If we go back a few years to the days of carburetors, no electronics, shitty rubber tyres, crap suspension and feeble brakes, then the power/cc difference made a big bike 'a bit of an animal' and a 600 more manageable. I don't think that applies anymore with modern equipment. What you have now is a 'big' bike with more torque, can pull in any gear and has a higher top end. And a 'smaller' bike that is usually more revvy and needs more gear changes. But essentially, they're both much easier to ride than bikes a few years ago and both very fast.
I can ride my 1000cc super bike fast to the local cafe in third gear for the whole 5 miles of twistys, on track same gear it would top out around 150mph no problem, the other three gears are waisted at least with the 848 you can hop and down the box becoming involved more so with the ride and the bike, still capable of the same speeds just more rewarding... tbh I prefer myself to be pinning an RS250 down the same road, the grin factor of the little smokers is massive... I agree with the 899 being superbike power and thus not "real world" I don't give a toss for real world power just a bike that's involving and fun to ride where I ride it. We all know the bike will Prob cost the same to build but as Ducati sell it as a "lesser" bike it has to look lesser so the plane LCD dash and economy swing arm give it the lesser feel... does it slip out of the middle supersport class with such a powerful motor...I think it may but we will see when you ride one I'd say the short stroke motor could be a hoot to ride down the twisty back roads...lol
Really? Aren't the prices on the DUK website? Does your bike have GP/WSBK forks and brakes or what you need / can afford/ justify? You drive an Audi or a Ferrari? Why have an A3 when you can have blah, blah, blah. FFS...It really isn't that complicated....Of course it's a lesser powered/lesser spec/cheaper bike than it's BIGGER/ BETTER SPEC'ED/MORE EXPENSIVE stablemate. Not every bike they or Honda make is going to be a Flagship model! Agreed - nowhere for it to race, except against itself. Is there a point to it? Is there a market for it? Of course there is!
Are you genuinely confused by this or simply trolling? The point (as I see it) is that there's a market for it and it will sell, just like the poor little, underpowered, poorly spec'ed 848 sold. Clearly Ducati's marketing campaign will be bigging the product up, it's hardly going to say "Come buy our cheap, nasty, little, poor mans bike", is it? Most if not all car and bike manufactures will have a price point or entry level model, this get's people into the marque. 848 owners will prob/poss eventually become 1098/1198/Pani owners and so on. If a potential owner can't afford/justify/girlfriend/boyfriend won't' allow it/is scared of the power of the bigger bike, then naturally their eye will fall upon the other option(s). Diversify or die. Simple really.
probably, its probably done by the same fu*ked up system that tells me my car will do 74mpg when it actually does 60 !!! surely your not that gullable
No, I'm not gullible at all. Clearly all the figures have to be taken with a pinch of salt/BS and any test would have been performed under ideal conditions. What appears to being advocated in this thread is that they are all completely fictional/made up/wildly off! But you tell me where does it end? MPG? HP? CC? Are you going to insist on the bore and stroke of your next car being measured in front of your eyes before you accept the salesman's word? Why not have published figures at all then, or go back to the manufacturer's making their own claims? Or just have brochure that says "Bike" and choose the colour? If of course you believe that red is infact red.
Ah but if we apply your theory of figures to your statement then are you not really? PS Im not trolling or whatever that is, i just dont get this bike! its a superbike cc without the superbike goodies, not a mid range 748 749 type thing that is well er mid range.........and might be applicable to the real world bollocks.....the fact is a twin doesnt work mid range, hence the 749 etc not really being competitive against inl4 600.....hence they went up to 848.....which is only a moped off of where they started with a superbike and now 900cc........ On the bigger picture i dont understand the direction, where has ducatis soul gone? trellis frame, SSSA, are all part of the history yet they have gone away from these, yet they insist on sticking with the twin. ] For me a RSV4 would of been the perfect next Ducati!
I have also wondered why Ducati have not looked into a V4 powerplant. Seems they are turning away from producing race inspired superbikes. Although Ducati is tiny compared to the leading race inspired manufacturers, aprilia managed it with the RSV.
Guess you need to think sales/marketing rather than racing. The new bikes look better in the flesh IMO, but my desires/likes are stuck mid 90's...:biggrin:
I like the look of the 1199 Panigale but I don't want a bike that is as powerful. The 899 is exactly what I want. It's lower power, looks fantastic, has more go than a buzzy 600 and allows me to buy a bike from my favourite marque. That the point. There are plenty of people like me, maybe more than people like you andyb. Your trolling of the 899 is very tiresome. You were wrong when you denied it was coming and you're wrong now saying there's no point. Give it up and make some decent contributions to the thread, please. I'm sick of your moaning about it, and I know you often have something worth reading to say, but unfortunately not on this subject.
well in terms of racing improves the breed.. I do agree with andy in certain regards and as it qualifies for no current established series so wont race against the best out there unless ducati twist on and force a rule change lol.. I would have preferred to see a straight thou cc wise....like a brand new cutting edge 999 ! it is in no-mans land at 899 - to me pointless and ducatis racing roadmap is a mess. wether or not thats important to you is a different thing and if you love it -buy it. I dont think anyone is knocking another for that....but from a racing perspective, and from my point of view - as I love racing - @899 its an irrelevant bike and one I would walk past if I was looking for a new race rep... I think it is easy to just throw the 'TROLL' remark out there instead of trying to debate ones point of view. has that grenade gone off yet peter
andyb, trolling..? As if... He is simply trying to pigeonhole the motorcycle but is failing to do so, simply because the bike fails to fit neatly into any one niche. This also explains why the japs are failing at the moment, they try to fit bikes into clearly marked niches, when no-one really wants that. What people want is a blingin' bike that is nice to ride. Unfortunately computers can't cope with such random input as 'bling' and 'nice', especially japanese ones.
i think it looks good and i'd have one if only i had some money, its fitting right in the smaller sportsbike market, but i wouldnt call it a superbike tbh, will be alot more fun than a gixer 600, and wont be so revvy as its competition if your putting it in that bracket, now wheres my lucky ticket
We'll find out if it's what people want very shortly. Sales figures are the only reliable source of taste. Personally taste is very hard to rationalise, and the manufacturers have to guess at what people really want. The japs use computers to work it out, the british just tell us what we want, and the italians...well, they drink their coffee much too strong, god bless 'em, come up with a total flight of fancy, then try to work out how to make it roadworthy...
I like your analogy lol but sadly you still haven't swayed me with your argument. racing defines the breed for race reps. just as the 800cc era in moto gp was a waste and irrelevant and didnt spawn any road bikes pressure from the manufacturers made the regs revert back to 1000cc. and customers relate to that. imho
