"Well, if Grib's doing hers... :)" thread in "Motorbike Chat"
This is the piece I posted on Ducatisti in their Owners Experiences thread: I bought my yellow 04 749 in November 07 from Moto Rapido. ...

This is the piece I posted on Ducatisti in their Owners Experiences thread:

I bought my yellow 04 749 in November 07 from Moto Rapido. It had Termis, and 3750 miles on the clock.

I'm not new to Ducatis; I've been running them since I bought a new 750SSie in 1999. I also had a 748 BP on which I did 59k miles in 4 and half years. So beat that!

When I bought the bike there was some doubt as to which chip was fitted, as many owners run the Termis with the standard chip. When Moto Rapido eventually forwarded the stock exhaust to me (it took a while) it became clear, rather to my surprise, that the Termi chip was in the bike, as the stock chip was in the box with the stock exhaust! I say this because some people have found it more difficult to set the fuelling up for smooth idling with the Termi chip, but my bike has always idled well, and runs fine at low engine speed in traffic. It needs to, cos I commute on my bike. The familiar 749/999 bugbear of stalling happens, but only very occasionally, and I feel I can live with that. It doesn't justify spending hundreds of pounds on Power Commanders.

Unlike some owners upthread, I've found little difference in the riding position/comfort compared to the 748. I have fitted a "comfort" seat, though, which I highly recommend. Anyway I've never really had a prob with the riding position, as the miles I put on my 748 will testify!

The belts were changed straightaway when I bought the bike, and the oil and filters changed (I bought the bike "as is", with no service or warranty).

I had some issues early on with the headlight aim, which are documented on threads in the 749 section. I also did the "both beams on when on main beam" modification:

749/999 HeadLight Mod - Ducatisti Forum

I was a little disappointed with fuel consumption at first, compared to my 748, but it has improved quite a bit lately. I put this down to a new chain (makes quite a difference), and the new engine generally loosening up. I now seem to be getting around 45 mpg, which can't be bad. I'm disappointed in the smaller tank range, though. The days of getting 150+ miles on my 748 are long gone. Sadly, this seems to be a trend on all new Ducatis. A sacrifice to the gods of miniscule weight-saving, no doubt.

I'm not wild about the battery, which I consider to be a bit marginal. I shall be seeking out a better one before next winter (my bike is kept outside).

The mirrors are rubbish.

Something else that's rubbish, and again, this seems to be an increasing trend on modern Ducatis, is the appalling standard of paint on the engine casings. The crankcase behind my rear cylinder is now completely bare. This was never an issue on louigi's late lamented M reg 748 SP: build quality was much better in those days. Of course, back then, the bikes had a price-tag to match. No complaints about the paintwork on the frame, tank, and plastic, though.

My son informs me that pillion provision is considerably worse than the 748 (!).

Coils were changed to the later type (the ones that actually work if you ride through a little rain). if you have the early type coils (pre-05), it's not a matter of "if" they'll fail, but "when". Trust me.

I found the fuel warning light was only coming on when I had about 2 (!) miles left. After a couple of annoying "running out of fuel" moments, I investigated, and found, as I suspected, that the sender unit, which is clipped to the fuel pump inside the tank, had become unattached. I re-positioned the sender unit, and it now works fine. Incidentally, reserve range is quite a bit less than the 748, a result of the smaller tank, I suppose, Another retrograde step, IMO.

I'm no mechanical expert, and am fortunate enough to be quite near louigimoto, who is a whiz with Ducatis, and has looked after all bikes. I change the oil (did it on Sunday), bleed the brakes, replace sprockets and so on. Poking around inside the fuel tank (see above) was a big step for me! Belts and fuelling I leave to the experts!

If you do change the oil, don't forget the pick-up filter!

Despite the caveats above, I'm very pleased with my bike. The testa engine gives a little peace of mind with regard to the rocker problem which plagued the 748 series bikes, and it's perceptably quicker than my 748. I hope to put as many miles on it as I did my 748. Current mileage is just over 13k, so I've put over 9000 miles on it since I bought it.

Cool nice write up. Any chance of a few words about the differences between 749 and 748 from a riding perspective. I'm looking at getting a 748 in the next few months - may wait until winter and see if I can get a deal - but the differences between a 748's and 49's from a price point of view doesn't seem to be that much.

Cheers.

get a 748s last model,looks better than the 749 and does not have so many eletrical probs.

---

www.technomoto.co.uk

Well...

I wouldn't disagree that the 748 is a better looking bike, and it's rather easier to work on too, but... rockers rockers rockers!

Hard chrome plating failing on the rockers is a real issue with the 748 series bikes, which has been largely overcome on the Testastretta engine. I didn't have too many problems with my 748, but I think that's because I used it every day, which a vanishingly small proportion of owners do. All model years are affected, and it's not uncommon for bikes with as low a mileage as 5k to suffer problems, and at the best part of a hundred quid each, that can be a very expensive business.

If you can find a bike with sound rockers, the 748 is a lovely bike, although of course very slow steering by Jap standards. This can be altered a little by playing around with ride height, though.

When my 748 was splattered, I told myself I'd get another one, but in the end, I decided that the later, more developed engine in the 749 was a better bet. My 749 (has Termis, though) is perceptibly quicker than my 748 too.

From a riding point of view, I don't find much difference. The rear shock on my 749 seems to have a greater range of adjustment (ie, can be set softer) than the 748, though. Some 749's (not mine) have adjustable footpegs and seat, but I can't imagine that makes that much difference.

Briefly on "electrical probs" with the 749.
Stalling on idle has been a widespread problem, especially on the early 749S models. My bike has the Termi chip fitted, but idles pretty well. It stalls very occasionally, but I can live with that. Also, pre-05 749s suffered from rubbish coils. These are built in to the plug-cap. Only satisfactory course of action is to replace with the later type; I've done this myself. Neither of these issues affect the 748.

And I haven't even mentioned rectifiers yet!

my mate simon sorts that stuff out and you will never have that problem again.

simon (race engineering) 01279 755544

---

www.technomoto.co.uk

How's that, then egypt, out of interest? Hard plating, or some other hardening process?