Oh yea and Im sure you have had a lot of ducatis and you can speak from experience? Riiight... come back and comment on a topic when you have actual knowledge about it. Thanks Ben speaka da truth. One of the main problems with the older superbikes, like mine, is the rocker arms would loose the chrome on them and this would cause the valve clearance to go out of spec and the rockers needing to be replaced. It only happened if you really rode the piss outta the bike and didnt change fluids regularly. A lot of people are ducati douches and dont ride the bikes hard.... so they are fine. Ive personally had to replace a few rockers from riding the 748 to the max. Oh well, it was worth it The newer bikes, testastretta motor (made its debut in the 2001 996R) do not have the same problems the older bikes do. The testastretta motor is in the 996R is actually a 998 motor and later became the 999... ok now im just talking too much. Basically, the motor design has come a long way. The maintenance is not half of what it use to be, and the 848 is a great freaking bike. VERY fun to ride and super smooth for a twin. Not sure if you are aware, but the 848 has a wet clutch, so you wont have the dry clutch sound or performance. The 848 is the smoothest twin I have ever ridden. Its almost feels like an inline 4, except you have power immediately. Its freaking badass. Ok im leaving now.