Performance Bikes magazine let Michael Rutter thrash both an 899 and a 1199 round Mallory this year. The 1199 was 2.7 seconds quicker than the 899....but they reckoned the 899 was quicker round Gerard's and still a huge amount of fun.
In race trim smurz 1199 was 5 seconds a lap quicker than the fastest 899 at mallory but obv smurz bike has alot more spent on it than the 899s
If someone said "here have a free bike, free insurance , free tyres and free servicing" I'm sure nearly everyone would say they would have a 1199 over a 899.
i agree. But on basis of being equal there's lots of women that have 30A boobs with 32DD bra's. Edited to add - nobody has gone 1199 to 899 but a few on here have gone 899 to 1199. And now I've said boobs exige will be along shortly
Ok. I'll bite. For me it was bangs for bucks. Given the state of the roads (and that's where I do my riding), the restrictions on those roads, the number of speed cameras all over the place, etc etc I really couldn't get any more out of any bike for the riding that I do. So I didn't feel the need, nor could justify to myself that I should spend twice as much as I did (which I could do if I wanted, thankfully) for a toy that I use for a day or two every week for six months of the year, if I'm lucky. I have better things to spend my money on. And so I do. I have no problem with others spending two or three times as much as I have on a bike if that's what they want to do.
Glad you've bitten. We've discussed the physical side of riding the bike but now the numbers and costs. I agree it's about bang for buck. Initial outlay is only part of the story as we need to look at values when we sell too. I'm gonna hazard a guess that my 1199 will cost me less than a 899 would of done but let's see. What's a 2 year old 1199 gonna be worth compared to a 899? Maybe we can revisit this thread when we both swap our bikes and compare cost?
I bought my 899 new £12500, I got 10k back a year later, so all I have lost is the vat that I paid. Did 7,000 miles on her and had a lot of fun
your lucky ive 22k in my just over 1 year old S and not had a higher bid than 14k, as low as 12k, so think you may have had some depreciation hid in the new deal, my pal had a streetfighter 1198 lost £8oo when p/x against a zx10 but the zx was priced at 13k , not 10k like you can get em for,
I think the main jist is if you want an 899 you get an 899 if you want 1199 you get one of those ! No doubt in a couple years i will jump to an 1199/1299 but out of everything i test rode i felt quicker and more at ease on the 899 !coming from a 600 the 1199 just felt too much and delivered the power in a sledge hammet type of way.... Its awesome for sure but i dont want to have to hold back too much worrying about the bike biting me in the asse!
Could have bought the 1199 and rode it around in wet mode? lol But seriously I am kidding mate, I saw the 1199 stealth earlier this year and fell in love with it. The 899 for me personally was lacking in a couple of areas, plus the fact I have the 848 Streetfighter too and decided that I only needed one mid range bike in the garage, so the 899 was swapped in for the stealth.
Yeah I was lucky, I was expecting part ex of 9k when he offered me 10 I nearly bit his hand off, not sure what you mean by depreciation in new deal, the bike is new and unregistered. They have fitted F.O.C (No parts cost or labor) Venture shield Wheel/Fork protectors Transferred all my after market bits from 899 to 1199s no labor charge Pegs, Levers, Rad guards, tail tidy & Bike Trac. I had ordered a couple of bits which I paid for (Rizoma pots all round) F.O.C fitting. Upgrading free slip-ons to full system. I believe the cost of the system from dealer (down pipes and headers) is £1200 I have been asked to make a contribution of £800 for parts and being charged 2.5hrs labor instead of the 5hrs quoted in book. So al in all I think I have done ok.
I test rode the stealth and it is beautiful ! Yer i could of used wet mode but then might aswell still have the 899 lol yer cant see any point with an 848 and 899 but i still think the 899 was quicker allround than the 848evo i tried! The main thing is is that you're happy with your choice ... Ive come from ringing the neck off a 600 tried a few 1000 4s and they were too much tried the 1199 was still to much so the 899 felt the best to me i could give it the beans and it had abit more thsn my 6 but hsndled sweeter ! Give it a good year on the 899 maybe 2 then if i crave more i know where to go next ! I wouldn't want to get an 1199 and not be able to use it how i like but i need to change my riding style as i kept hitting the rev limiter whwn i was on 848 and 899 because im used to screaming a 600 lol
My 848 is the Streetfighter though so could have argued two different styles but decided I wanted a beast to go with my hooligan bike. I got my first V twin in 2005. 749 I did exactly the same kept hitting Rev limiter in the lower gears coz I had been used to a screamer. I have only owned the mid range bikes since then, 749, 848, 899. So 9yrs of riding those thought it was time I manned up and bought a big one lol. I'll never be able to ride it to its full potential and I doubt I will even make 2/3rd of its full potential but I will enjoy it like I have all my other Ducati's irrespective of their faults in the past. Been really lucky though. Slight stalling prob with my 1st 749. My first 848 sports bike the wire for immobiliser from ignition switch broke and they are the only problems I have ever had out of my 7 Ducs.
Part of the reason I went for the 899 is the 'lack of grunt' and decent top end. The most fun I've ever had on two wheels is riding a 2T - the 899 and 1199 are like 2T's on steroids. I chose the 899 as it's a better fit for my ability and cheeper.
Quite an interesting debate. For what it's worth, I've had an 851, 916, 749, 999 and done many thousands of miles on each. I've had a short blat on an 899 and the MV F3. Conclusions (for my personal tastes): The 916 was more extreme than the 851 and considerably faster, but not as comfortable (although the 851 didn't seem that comfortable at the time). Brilliant when ridden fast. All in all a fab bike. Did a little track with it and saw that things had moved on. I also put it in the gravel and a friend wanted to buy it off me so I sold it to him. Couldn't afford a new 999, so bought a new 749. I was rather disappointed. It was heavier on fuel than than the 916 and not as fast. Annoyingly, it lacked mid-range stomp, requiring a lot of gear changes, particularly for overtakes. I preferred the lazier 916 power delivery. There might not have been much difference in peak power, but the 916 had far more torque lower down and was nicer to ride. The 749 was more comfortable. The 999 was more like the 916 but with the relative comfort of the 749. Torque was back, as was a notable power increase. Brakes were much better than the 916. And for the last 9 years that is where I have been. I was mightily impressed with the brakes of the Streetfighter when I rode one some years ago. I was a little disappointed by the 899 when I had a short blast on it (albeit over twisty roads I know very well). It didn't seem to have the stomp of the 999. Once again, top end power is a bit of an irrelevancy on the road. What you really want is something that is exciting up to 100 mph, but will cheerfully do a lot more if required for long trips. And I was disappointed in the brakes, which weren't nearly as good as the MV's that I had ridden an hour earlier over exactly the same road. So my conclusion has been that the 999 remains a superb bike, which, if it had slightly better brakes, would be pretty much ideal. The whole track thing is a completely different kettle of fish. On a track, you are trying to squeeze out every horsepower and spend all your time wringing a bike's neck. If it's got a few more gee-gees up top, you probably notice them. What it does at 4'000 rpm isn't very important. But on the road? You just can't ride like that, or you'd either end up in jail or dead. It doesn't mean you have to hang around, but the track is just not comparable to the road if you want to stay alive. So comparisons of bits of a second around a track is only useful to sell magazines, not for deciding on the bike to buy (unless you are often going to use it on track). I wouldn't swap midrange for top end, given that the top end I have already is probably good for somewhere in the region of 160 mph (which I can't use). Because of racing and marketing (one and the same), Ducati have been making over-square engines which rev higher and produce more power, sacrificing torque along the way. I suspect that these make better track bikes but worse road bikes, which is sort of why I haven't been in any hurry to get one. The Panigale seems to have taken this theme even further: more power, no more (or less) torque. But then if the 899 has even less torque, it's not going to be so fun on a day when you've already done 200 miles and have another 100 or so to do.
