Hi All, I've been lurking for a while looking at all the comments on the Panigale, but this is my first post here I've had my eye on the 899 Panigale for a while now, and that coupled with all the good reviews its getting prompted me to take a test ride on one last Friday. Now I'm currently running a KTM 990 SMT and its been a great bike, fantastic back roads blaster, probably quicker than the Panigale on a tight bumpy road, but it lacks a little bit of the "wow" factor. Also I've had it 3 years and I'm starting to get itchy feet, if you know what I mean? I've had loads of sportsbikes in the past, as far back as an 851, 1000 exup Yam, 3 Fireblades, RSV 1000 etc, so just for the hell of making a comparison I arranged to test ride a 2014 Fireblade the same day as the 899 test and I'm pleased I did as it turned out to be a very interesting comparison.... Firstly the Fireblade...an ABS model priced at £12,600, so its virtually the same price as the 899, a brand new bike in HRC colours, not bad looking, usual excellent Honda build quality, but looked slightly "shell-suit" like in the HRC colours, coming from the SMT the Honda's riding position was really cramped, I felt like I was trying to grab my ankles when I reached for the clip-on's!, no need for it to be this radical, why put the footpegs up so high and then put a 2" hero blob on the end of them??? The engine fired up with a whistle and kind of sounded the same for the whole of the test ride, didn't really sound like an internal combustion engine, it sounded more like a gas turbine or something as it just "whistled" away at different revs. The cable operated clutch seemed to bite all of a sudden causing me to lurch away from the stop until I got used to it, but it didn't seem to be very progressive at all. No doubt the Blade has more power than the 899, but I think you be hard pushed to use the extra difference on a public road, but the whole riding experience left me a bit unimpressed, as though Honda have engineered it to be as quiet and refined as possible so that you feel more like your riding a washing machine on spin-cycle down the road!! I have to say that I was surprised by my own reaction as I've been a Fireblade fan for years having had 3 of them, but it just seems like its too refined and quiet now to stir any emotion in the rider and the whole experience was just a bit too sterile and bland for my liking, hence the fact that after about 20 miles I was making my way back to the dealers on it. On to the 899 Panigale test ride then... First impressions as it was stood out the back of the dealers.... Wow!!, drop dead gorgeous, beautiful finish and build quality and it exuded a kind of "special" sexy aura about it,.. it well and truly flicked my "desirability" switch,.... hornier than a Ram's head!! So I signed my life away on the dealers insurance forms and we went back to the bike with the keys and he fired her up............."F*&K ME THAT'S LOUD!!!" I shouted over the "Desmo-din" , yes, "and those are the standard can's he replied".. another tick in the box, and just enough bellow to let you know its intentions. A quick run through the dash and all the functions / modes and I was off...first impressions were that the riding position was a lot better than the Fireblade, still sports bike like but not stupidly cramped up for no good reason, I deliberately left it in wet mode for the first few miles as the roads were wet, but I stopped for fuel after about 6 miles and popped her into sport mode as the roads had now dried. I was very impressed by how well the fuelling was sorted, no lurching or coughing at low speeds and very smooth and vibrationless throughout the whole rev range, and it sounded absolutely gorgeous when you were riding it, after about 10 miles or so, I suddenly remembered " Oh sh*t,..its got a quickshifter!!" this was amazing, 8 or 9 thousand revs and keeping the throttle open and just flicking the gear lever up, it made beautiful smooth seamless drive, I was blown away by how slick this worked. All the controls, clutch, gearbox, brakes etc were fantastic to use, just the right weighting to them and nice and progressive unlike the Fireblade's grabby cable clutch. I tried it for a while in Race mode and didn't notice much difference from Sport apart from it making the bottom end power delivery a little lumpier, so I was happier to leave it in Sport mode. The more I rode the bike, the better I felt with it,... so much feedback to the rider and it just felt so "special" riding it, crouched down and gunning it through the gears with the quickshifter made you feel like a WSB rider or something! Lots of stares from car drivers as you passed them, it even seems like Joe public has at least some recognition of what a nice bike your on! at one stage I passed a guy walking his dog ( Airedale terrier ) and the dog spun around when he heard the bike approaching and just stared at the bike as it went past, you could see from the look on the dogs face he was thinking... "Wow..nice Panigale!, shame I'm a dog as I'd like to ride one of those!!" Now I know there's a lot of banter on here about 1199 vs 899 etc, but really for road use you can't grumble at the power this thing makes at all, plus, for me, the smaller bike has more benefit in having nicer road manners and as I'd be buying it new, the 2 year warranty is worth a lot of peace of mind. I also found a technical article on an American site I think that compared the differences between the two engines, basically it said that the 899 should be bulletproof as it shares the same gearbox, crank, crankcases etc as the bigger Panigale and the water jacket around the cylinder liners is a lot bigger due to the smaller piston diameter, hence the fact the 899 runs pretty cool, all reassuring to read when your thinking about splurging a lot of money out on one. The fact that I got back to the dealers with over 100 miles on the trip meter says it all, I was ready to take the Blade back after 20 miles, but I could have ridden the 899 all day, didn't want to take it back!! If I'm being really critical there were only two things that were slight niggles, 1, the grips felt a bit thin and hard and a bit on the shiny side, & 2, I thought the warning lights on the dash ( indicators, high beam etc ) could have been a bit bigger, but neither of them were big problems. I can sum up the 899 Panigale in one word, right from how it looks to how well it performs, to its handling, sound and how it makes you feel riding it, etc --- Gorgeous!!!! True, it would have looked even nicer with the SSSA, but I think its plus points balances that issue out even and you forget about it the instant you start riding it as it just feels so "special" to use! So, my order is in and I'm expecting delivery about 3rd week of September, I've started ordering bling for it already ( Evo tail tidy first on the list ) so expect lots of gormless questions from me from now on!! Cheers all, Poucher
Nice choice I really like the 899 I tested a new blade about a month ago. I couldn't fault it as a bike as it did everything very well but fuck me its boring. It reminded me of being 15 years old an bored to tears in a geography lesson.
Worth considering the fact that its got catalytic converter's and exhaust valves etc. So considering that I agree that the panigale sounds pretty good tbh. My dads 2001 gsxr sounded epic, but didn't have to have anywhere near the complexity of exhaust a modern bike does. Thanks for the good write up, I have ridden a fireblade and can only describe it as a 'tool' for getting the job done.
I'm fairly confident that is probably a little harsh, for a start Vauxhall's are built like sh*t... The Honda is impeccably built. It's surely more like any standard Audi, it's alright but never going to light your fire!
