After having to be recovered for the 3rd time in 2 months I decided that it was time to get rid of the NC35 with the screwed electrics and it just so happened that I had a days holiday the next day.

I first went to Ducati London (M&P), WGC to see what they had in stock. It was a quiet Monday at the end of summer and the salesman had a bit of time to chat. Told him what I was interested in a 748 but disliked having to run bikes in. He suggested that I had a look at their demonstrator 748S with 620 miles on the clock. I had a sit on the bike and I could only just get both feet on the ground and it did not feel as heavy as I had expected. I was offered this bike for the same price as a new Biposto.

I was a little unhappy about the bike being a group 16 insurance but my insurance company, Bennetts, were able to give me a decent quote on the bike with only 2 years NCB. I then headed off to Hitchin to my local Honda dealer to have a look at the new Blade. Even though the Blade is about 20kg lighter than the 748 it felt heavier as the weight of the in-line 4 engine sits higher up in the frame. I also thought the seat height a bit on the high side.

It was back to Ducati London to see what sort of trade in deal they could do. They offered me £3400 for the NC35 even though the battery gave up on them when they took it out for a test ride.

I did think about buying the new Biposto but only because as a company purchase I could claim some of the VAT back. The salesman went off, made a phone call to head office and said that they could sell me the 748S for the same price inclusive of VAT.

First thing I did to the bike was to change the gear shift around to one-up, two three..... down. I had got used to this on the NC35 and found it difficult to ride the bike hard with the standard setup. I also replaced the seat with a single seat unit I got from a breakers and removed the rear pegs. The insurance company gave me a £60 discount for not taking pillions.

Earlier this year I saw an advert in MCN for 45mm Termignonis for £500. I ordered these but when they were delivered they were 50mm with the additional downpipe. Fitting the chip was simple and they were kind enough to send me the replacement sticker to put over the ECU. Fitting the pipes was a different story. The end cans came off without difficulty but I had to remove the footpeg and rear brake to be able to remove the 45mm downpipe and getting the new 50mm downpipe on took me a good few hours. The new chip improved the throttle response at low revs, no more on - off feeling, which was one of my complaints about the bike. Last time I took the bike into work, early on a Sunday morning, I only managed 60 miles on a full tank of petrol.

I purchased an SV650SY earlier this year to use for a daily commute into London. It was after riding this that I realised how bad the suspension settings were on the 748. On bumpy country roads I would constantly be thrown off the seat so I took the bike into the dealer a couple of months back and had the rear suspension was softened off. This has made a bike improvement and I don't get as much back ache now though it is still a bit rough over bumps.

The bike comes as standard with Pirelli Dragons, a Corsa on the front and a standard on the rear. I do not have a lot of confidence in these so I will soon be replacing them with a set of 010's.

The bike will not run unless the sidestand is retracted. This is a pain in the arse and means I always end up warming the bike up on the paddock stand.

The bike is great on fast A roads but not so good on tight country B roads (like on the BOTAFOF run) where the SV650 is just as quick if not quicker. When cornering the 748 you need to get the line right before you enter the corner as, unlike the SV650, it is difficult to correct half way round but very satisfying when you get it spot on.

I can see why a lot of people say that this is not a bike to use every day. Commuting on the bike is hard work, as well as the back ache your neck gets strained having to constantly look up at traffic lights. As the mirrors are fixed you don't want to be hitting them off cage mirrors and the bike runs extremely hot when stop start filtering through traffic.

All in all I still love the bike but I think the SV650 is much better value for money.