Ha, u had me worried! It's all tripe though, all the mags are gonna say the same stuff, the same pre loaded stuff, none will say anything remotely negative about it regardless of what it rides like, kinda lost faith that there are any journo's out there that tell it how it is these days. The exhausts just don't matter to a journo, and i notice all the press bikes have the akrapovics fitted, nice move Ducati ;-)
Reading MCN's live launch with Neevesy, so far he's saying it doesn't really feel any different to the 899, and that he can't feel any of the 'extra'.
I wonder if u can fit the parts to lower the swingarm pivot on the 899, if it does indeed give more rear grip? There is a well documented issue with the Sachs rear shock 'locking out' over fast bumps on the road, and being a little 'vague', wonder if they have taken the opportunity to fix that? MCT fix it by modifying the oil ways for £175 and it's the only modification I want to go to mine. Also I want to know if the 959 can auto calibrate to a '55' rear tyre, and if that change will be made in software to allow the 899 too. The new Pirelli tyres being released don't come in '60' so choice is a little bit more limited than I would like, I wanted to give Metzeller M7rr's a try
Im undecided on the 959. Nice lookin bike still but, the exhausts.... I cant wait to see what its priced at over here in IE. They have the 899 at 17.5k euro !!! Its mad money imo. I reckon the 959 will be closer to 19k euro (?). I will confirm when i know. If ppl were in the market, they'd probably be better with the current 899.....Will the 959 offer that much more of a gain?
More to the point, will the 959 offer that much extra fun on the roads over the 899? It appears it will not offer any extra fun as you look at it in the garage.
I have been waiting since summer for the launch of the 959. I was in Milan over the weekend at EICMA and I must say, the exhausts have completely ruined the bike for me. I was genuinely mortified when I saw them. The stock cans look really cheap and the Akra isn't much better! The lines of the bike have been ruined for me. I have just placed a deposit on a new 899 with Akra slip-ons, as I much prefer the looks of the under seat exhausts. I think the 899, 1199 and 1299 in their current forms are going to be timeless machines. With Euro 4 and big catalytic converters we will see the end of the slim sports bikes, with decent sounding exhausts. Ironically dealers are selling their new 899's since the launch of the 959. A few dealers have one left at list price and one dealer in the SE has sold his last 3 new ones since the 959 launch. Very happy to have purchased one of the last new 899's left! The 959 might be a better bike, but I can't get past those exhausts.
your probably right matt , was thinking possibly of the termi system price, great ehh buy a 13k bike then hand over £3500 to make it look like last years,
Wonder where they are getting 899's? Are they white? I tried to buy one in July and Ducati had closed the order book, then my 4 closest dealers couldn't get one, managed to get a used one with 700 miles on it.
I visited the factory on Monday as part of my trip and they are still producing 899's for a small period of time. Dealers have had stock since the summer, you just have to ring around. My dealer has a new white one left and two more reds.
I see, well I saved loads and got Termi's and the bike was literally as new but it's just a bit odd that 3 different dealers just gave me a flat no! I know that quite a few dealers have had some white ones but wanted red.
It would seem the 1299 will be the same next year as it appears side exit exhausts will not be Euro 4 compatible from what i have read today. First reports are the 959 has more linear power and is marginally better on the brakes than the 899.
