It’s been a sad few days for me here at the IPM office. First the Fireblade, then getting pulled over for the 848 exhaust, and now this.

On Saturday, after the IPM meeting, I went down on the 848 while trying to avoid a deer. Yes, a deer. I was just past the hills on my way home after stopping for some grub. This thing came out of no where! I landed on my helmet and the shoulder of my jacket. I slid on my face before going off the side of the road, hitting a tree, tumbling down the side of the hill into a pile of leaves and finally stopping in another tree. As I laid there, checking to see if I had broken any bones, I was amazed I was still alive.

I was wearing full gear that day and it saved my life. There was no cellphone reception, and I was starting to panic. Luckily, a passerby gave me a ride to the Emergency Room. While at the hospital, I sent a friend to retrieve my wounded stallion, Unfortunately, he notified me he couldn’t find it. I couldn’t believe it, and went back to look for the bike later on as well. I searched everywhere near the spot I crashed. I even checked with every tow company and police impound to no avail. Some local hillbillies must have stolen my bike!

I filed a police report but no one has reportedly seen the bike yet. If you have any information on a parted out white Ducati 848 or a wrecked bike laying somewhere, please let me know!

On a side note I need to advise everyone out there to wear as much quality gear as you can. Even though it can be hot and may not look as cool it will save your life and I am living proof. I also recommend always riding with a buddy or small group of friends. I was alone on my way home and the site I crashed at had no cell reception I had to talk to the road and wait for someone to drive by before receiving any help.

If my injuries had of been worse, or if I was even farther out in the hillside it could have been a long time before anyone would find me and I very well could have died. Please try to ride with a buddy and tell people where you are going before heading out on a ride. Wear ATGATT-All The Gear All The Time.

If you have any information on someone trying to sell or part out a wrecked 2008 White Ducati 848 please contact me.

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How is everybody? Well, if you had a full titanium Remus system like the Ducati 848 does, you would be doing fine! Fine as in you will get fined for having such a bad ass loud exhaust.

On my way up to the city a little while ago, I was pulled over on the freeway. When the officer asked me why I think he pulled me over, I replied, “I have no idea.” I was doing the speed limit and thought I had done nothing wrong.

He told me he had pulled me over because my exhaust was too loud. Really? Now, I had my earplugs in at the time and wondered how it could be so loud, I could hear the motor just fine but didn’t think it was obtrusive. That’s when I realized that I had already begun to suffer a bit of hearing loss, even with the ear plug use.

The officer then explained to me that it looked like an aftermarket system and was definitely louder than stock. He pulled out his handy decibel meter, and asked me to turn the bike on. He stood a few feet behind the bike and as the motor rumbled to life so did the decibel meter. At idle, the meter said 95db which is extremely loud already. Oops. Then he asked me to give it a bit of throttle, so I, very carefully not to waken the beast, gave it a touch of throttle. The meter jumped above 105db. The officer laughs and said you have to give it more than that. I turned the throttle grip a little bit father and the decibel meter jumped above 112db!!! All I could do was laugh and so did the officer. He said in no way was it legal, and the motor wasn’t even under load, which means the actual output would be even higher.

He was right. This was a race only exhaust. I told him I could find a way to put a silencer in and baffle the sound a bit. He told me the sound needs to come down a lot and promptly hands me a fix-it ticket. Moral of the story goes, if you choose to modify your bike and do so using a race exhaust, find a way to drill a silencer in there before you unwillingly throw more money into the state budget deficit.

Till next time guys. Ride safely!

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Hello again! Today, I am giving the final review on our CNC rearsets for the Ducati 848. These have caused so much controversy within the IPM garage, and frankly, doesn’t deserve half the coverage we have inadvertently given them.

I have gotten to ride the 848 a lot more and consequently, I have to use these rearsets. I have tried very hard to like them, but in the end, I absolutely abhor them. We tried several times to install them and they just do not seem to fit the bike. The bike has an aftermarket exhaust system, and the pipes are simply too massive, and the inside of the brake lever keeps rubbing on our titanium exhaust.

We have tried them on the stock exhaust and they still didn’t seem to work right. We had several nasty emails from Gas-Cap-Dude explaining how we weren’t doing it right, but without proper instructions it would be difficult for any non-professional mechanic to get these to fit and work properly.

They are still on now, but still rub the heck out of the exhaust, even though they have the proper spacers in place. But enough about that, let’s get into the logistics. They are adjustable no doubt, but with the clearance being so low, we simply cannot get them to where they need to be without scratching up the bike. The foot position is brutal to say the least. They are very high up and put your feet so far back that the only place it would be practical is Turn 2 at Laguna Seca. And, you better be Dani Pedrosa or you stand no chance of being comfortable even for a second.

As far as the street goes, the position these things give you is just insane. The 848 is a beautiful track inspired bike, and by no means should you think its a long haul comfort machine, but whatever ergonomic decency it has left, these rearsets take it away in an instant. Fit and finish look descent, but they look cheap, like Sato knockoffs.

No matter how much lock tight and how many times I try and torque the bolts to spec, they find a way to come loose!!! This is highly unsafe and very annoying. I do not say this much, as the vast majority of products we have received have been in excellent condition, but these things flat out suck. If you are very small, want to be in the Superman race tuck position the entire ride, or scratch this shit out of your two thousand dollar exhaust system, then I would recommend this things, but the quality just isn’t there and I cannot recommend a product that may fail as easily as these rearsets. I wish I had more hands, so I could give these CNC rearsets four thumbs down!

Until next time, ride safe everyone.

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Although it took a few attempts to get the rearsets on to the 848, I’m pretty happy with the final install. For a rider with a longer inseam (32″), the new riding position lets you put your legs far enough behind from where the stock sets intended to feel comfortable hunched over the bike at optimal speeds.

Unfortunately, due to our custom exhaust, the right side rearset leaves little room to configure the placement bracket without scuffing the pipes. This may not be a problem for other Ducati riders, but worth considering. In the future, to avoid this problem, Gas-Cap-Dude may want to offer a longer bolt and more spacers in the box. There is a little wiggle in the pedals but the play is negligible and hardly noticeable when you’ve got the bike going. As I said, I like ‘em and hope we keep them strapped on for long enough to maybe get the Ducati out where it belongs, the track.

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Looks like third time’s the charm here for these pair of rearsets. Took down both Alex and Big Matt. They hate these with a passion now. Check it out!

Stay tuned for a test review in a few days.

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