Twice the price of a standard Ducati 1098, an extra 100cc, nearly 15% more power, a few less kilograms and a whole lot more bragging rights. That’s a brief summary of the Ducati 1098R. So do the numbers add up to the type of mind altering experience that you would expect from by far the most powerful and lightest
twin cylinder motorcycle ever produced?

In some ways yes it does. Ridden back to back with the already damn quick 1098S, the 1098R is a whole lot more animal. The 1098R dishes out so much mumbo from so low down in the rpm range that when being easy on the throttle it lulls you into thinking that you are just cruising. That is until the next turn arrives and you suddenly realise that despite being easy on the throttle there has still been major power delivered to the rear wheel. Get brave and twist the throttle harder and things get  truly breathtaking.

Even compared to the standard 1098, the R model is a very different ride. There is nothing wrong with the standard 1098 donk, it is wonderfully flexible and pulls very strongly but the
1098R is an absolute powerhouse of epic proportions. Twins have always been deceptively fast, but twist the throttle on the 1098R hard and there is certainly nothing deceptive about the
way it performs. Your eyeballs struggle to keep pace as the speed builds and you have to squeeze the bike between your knees to get better purchase on the machine.

Despite four-cylinder litre capacity sportsbikes achieving similar peak power numbers and producing awesomely flexible torque deliveries, they feel nothing like the 1098R. The grunt on the 1098R is so instantaneous and prodigious that at first acquaintance the machine can be downright scary. That’s not to say it isn’t well mannered. It is, for a big twin, but those two massive slugs give such a different feel that any comparison to a four is really quite meaningless. That said however, the only four-cylinder bikes I have ridden that grunt like the 1098R off the turns have been factory tuned Australian Superbikes.

Make no bones about it. The 1098R is a seriously hard core machine that is suited to riders that like to test themselves and their limits. Unless you can ride like Troy Bayliss, it will always be your ability that is being tested rather than the machine. And no, your R1, GSX-R, CBR or Ninja does not pull as hard as the Ducati 1098R. Not unless it has a race tuned engine in it. A healthy standard litre sportsbike may pull similar peak numbers on a dyno, but rest assured the riding experience simply can’t be compared with the staggering mid-range grunt off the turns that the 1098R dishes out with a very big spade.