Henry Lubong's Journal

Today at lunch, I made a trip to Honda Peninsula in El Camino Real (one of the Ducati dealers in San Jose) to check out the 848 and 1098 bikes. They only have one pearl white 848 and a couple of red 1098s in the showroom. Although they look the same, the white 848 is just stunningly hot! I was salavating and deep inside I wanted to take the bike home. The main difference between the two is obviously the more powerful engine on the 1098. I sat on both machines and I thought the 1098 has a lower seat height and felt lighter as well. I also noticed the absence of steering damper on the 848. The nice solid red passenget seat cowl on the 1098 is also not included on the 848. Instead, it comes with a black padded seat. Other than those, you can’t really tell the difference between the two. The dealer wanted $15,800 OTD for the 848 but someone told me that I can get one in Ducati Modesto for $14,000 OTD. Originally, the MSRP for the 848 was $12,995 but Ducati raised it up to $13,495 just recently. I guess, they can do anything for a hot bike. So anyway, I asked them if they can price match the other deale’rs price and they said the best thing that they can do is $15,200. So I walked out the door.