The Superquadro engine's torque is superb on the street. Much much better than a comparably powerful in-line four. Then on the track...wow.
I’m in the same situation as you RBW , my 899 has 24k on it now, I know yours has more, but this V2 doesn’t seem as pretty to me, too stood on its nose and the proportions are a bit out of wang to me? I had thought about changing my 899 as I have a big European trip coming up next year and I still remember how the 899 toasted my 4rse in a 34c heatwave in Germany 2 years ago!! So I’m thinking now....keep the 899 and buy another bike for next years trip, I have two trains of thought on this:- Sensible A new Kawa Z1000SX Ninja as they call them now, the new one just out with the tft screen and cruise, quickshifter, factory panniers etc, the grey one looks quite tasty. Stupid A new Aprilia Tuono V4 1100, still be comfier than the Panigale cos of the flat bars and they are an absolute hoot to ride! Both bikes have plus / minus points- Ninja - Be a great mile muncher, good tourer with the panniers on, but I’m not too keen on il4 engines, a bit character less and boring, so I’m afraid I’ll get bored of it quickly and want shot after the trip, should be easy enough to move on if that is the case though. Tuono - Bundle of laughs, sounds great and nice and sporty to ride, negatives....drinks petrol, and difficult to move on second hand, Aprilia’s tend to depreciate like a stone from what I’ve experienced, had an 02 RSV 1000 once and when I sold it at 2 years old I got buttons for it. Having said all of that, I am leaning more towards the Tuono....opinions???
That's interesting Poucher, the other bike I wanted to see was the Kwak SX as it ticks so many boxes apart from the 'character' one (cruise, heated grips, integrated luggage). I'm indifferent to inline 4's, but Im going to try the Kwak when its in the dealers. A mate at work has a newish Tuono and its lovely and sounds mint . Wouldn't be my choice for travelling just because its naked (I'd probably go RSV4, but that is somewhat compact). I'm in the same boat that I might keep the 899 and get something else a bit different. Having done the Triumph adventure experience level 1, level 2 and their two day gravel tour quite recently I will look at the new Tiger 900 when its released early December (shame it wasnt at Motorcycle Live) as I think that would be a great partner to the 899. (and it has heated grips, cruise, and a heated seat ). I really loved twatting about on the Tiger off-road, so would love one in the garage. The problem is, as you know Poucher, Ducati got it right with the 899. I deliberately rode to the show today just because I knew It would make me appreciate what I have. Just wondering if I can manage the oil change on the 899, doesnt look too difficult . RBW.
Panigale oil change is a doddle, YouTube is your friend! Test rode the Tuono twice and the little nose fairing deflects a surprising amount of wind blast, I could quite happily do a few miles on it, not really a true naked, it’s pretty comfy in reality. Part of me just thinks, get the Tuono and part of me thinks that I’d get used to the Kawa after a 3,500 mile trip and it would be a good workhorse and then I could just use the 899 for sunny day blasts!
I think the idea of heated grips and cruise control on a Panigale goes against everything they stand for. I have a Sprint ST 1050 with heated grips - it’s a sports tourer and it’s far more comfortable than a Panigale could ever hope to be - but there is no comparison on the track. There are such a wide range of bikes out there to choose from with completely different designs for very different purposes - you wouldn’t expect a Ferrari to have have a towbar so why expect a Panigale to have features that simply add weight and complexity? BMW are going down the route of creating Bikes with the same ethos as their cars - you can buy an M3 and get heated seats and cruise control etc, etc, in an extremely fast and capable car. You can even take it in a track day if you wish and then drive to work in it the next day. If that’s the experience you are looking for then buy an S1000RR. I would personally prefer it if the Panigale was kept as a purist Sportsbike - the first thing I did when I got my 959 get rid of the rear seat and footrests. On the road it is uncomfortable, all my weight is on my wrists, my neck starts to hurt after a short time - unless I’m accelerating or pulling 3 figures it’s quite frankly torture! Take it in track and suddenly it all makes sense - it’s sublime, focused, confidence inspiring. These bikes are road legal but in reality they are designed for racing. They are held back from their true calling by all of these unnecessary lights, indicators, emissions laws, noise restrictions. If they sold a version with track fairings and all of the road legal gubbins removed it would save us a lot of trouble stripping it off!
If you think a Panigale is uncomfortable, try a 916/748. It will change your mind about what is uncomfortable.
Heated grips are a no brainer really, whether we're talking a Superbike or not. They add barely any weight and won't remove the essence of a superbike, but they will take the numbing edge off your hands on occasion thus allowing you to enjoy even more miles safely especially in our British climate If the superbike in question is used purely for track then perhaps there's no point, but on the road I genuinely see no reason not to have some. Cruise control is slightly different, ive had that on my last few bikes now and can't say I use it loads especially when going for a short blast, but on the euro tour stuff this year it helped a lot when we were sat on motorways for the day and you just want to shake off the right hand and give it a rest. It's less useful in my mind than heated grips but I can fully appreciate the view of 'why not have them'? I don't see why ducati don't take the ktm approach on the heated grips. My Superduke didn't come with heated grips as standard but the wiring is there via the underside of the switch gear so you buy them and have the feature switched on through the software. Nice and neat.
One other question for me is the noise level from the exhaust as I'd like to know whether it'd make the more strict circuits in the UK. Blurb from Ducati site says this Silencer The new silencer has a new internal layout and, back pressure remaining equal, abates noise spikes more easily. This has led to a considerable reduction in silencer bulk. The new silencer also houses two larger. enhanced-impregnation catalytic converters that allow compliance with Euro 5 emissions standards.
I personally wouldn't base my purchasing decision on heated grips or cruise, not with a sports bike. Noise would be a consideration, from both the stock and aftermarket options. I remember the hullabaloo when the original bike first went on to UK circuits. However, like many, I'm loosing interest in UK tracks and concentrating on euro trips, less pressure/rain/noise restrictions/bell ends.
I don't disagree with a number of the perspectives about cruise/heated grips depending on how you use your bike and what you want it for. Two of us (Poucher + myself) have a combined mileage greater than 57K miles on our 899's and I love touring and believe it to be a fantastic bike for it. Also, to credit Ducati, the bike feels as fresh to me as the day it came out of the showroom and I have no qualms about running it for another 20K. The 899 always had a slightly softer more road bias than the 1199 and was a much better bike for it, the genius bit was altering the gearing on the 899 so that it was pretty much as fast to 60 as the 1199. I just think the V2 whilst looking beautiful could have been made more of a bike for the road (but I guess they think the Supersport fills that brief - which it doesn't for me). Oh, and the new mirrors are crap on the V4 and can see that is carried to the V2. I'd love one in the garage, but think I'm likely just to keep running the 899 (otherwise its a 10K+ to change with the mileage on mine) and get another slightly different bike with heated grips/cruise.. On tour in Vianden. RBW.
The point that I’m trying to make is that if a manufacturer tries to make a bike to be all things to all people then eventually all bikes will become a compromise - middle of the road. If you want practical features on a purist sportsbike then it becomes more like a sports tourer - it can’t be both without compromise. The market for sportsbikes has shrunk in recent years because of their lack of road-going practicality and so manufacturers have started to make compromises that shift them further away from their pure function. Porsche do indeed make very practical sports cars that are very comfortable for daily use - but they also make stripped out track weapons like the GT2 RS. If the Panigale range becomes a practical year round sports tourer - where is the track weapon? And before you say it I can’t afford a Superleggera, Desmo or V4R - well maybe the V4R but I’m not ready for it yet!
Precisely - so why to they need cruise control and heated grips? They are becoming more 911 turbo than GT 2 - don’t get me wrong they are fantastic bikes and likewise the 911 turbo would be my first choice for a practical daily driver sports car should I ever be fortunate enough to be in a position to buy one. I just think it it would be nice to have the option of a pure sports bike - without the necessity to buy a super expensive special edition. I guess a Radical or Atom would be a better analogy. There are plenty of other choices for those that want to do a little touring, commuting, etc. There is scope for manufacturers to offer a wider variety of versions of the sportier models but there is a limit to how far this can go without compromising the focus of a pure sportsbike. Track geometry, riding position and suspension are never going to suit long distance touring. I would personally buy a no frills version of the Panigale aimed at track use, but there’s no reason they couldn’t produce that alongside a more highly specced model to compete with BMW etc. I just wouldn’t want the core purpose of design to be diluted to suit a wider range of use cases as there are already enough bikes to suit those needs.
I don’t think heated grips or cruise would detract at all from the V2s sporty nature, it would just add a little comfort on long cold slaps back home when you’ve been away on tour with it, doesn’t make it a touring bike at all, don’t forget you can “tour” on anything, a monkeybike even! The new BMW S1000rr has all these on and it certainly doesn’t blunt it’s performance.
Because the temp in the UK is rarely above 20 and often below 10 and warm hands are nice. And that these bikes can be used for longer haul trips to fun places, like Scotland or Germany or Italy, and it’s less fatigued to use cruise when covering miles on miles with cruise.
I guess heated grips are a “thing” once you’ve experienced them? I can’t imagine making any sort of purchase decision based around whether my sports bike has heated grips or not. Cruise control sure, wish my 1098 had that but heated grips? Nah I’m too young to worry about that stuff
