Who's read the comparison test (sort of..) in Dec Fast Bikes? 1299 king of the track according to that and 899 easier on the road. They're giving tested power for the 899 as 125 bhp, which I take it is rw for a bog standard machine. Sounds about right. They also say the 899 won't wheelie off the throttle unless pinned from a standstill in 1st. My KTM's only got 120 bhp at the rw and that will lift off the throttle in third. Perhaps they're doing it wrong..:Angelic:
899 is the best bike I've owned or ridden, and I've ridden a fair amount. Servicing isn't bad either IMO.
Yeah servicing not to bad 1198 meant to be bad , I had. The exp service on my 1199 16k think every 7500 m my zx10 is 3500 m
Same, come from Daytona's which are every 4K miles, the 899 is 7500 so if you are doing big mileage it's cheaper, haven't had an annual yet, I know the 15k service is valve clearances, from memory this is an every year job on a 848/1098? Anyway 125-130hp sounds about right as we have all said, the Daytona had 115hp at the wheel and I wouldn't say the 899 is night and day quicker
The clearances on the 899 is pretty pricey though, over a grand if my memory serves me correctly and a two day job.
Really? I was told the bike has to be in for two days as it has to come apart and to expect a bill anywhere between £800 and £1500 depending where you go...
So is the general consensus that the 899 is better than the 1299 if you're purely going to be using it on the road? I've got a CBR600RR just now that I'm looking to replace with a Panigale and I keep swinging between the 899 and 1299.
I don't think the 899 is better, but probably depends on whether u will get frustrated of shutting the throttle the whole time, my worry with the 1299 is that as soon as its revving I'm in jail basically and that frustrates me, the 899 is still v quick but can thrash it a little, I love it because it's a little highly strung, likes a good errr... Spanking....
I prefer being able to thrash a bike. Hence why I prefer my 899 to the previous 1199. Only thing I would say is the 899 lacks initial grunt even compared to my 848. Still a cracking bike though
It's fair to say now I've got used to it that the working range is about 1k higher than the 848 Evo, it loves to be revved. A big part though of it feeling 'weak' as people describe is running it in sport mode, the throttle is rubbish in sport mode, I have started using it in the 'high' mode, I.e race mode and it's so much more instant, better harder hitting power, the engine even sounds better. The initial power is too lazy in Sport mode, too 'fluffy' even with termi's and upmap
