Well I've booked a test ride on the V2 25th October pray to the weather gods is dry, watch this space will he put a deposit down?!
I have a V2 as a courtesy bike for a couple of days. First impressions are, I'm pleasantly surprised. The foot pegs are lower than I expected and the riding position is quite relaxed. Sadly the bike only has 272 miles on the clock so is rev limited but it definitely has that hooligan fun factor. The negatives for me are the ridiculously small petrol tank and the tall gearing which is going to mean silly petrol consumption as you are typically in 2nd or 3rd for most of the time. Typical Ducati out of the box suspension is way too firm for me but the Showa BPF's should have enough adjustment. If I was looking for a weekend bike to hoon about on locally, the SF would definitely be at the top of the list. Andy
Brilliant choice mate, when does it arrive? I did 170 miles today and my ass did not thank me for it, can’t wait for the comfort seat to become available
I agree, it’s got a perfect blend of everything. If you want any bits for it catch them while you can, some stuff has been out of stock for months. Just don’t be buying a comfort seat until I’ve got one
Do you all have this same weird rubber bung on your V2? It was half sticking out but managed to ease it back in, any idea what it's for?
It’s an anti vibration cushion for the fairing lower in the Panigale V2. Leaving it off the SF would leave an unsightly hole there.
Ah that makes sense! I was trying to find something behind it, but didn't think about the fact it originated from the Panagale. Thank you, my mind is now at rest.
It would also save Ducati 0.02 Euros, so I'm really surprised they didn't go with the unsightly hole option
Gritters have been out so essentially ended riding the new bike until next season (I got in 1 ride ). So finding any other reason to play with the bike - first thing to do was remove some surplus items at the weekend. Getting the pegs out took a bit of effort. On removing the bolts, there was not enough clearance to slide them out, I thought i'd have to put them back on. I found a post somewhere for the panagale say the plastic heat-shield cover has some flex so managed to eventually get them out by pushing down on it with with fingers (to avoid scratches). It looks simple initially but you don't realise till you undo the bolt that there is a post sticking up that it needs to be lifted above to remove. I saw another video imply you could take them out rearwards while they're still joined-up, i found that impossible, I had to take out the small bolts and take them out side-ways. Here's a few pics in case anyone else wants a reference. Right hand peg removed, no spacer added yet: both pegs removed, these are the posts that the pegs must be lifted over: 1 spacer added (71614961AA): cleaned and tightened up: The bolt-holes further to the rear are left open/exposed. I will likely get some 10mm M6 bolts to fill the holes when i'm next at screwfix. In comparison, removing the reflectors were much simpler. Remove the top bolt, add the spacer (71313641A), torque to 45Nm (confirmed with dealer) - remember to test brakes in 4 months when i eventually get out!
Evotech do a neat "cover" which tidies up the area once the passenger footrests are removed. Looks better than just using bolts.
Thanks - yeah I saw it too, it's on my list but i've probably hit my spend limit this side of xmas having just ordered the tail-tidy
Well what a crazy few months, our little lad has had brain surgery, we’ve moved into rented and also started work on our home so I’ve not had chance to put any miles on the bike since the end of September. Anyway, last night I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and went out for 2 hours, by the time I got back at 9pm my hands were a bit numb but I’m almost there with the mileage to get the fist service boxed off. A while back I fitted throttle spacers and I had totally forgot about them until this morning. Previously the throttle play would irritate me on every ride but it didn’t even enter my mind which is a massive win for the spacers, I would definitely recommend them
I really think the standard exhaust looks good and sounds pretty decent too but the standard mapping leaves much to be desired. I got the 4 year warranty with the bike so 3rd party remapping is out the window and every time I called any Ducati dealer there was no ETA on the Akrapovic and more importantly no discount Had my eye on a few on eBay but with sellers based in Italy it put me off a bit, I finally bit the bullet and ordered from a Ducati dealer in Maranello and it should be with me next week. With all taxes paid it comes in at £800 less than UK and they had 3 in stock if anyone else needs their heads seeing to
I'm not a huge fan of the mapping either. I was looking at the Brentune option, but it's ridulously expensive down here in NZ because of the exchange rate. At least with their system, you can re-install the the OEM map which might help with warranty issues if the bike has a problem elsewhere.
I almost went down the SLR tuning route for similar reasons but now Ducati is owned by Audi I guessed they would know about any software changes as soon as it gets plugged in so decided to play it safe. My bank account doesn’t agree though.
All the goodies have arrived early, so far R&G fitted all round and Rizoma reservoirs. Now arrived are bar risers, loads of carbon and evotech blanking plate and carbon exhaust tip arriving this afternoon.
