[garrettjkubiak]

thanks garrett! it looks like we found one flaw in my technique lol when i go into a corner i usually tuck in and place my butt on the very back of the seat, almost touching the rear passenger seat. Ill try coming further up on the tank and see how it feels.

tye, your video doesnt play for some reason...

Fantastic, that's exactly what I was doing. When you do that your arms are tight and pushing through the bars which really makes the bike work harder through the corner. Remember that bike is designed to destroy a corner, just don't get in its way. As you slide your chest over the tank you'll be amazed how little effort tips the bike right into the turn. Just make sure you hang off far enough. Once you get your knee down you really open up your Corning ability. You can now gauge the lean angle and come in hotter to carry more speed!

 

[garrettjkubiak]

Also, switch to a reverse shift pattern. Makes shifting in a tuck coming out of the corner sooo much easier!

 

[tye1138]

It depends on what you wear when riding.

With jeans, your butt kinda sticks more to the seat. With leathers, your butt slides around much more, almost too much honestly. I find myself constantly slamming my balls against the tank on the 848 (same as the 1198) and it kinda sucked.

Remember, weight over the front when braking, weight over the rear when accelerating.

Its not a BIG deal when on the street if you mess this up. But its for sure a key to being in the right body position.

Ohh and +1 on the reverse shift, I can't ride track without it. All my Ducati's were reverse shift, even my street bikes.

 

[garrettjkubiak]

Get the super pole tye. No more nut bashing.

 

[Ducs-of-hzrd]

awesome video tye, really like the angle! i can kinda see now how far i really need to lean off

Garrett i'm excited to try this technique out now, it makes sense to stay more forward on the bike, im not sure why i felt differently before. Also, my superpole seat comes in on monday so that should be a big help with the nut slapping tye memtioned haha

As for GP shifting, both my previous bikes were set for GP even for street riding, however i don't want to lose my DQS on this bike so for now ill just leave it as standard. I just put the Driven rearsets on as well so im probably going to be without GP for a while

 

[Ducs-of-hzrd]

also, tye i've tried the weight on the rear when accelerating and honestly the bike just comes up way too easy lol when i'm in WOT i have to be pretty far forward in order for it to not wheelie on me in every gear up to 4th hahaha

 

[tye1138]

Get the super pole tye. No more nut bashing.

I was suppose to get a superbike tail with a foam seat, but my sponsor was out of them and gave me a free tail for a normal seat as I waited for the superbike tail to be made. Sadly, I don't have the 848 anymore, but if I build another one, I'll for sure do the foam pad and superbike tail. The stock seat is so worthless! LOL

 

[tye1138]

also, tye i've tried the weight on the rear when accelerating and honestly the bike just comes up way too easy lol when i'm in WOT i have to be pretty far forward in order for it to not wheelie on me in every gear up to 4th hahaha

Yep, the rear is probably too stiff, its not sagging when you get on the throttle. I've ridden some pretty powerful superbikes and never had a problem when set up right.

Your right about it being a problem on the street though. Its one reason I never liked big bore bikes on the street, it takes too much effort to keep the nose down. You're fighting the bike instead of enjoying it.

Not to toot my own horn, but I recently switched from superbikes to naked bikes for street riding. I can't explain enough how much I like the naked bikes. There is nothing like riding around a 328lb 650cc 68hp single. As a reference, thats roughly 100lb less then the 1198. You wanna talk about fun? Here it is:

The new one is a 690cc motor with 70hp and its even lighter. Just came out in the US and will be in stores April/March for $8699.

You buy something like that, you'll go WAY quicker in the canyons, your first time out. Its a whole other dimension of fun, the Ducati Superbikes can't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

 

[garrettjkubiak]

Have you tried the hyper?

 

[tye1138]

Have you tried the hyper?

Yes sir! I dig it. But it has lots of issues;

1 It gets really hot, so for So Cal sitting at stop lights, that sucks
2 Its still pretty heavy 370 dry which means 385 wet, in contrast, my 848 Race bike weighed 348lb dry.
3 The tank lasts 90 miles and with me riding, more like 85 miles as I ride everything hard and it would eat gas
4 The mirrors are absolutely useless and bogus. Because they stick out so far, you're always hitting them on stuff
5 That motor is not very reliable. They have lots of valve seat issues, which cause premature valve guide failures.
6 They're kind of expensive for what they are.

I thought long and hard about my decision. Moving away from Ducati's and into a brand I didn't know anything about. However, the grass is truly greener on the other side. I get 40+mpg on my Duke, riding it super hard and the tank always lasts 130 - 140 miles no matter what I do. Plus it doesn't get hot ever, and when I mean ever, I mean never, ever. I didn't sweat from bike heat ONCE all summer long and its the first time that's never happened in all the years I've ridden Ducati's.

Yea, I'd love to own a hyper someday. But if you look at the specs, it doesn't make any sense to change.

 

[garrettjkubiak]

I may end up moving towards the South Bay Area and commuting up the 405 daily. If I do that I need something like that duke to get me to work without sweating like a pig!

 

[DVFlyer]

A question I've wanted to ask for a while regarding leaning off the bike and it's purpose. Figure it fits here. (and with the new friendlier format, perhaps I won't get hammered on too bad for asking it. ).

Take a single corner at a given speed. To make it around the corner, without hanging off the bike, the bike would lean at, lets say 45 degrees. By hanging off, would you then not need to lean the bike as far?

I've seen the MotoGP guys take corners both hanging off and not hanging off.

Considering this, what are the physics being applied by hanging off the bike?

 

[tye1138]

The reason you hang off the bike is two fold:

- Put weight on the inside of the bike to help lean it into the corner and distribute that weight properly during the corner.
- To use your body as a gauge in order to determine your lean angle.

If you weren't to hang off the bike, you wouldn't have any idea how how much lean angle you were at. You need that "gauge" your body provides to determine those things.

Tires only have a limited amount of grip potential at any given lean angle. In a lot of cases, you'll scrape the pegs before rolling off the tire.

The goal in cornering is to be at max lean angle for as little time as possible and to get back on the meat of the tire as quickly as possible, where you can yank the throttle back open.

 

[tye1138]

I may end up moving towards the South Bay Area and commuting up the 405 daily. If I do that I need something like that duke to get me to work without sweating like a pig!

Yes SIR!

You can come over any time and ride'er if you want.

 

[Ducs-of-hzrd]

Yes SIR!

You can come over any time and ride'er if you want.

that's something i thought id never hear anybody say hahahaha :smoking:

and in all honesty (grill me if you like guys, i'll accept it. As i know for a fact i would make fun of myself as well if i heard this reasoning), the only reason i went for the Ducati was because of its sex appeal. sex appeal and the fact that its italian like me haha and I know its wrong, but i just couldn't help myself! Pulling up on a Ducati to a club or party vs pulling up on a Duke (which is what i originally wanted when i first started riding a few years ago) was something i imagined to be way cooler. Plus im only 22 years old, so i felt this was more age appropriate lol

Now granted i cant use either one of these bikes to there fullest potential on the track, but the fact that the Ducati looked like pure sex made me jump on it instead. Plus as a daily rider i have zero isues with her.

But since in the future i might go KTM, how is she as a daily commuter?

 

[DVFlyer]

The reason you hang off the bike is two fold:

- Put weight on the inside of the bike to help lean it into the corner and distribute that weight properly during the corner.
- To use your body as a gauge in order to determine your lean angle.

If you weren't to hang off the bike, you wouldn't have any idea how how much lean angle you were at. You need that "gauge" your body provides to determine those things.

Tires only have a limited amount of grip potential at any given lean angle. In a lot of cases, you'll scrape the pegs before rolling off the tire.

The goal in cornering is to be at max lean angle for as little time as possible and to get back on the meat of the tire as quickly as possible, where you can yank the throttle back open.

Understood. So, hanging off doesn't allow you to reduce the lean angle of the bike given all things being equal. (but has the benefits you mentioned of course).

 

[Ducs-of-hzrd]

Understood. So, hanging off doesn't allow you to reduce the lean angle of the bike given all things being equal. (but has the benefits you mentioned of course).

I always thought the more you leaned off the bike, the less bike lean angle was needed for that turn?

 

[tye1138]

Understood. So, hanging off doesn't allow you to reduce the lean angle of the bike given all things being equal. (but has the benefits you mentioned of course).

Well, you use your body as a gauge to determine lean angle.

So no, the more you hang off, the less angle you'll use.

 

[garrettjkubiak]

It's just a tool to learn how to maximize speed based on the present level of grip. Better tires will allow more grip and more severe lean angles. Look at the GP guys, on the high speed stuff they have a cheek off the seat but dragging their elbows in the corners.

 

[tye1138]

that's something i thought id never hear anybody say hahahaha

Ya know, nobody else had ever ridden my 749R racer. I was scared crapless to see my beauty get ridden away by someone and crashed on the track. But street bikes, meh I could care less, thats what insurance is for! HA!

the only reason i went for the Ducati was because of its sex appeal. sex appeal and the fact that its italian like me haha and I know its wrong, but i just couldn't help myself! Pulling up on a Ducati to a club or party vs pulling up on a Duke (which is what i originally wanted when i first started riding a few years ago) was something i imagined to be way cooler. Plus im only 22 years old, so i felt this was more age appropriate.

You're not the only one who says that. But it sounds like you actually ride your bike, so its all good. See, I'm totally OK if someone's reason for buying something is effed up, as long as they're using it, as long as it doesn't sit in the garage.

Though if you get good riding the Duke, when you go to those parties, you can show up in style. Back the bike into the parking spot with a nice screech. Learn how to do wheelies and ****. Its a great lil stunt bike and those sorta things are way more sexy then what bike you ride!

But since in the future i might go KTM, how is she as a daily commuter?

I don't have much of a commute, 10 miles. I'm also a quick rider so its a bit different then the average joe. But it rocks as a daily commuter if you ride aggressive. Its so much fun to back it in to stop lights and get the attention of everyone around, scarin' the cages around ya. I ride my Duke like a supermoto bike, on the limit all the time and thats what I like. I could never ride my 848 on the limit anywhere but the track, but the Duke isn't that powerful. So you just riding daily, you get to grab it by the throat every moment possible and abuse the living snot out of it. I've never owned a bike in my entire life that left me with a smile on my face, EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! I roll into the garage after coming home at 9:30 every night and I'm effin' happy.

I hang on the KTM forums as well and EVERYONE who owns a Duke agrees with me. Its a life-long love affair for those who own one. They're comfortable and more fun per square mm then any other bike I've ever ridden on the street.