATE, I appreciate any wisdom. Many thanks. View attachment 174255 View attachment 174256 View attachment 174257 View attachment 174258 View attachment 174259 View attachment 174255 View attachment 174256 View attachment 174257 View attachment 174258 View attachment 174259

 

[MikeyG2323]

So first off everybody will tell you the heat is coming from the high pipes but it is a L twin so a cylinder head in your nuts so commuting in the stop and go in city traffic you will look the coolest but your balls will beg to differ. I don't know where you live or what the price is if you are in a state that has winter I would offer them 20% them buy it mid febuary you will get the best price. No records your right at the 15k tuneup the big one even if you have a ducati mechanic friend your looking at least a grand up to 2 grand. Take the vin to a real Ducati dealer have the vin run if the !5Kwas done that is a big plus. Have them provide a car fax or whatever you can find on the previous owner he is a star wars fan those stickers are the empire stickers maybe you track him down get some more info.The after market goodies are nice seat, levers , windscreen,spools for a stands and if the dealer doesnt have the stock parts to go along with it use it as a barganing chip that you want it factory fresh that the extras are not what your looking for its only a $1000 in extras new the seat is way more comfy than the stock.The mirrors are useless it is like looking through a glass of water next to a bumping sub woofer CNC racing makes a great bar end mirror extra keys and codes are a plus. I have a 2013 848 corse se ! of only 1500 in the world and the best color and last of this body before the switch to the new last of the single sided swing are and high pipes and I like the matte black. Good luck

 

[Speedist]

Just want to say a quick THANKS to everybody for the fantastic advice, warnings, heads-ups, critiques, etc. etc. . . very much appreciated! I'm in the zone now of leaning toward buying, hoping someone else doesn't snatch it up, needing to do a bit more research and probably another test drive. . . I do find it very odd that when I see others riders/friends on bikes around the city and ask them that age-old question: Am I nuts to want a sportbike like this in the city? Half of them say THAT'S THE LAST KIND OF BIKE YOU'D WANT and the other half say I'VE BEEN RIDING MY [Panigale-esque] BIKE TO AND FROM WORK FOR YEARS, RODE IT TO MICHIGAN AND BACK LAST SUMMER, etc. etc. . . nobody is in the middle. Anyway, thanks folks, much to chew on here. . .

 

[Speedist]

So first off everybody will tell you the heat is coming from the high pipes but it is a L twin so a cylinder head in your nuts so commuting in the stop and go in city traffic you will look the coolest but your balls will beg to differ. I don't know where you live or what the price is if you are in a state that has winter I would offer them 20% them buy it mid febuary you will get the best price. No records your right at the 15k tuneup the big one even if you have a ducati mechanic friend your looking at least a grand up to 2 grand. Take the vin to a real Ducati dealer have the vin run if the !5Kwas done that is a big plus. Have them provide a car fax or whatever you can find on the previous owner he is a star wars fan those stickers are the empire stickers maybe you track him down get some more info.The after market goodies are nice seat, levers , windscreen,spools for a stands and if the dealer doesnt have the stock parts to go along with it use it as a barganing chip that you want it factory fresh that the extras are not what your looking for its only a $1000 in extras new the seat is way more comfy than the stock.The mirrors are useless it is like looking through a glass of water next to a bumping sub woofer CNC racing makes a great bar end mirror extra keys and codes are a plus. I have a 2013 848 corse se ! of only 1500 in the world and the best color and last of this body before the switch to the new last of the single sided swing are and high pipes and I like the matte black. Good luck

Also Mikey your Corse SE looks freaking amazing!

 

[MikeyG2323]

Also Mikey your Corse SE looks freaking amazing!

thanks the last is the 2013 its silver and matte black but has a aluminum tank i want to get a se aluminum tank and paint it my red whit and black its the better color scheme. If your in michigan play games with the dealer or a month then pull the trigger on the best price just find out as much about the previous owner the vin at a ducati dealer. Good luck you'll love it

 

[DaveAu]

G'day Speedist,

One thing that sticks out to me is that stealth number plate. Does it indicate something about the way the 848 has been ridden/maintained? I don't know.....

Only you can decide if a full on sports riding crouch suits your mix of riding/commuting.

For commuting I've always valued a top case to store wet weather gear or a helmet or to carry my work stuff etc. The 848 is certainly narrow enough for slipping by traffic jams.

The colour might be a bit too stealthy and sooner or later some car driver won't see you and bang......

But on the upside it's light, got enough mumbo, prob sounds good.......looks (from 12,000 miles away) pretty good......no scratches or dents, and 18k miles might mean it's been a good bike......but no history .......

Short of finding someone local who works on Ducati's, to come and check it out, only you can decide.......if it's in good condition (no weeps, leaks, etc) or if it's the right fit for your body and usage.

Good luck, it might be priced right or they might be willing to sweeten the deal if you ask. Insurance might prove a stumbling block - phone around and compare premiums.....that might be the decider for you.

Sorry, can't speak to any mechanical issues with 848's, tho I suspect if it has been maintained it will be ok.......but if it's been neglected........

 

[MikeyG2323]

thanks the last is the 2013 its silver and matte black but has a aluminum tank i want to get a se aluminum tank and paint it my red whit and black its the better color scheme. If your in michigan play games with the dealer or a month then pull the trigger on the best price just find out as much about the previous owner the vin at a ducati dealer. Good luck you'll love it

Also Mikey your Corse SE looks freaking amazing!

I have a 2013 Pikes Peak Multistrada LOVE IT full hard bags full Termi great riding position skyhook suspension only two years made with the suspension awesome commuter bike comfy nice riding position upright