Ducati 998 quick review, lots of sounds!

It's amazing what videos can do. Never realized I was so stiff on this bike. In my mind, during the filming, I was a motoGP immortal! Short of sticking the knee out though since I didn't have pucks on. Gotta learn somehow I suppose.

The Ducati 998 is the final line of the 916 that graced the world back in 1994. Sharing a little bit of everything from its older brothers, the 996 and its younger brothers 749/999. Its hard to find much information about this rare bike.

It does have a new engine though, or rather from the crank up. Known as the Testastretta, or narrow head. This engine did away the flaking rocker arms that plagued the 916,748, and 996. While still something you should keep an eye on with the 998, this was also the reason I didn’t buy a 748. At times, I kind of feel like I should have bought the 748. This is a heavy bike and isn’t as nimble as 600 sportbikes I'm more used to.

Because of this unreasonable doubt, I'm constantly debating if I should keep my 998 or not. Maybe its fear, maybe its a special, once in awhile treat to myself. But for now, it mostly is hidden from sight; hardly ever sharing its beauty and voice to the public.

I'm often asked how Italian motorcycle are with in term maintenance, it shouldn’t be a worry as most people would have you believe. The only differences from any other service schedule for bikes, are to have the valves adjusted and cams timed every 10-12k miles.

Mods are

-Biposto tail converted to a Monoposto tail, translates to two "seater" or "single seat."
-Arrows Exhaust system, sounds deeper than most termignoni systems found on most Ducati's, judge for yourself in my video.
- Oberon clutch slave, lightens the clutch lever
-SpeedyMoto clutch cover
-Barnet Clutch basket
-EVR progressive pressure plate
-Titanium bolts for all clutch components
-Sargent seat