Just looking for some opinions on the 899 if anyone rides daily all year round or knows some that does. I wanted to see if the 899 works as a daily bike, as I'm planning to swap the sf848 for something else and considered a few options, and one maybe trying another Yamaha or sticking to Ducati
I use mine for going to and from work every day that it's semi-warm and not going to be hammering down with rain and I love it. It's still fine in the wet when I get caught out from time to time, can't fault it to be honest.
When I took mine in for a service, there was a guy that used his everyday to commute to London. 30k miles in a year he'd done. Personally I can think of better commuter bikes, not to mention I can imagine a lot of the nuts and bolts corroding with frequent wet use. Salt will kill it with all the exposed metals. Tyres square off pretty quickly. Bit of a pig to properly clean and the radiator gets filled with crap. Not ideal really bud in my opinion.
I'm using mine most days, have ridden in some truly horrific weather but won't use it when it gets snowy. As others have said, corrosion will be the worry but no worse than any other bike tbh, it's all about looking after it. The Pirelli corsa tyres are still quite soft and my rear has squared off pretty quick! For winter u should consider some much more suitable tyres. Wet mode is incredible though, you would need to be an idiot to loose the rear end tbh the traction control is superb and the default wet mode is so gentle it becomes boring in anything other than absolute downpour! I run mine in medium power mode for wet (softens the delivery slightly but still max power) and in sport and race I use max engine mode which is pretty aggressive. Heat wise, it gets warm, nowhere near as hot as an 848 Evo used too! But compared to your SF it may be warm in the summer. Body position wise, I really like it, it's MUCH better than the 848 Evo, much shorter reach and nice wide bars, finally the mirrors I think are superb, no shaking etc. Also the 899 has an anti stall (well the newest ones do) so in traffic when u let the clutch out it rev Matches and u can basically ride to about 12mph with no throttle, makes life much easier!
I don't remember his name, but yeah it had, had some serious use. Seem to remember him saying he'd done exactly the same with his 848Evo, and previously to that his R1. We covered the idea of running in your bike, he told me he'd hit 145 on the way back from picking his up from the dealer lol and didn't know what running in was. It actually didn't look in bad nick to be fair, but he was washing it daily.
strange thing to say being a biker I use mine daily, no exception, do 250 miles a week to work and back on it + weekend miles. Clean it at weekends get it covered in ACF during the winter. No issues yet. Ive commuted on sports bikes for the best part of the last 6 years. (last 3 bikes were 675's)
i have to strongly disagree here cars are for sitting in traffic like the rest of the sheep, bikes are for having fun on all year round
I'd agree, that's a pretty odd thing to say to another biker... At the end of the day I've used mine in sub-zero temperatures on the standard rubber and been just fine, just needs a little bit of caution on the throttle and in the corners. If you're riding it through shitty weather you know you've got less grip and ride accordingly, that's all you can do. Back to the original post though, I changed out my fasteners for Titanium versions for the ones that were going hairy (after only a month of riding I hasten to add!!) but you could easily do the same with SS versions for a fraction of the price and it would save them corroding as much if that's the only real issue people can think of.
In summer when i'm stuck in my car i totally agree. I look at bikes with envy in those instances. However in winter i look at people riding bikes around in the cold/horrible weather with a slight wiff of pity. I get people ride bikes to save time in busy city's but im fortunate my commute is 2 miles/5 minutes.The time saved by not being a sheep is surely lost in terms of time wasted washing a bike everyday?
Yep, pretty odd comment, especially seeing as it's got nothing to do with whether a 899 is a daily ride or not.
You dont need a bike, thats a skateboard commute! Last year was my first winter since learning to ride a bike and I was determined to ride all through the year. I had a right laugh and learnt a shed load about riding. I dont mind even the worst of the rain and wind as waterproof gear is so good but the problem is you really can tell the difference when a bike has been rode through the winter salt and I dont want to do that with the Ducati. I actually bought a KTM 1190 Adv R because it's a much better commuter and better suited to crap conditions but even that I'm not too keen on having it out in the winter salt to be honest. I've got no cash or space for more bikes but I think next year I'm going to spend a couple of grand on something old just for the winter and then sell it on again in the spring.
Depends how anally retentive you are with your bike I guess mate lol. Me personally I wash mine at weekends but never every day, I’d die of boredom. Im not arsed if the pipes look a bit tatty/not as shiney as they were new, I just want the thing to put a smile on my face when I’m riding it cos with my commute (the m25 shit fest) every smile counts, it really does. I’ll chop it in at the dealers in a year or two and they can spruce it up or whatever. As d8mok said I believe it makes you a better rider riding all year round. I totally appreciate some people want to keep their bikes spotless/immaculate but mine will never be like that, I go to museums and suchlike to look at bikes like that
its nothing to do with keeping my bike clean. I just dont get pleasure from riding when its cold/wet/winter. Not much more to it really. I dont envy those who do it either.
not a strange thing to say , its stupid riding a bike in sleet, snow icy conditions, you aint got no control if the bike goes, and don't tel me your gonna save it on your elbow, cause that's bullshit, strange thing to say to biker? I don't think so its the truth could save him if he thinks ooohhhh he could be right, come on then sheep follow the thumbs down,
