2008 Ducati 848 Road Test

When you think of hallowed Italian marque of Ducati, several glorious models come to mind, such as 750 Supersport, the iconic 916, the successful line of Monsters, and more recently the exciting 1098 superbike and Hypermotard wild thing. 

But not many revere the 749, a middleweight V-Twin based on the platform of the little-loved 999, whose styling failed to ignite the passions of the Ducatisti. While a competent performer, the 749 weighed nearly as much as the 999 and wasn’t on anyone’s list of prettiest bikes.

All that’s changed with the introduction of this new 848. It not only shares the lovely shape of the wildly successful 1098, it also shames the legendary 916 in terms of horsepower output. We measured nearly 116 hp at the rear wheel. Consider that the revered Ducati 916 had a hard time cracking the 100-hp barrier, and the brawnier 998 barely topped 110 rear-wheel horsepower while weighing considerably more than this Slim-Fast-ed 848.
In general terms, this new Italian scalpel is little more than an all-new engine in the impressive 1098’s structure. Its nimble chassis and gorgeous bodywork are same-same, which is fine with us.

The noteworthy addition to this platform is a bespoke powerplant that uses a new vacuum die-casting method called Vacural which results in an engine that weighs about 7 lbs less than the old 749. The “Testastretta Evoluzione” motor uses a 94.0 x 61.2mm bore and stroke to yield 849cc. No, that’s not a typo - this continues Ducati’s disregard for its nomenclature matching the engine’s displacement: the old 749 displaced 748cc; the standard 999 was 998cc; and the 1098 has a 1099cc engine.

In conjunction with the V-Twin’s increased bore and stroke, everything else in the engine is correspondingly larger. Intake valves are up 2.5mm (39.5mm) and the exhaust’s are enlarged 1.5mm (32mm). Feeding those valves is a pair of 56mm throttle bodies that are fashioned in the contemporary F1-style elliptical shape, up from the round-port 54mm injectors from the 749.

The result is yet another sweet and torquey Twin from the Boys in Bologna, and it’s a major upgrade over the somewhat lethargic 749. Good grunt is available from low revs until it falls a bit flat around 4500 revs before a satisfying surge at 6000 rpm. From then on it continues a 10-horse-or-more advantage over the 749 all the way to its 10,900-rpm rev limiter.