Wanted 999s Or Base 999 (05-06 Model) Facelift Model- In Red!!!

Hey Grant, if you can get a ride on a sports bike before committing it'd be worth it... take it for a good few hours as really it's a slog after an ADV bike or similar. You can hooligan more on a flat-bar bike with less pain and pace.

Going from my own 999s (which is a 2004 - so less HP) the bike pretty much wants to be at 100mph or more and all of the kinks don't really iron themselves out until that sort of speed. Anything 80mph or less feels like you mightn't as well bother. Now that of course makes it a huge amount of fun, but really it's a bike for joyful blasts about. It's mega but I'm not sure I'd want one for serious transportation.

Food for thought I hope, please don't hear it as an anti-999s post. They're amazing, soulful and fast. Just if you're coming from an SS or an ADV it's going to feel like hard work in traffic etc.

EDIT: if you're in France and have lovely sweeping empty roads with wonderful surfaces and great weather, possibly disregard my post. Here on the busy little rock in the North Sea we tend towards not having such luxuries (for example, it's "road dressing" season )

 

Our roads are being done at the moment too sadly. Temporary lights and loose gravel everywhere. It's the same each year as soon as the ski season is over. Amongst other bikes I have a 2005 S mono-nero. It's about the fastest thing on two wheels around here, until the roads get too tight, then the bell-ends on the nakeds leave me in the dust. Meh!
Some guy on here is about to sell a yellow S. It's looks really special. Have you considered anything but red?

 

Who’s that then?

 

You? Is it?

 

Hey where about's in the south are you? I am just outside Geneva but we also have a place in Canet (66). I'm down with the gf from the 6th August and I'm bringing the 999S mono-nero to tool around on whilst she goes shopping or whatever she does. If you're anywhere nearby you'd be welcome for a blast!
They really are lovely bikes, so much so I went out and bought a 999R a couple of months after the S.
Drop me a pm if any good?

 

Quote "Oh and I know it is completely personal.....but RED is RED..they are faster, better looking, and have been scientifically proven to even handle better due to the paint.... "


Sun Stroke?

 

If you're passing through the Lincolnshire Wolds then feel welcome to come and have a go.

If you're comparing the SS and 999 then first observation would be that the SS is a lot more comfortable and is more engaging at "almost legal" or "mortal" speeds, you need to crack on to get the 999 to come into its own and you're going to be doing 100mph+ when it does. They're both stiffly sprung but the 999s is more supple with the Ohlins whereas the stock suspension on a 750ss feels agricultural, the stock suspension on my SL feels a bit better with the more sophisticated forks over the 750 and my 900ss with Ohlins out back is a bit plusher than the SL.

The 999 is night and day faster, end of. When you get on a roll with the 999 it's mega but I'd say the SS / SL is more fun more of the time.

Now what is interesting is that my SL is slow compared to my SS! The only significant difference being that the SS is set up with 851 spaghetti headers and Termis. Should this make much of a difference? I don't know, but I struggle to crack an indicated 130mph on the SL and the SS is just tailing off at an indicated 150mph. Speedo accuracy is about -10% on both, measured using GPS. SL is grunty and pulls cleanly off the line but is lacking the top end ease of the SS. Both slow compared to the 999. Interestingly I found that the 748 of my buddy wasn't able to get away from even my 750ss below about (indicated) 110mph and the 900SS was only losing ground (indicated) 120mph+ where the 4v motor clearly breathes better.

My old 749s was a lot faster than my old 748s, again like the 999s I found it wanted to be 100mph+ as quickly as it could be and the chassis felt like it came alive about that sort of speed.

The 749s I found slower steering than the 748s, and the 999s likewise. I've just dropped the yokes (to 4 rings showing) on the 999s and that's quickened the steering considerably but not at the expense of stability. I've never played with the yokes on the SS / SL bikes as it never occurred to me to, but they are slow steering and need a good tug to get them to tip in.

Carbys have traditionally been run on Pirelli Diablo Rosso and have been good but the SL is on Michelin Pilot Road 4 and I really like them. 749 was on Battlax BT016 Pro and were fine, 999s is on Battlax BT021 and they're fine too. 748 was on Rosso Corsa and they were amazing or awful depending on whether it was warm enough on the road.

Happy to share what I know dude, if it helps. The SS / SL is a great family of bikes though and for fun in the bends I still love them to bits. They corner ace.

 

I am saying nothing. Mine was a good girl.