I don't know because the bike I had immediately before the 899 was a ZZR1400, so it's much different than that! Haha. Really wouldn't say it's bad personally, but everyone's opinion is different so the only real way to know would to give one a try.
Jap bikes are incredibly smooth being inline 4's. V twins are snatch low down, and let's face it, it's shit to ride in that part or the RPM range. So you'll have to get used to staying over 4000rpm to keep it smooth. Personally, I'd buy a cheap ZX9R or older fire blade and use that the commute. I would be so upset of my 899 (1299 in my case) had corroded away from using it daily.
Anyone thats riding all year round gone from a racebike to a more friendly commuter such as naked or adventure bike and then decided to go back to the racebike again?
Me twice 675 thought need something more sensible bought street triple R. Got bored after 6 months bought a 675R. It was wrote off and tried sense again. Bought a tiger 800 trying to be sensible. Lasted 6 weeks. Hated it. Got 899. Been on monster 1200 and scramblers after 899 debacle. Briefly thought about getting scrambler. Wised up and getting 1299 which I'll commute on. I can't seem to break away from sports bikes. Even if I owned say a monster I would take the 1299 unless it's horrendous weather.
Not sure if you follow Baron Von Grumble on youtube but he had a few years of commuting into London on various superbikes including the 899 ,but even he's jumped ship to a 1200 GSA. He was pretty hardcore too ,even took his gixxer off-road ( and dropped it). Sat on various adventure bikes at the show , all of them felt massive , some monstrous (1200 GSA/ your KTM). Ridden the Yamaha tracer in the past , found that pretty nimble. Gonna stick out commuting on the 899 as long as possible (until I can talk round the Mrs into letting me have another bike that is..)
It's weird. The KTM Adventure 1190R is awesome to ride, it genuinely feels like a racebike on the fast twisties, will wheelie and hooligan as much as the Panigale 1199 plus it's a perfect commuter but I still can't get comfortable with the sheer size of it in the garage. I'm tempted by the KTM 690 variants but they'll only really cruise around 90mph which is not great for long cross country riding for me. Plus anything that looks like a dirtbike is going to be a magnet for the police as I find out every time I commute on the two stroke Enduro. Maybe I'll be more comfortable once we move and get a bit more space. I still don't think a sports bike like the 899 is a great solution for all year round commuting but I'm not sure whats better. If it was my only bike then the 899 or 1299 are certainly capable.
I've never felt any problems using a sports bike all year round, only avoiding snow and ice conditions though. But I'm thinking, would it be just Ducati's will be harder due to using lower Rpm a problem? As they're v twins?
Not at all. The 1299 is smoother in traffic than my tiger 800. The 899 was easier than even my 675r. Maybe older models but not that I've found with the panigale.
Yeah, the auto rev match thing on the 899/1299 makes traffic work easier, the two main things are consider a upgraded clutch slave cylinder if u are doing lots of town work, same of most hydraulic clutch bikes tbh Also believe it or not, a few of us including @burndownthediscos definitely feel it's easier to ride in traffic with it in 'race' mode or with the throttle set to 'high' sensitivity, it's just more predictable... More like a 1-1 mapping. Also, a 1-2 tooth bigger rear sprocket to make it even better at low speed is £20 and won't knock much off the top end (if u use the top speed!!!) those 3 things amount to £120 and would all Make a great bike even easier to live with. It's my only bike, out all my financial eggs in one basket but I have had so many bikes and at least this one makes me giggle even on cold wet mornings! I also think the standard headlights are really good compared to some others, the full led ones off he 1299s would be even better but I rate them highly
I can believe this as even on the 1199 I ride it in race mode for commuting. Even though it's angrier it does feel more predictable. I've got the extra teeth rear sprocket as well but I'm not completely convinced on that for day to day riding. It tightens the bike up and makes it wheelie less in general use so I suppose it will feel friendlier to some but I quite like the looser revier feel of the standard gearing. On most tracks the extra rear teeth are completely wrong at average lap speeds, with the bike being either way too high or way too low in the revs coming out of slow corners. Once you suss out the track and get to top of the fast group speeds they then suddenly make perfect sense but it means you dont enjoy the slower laps as much and have to keep right on the boil all the time. No bad thing, and it's why I keep the gearing but I didn't expect it to be so similar at nearly every track.
What @Phill748 says is entirely correct. The mini rev blip as you set off in 1st makes the 899/1299 near unstallable in traffic. The clutch action on the 1299 is easier than the 899. Had they stuck the autoblipper on the 959 i would probably have considered it. The combo of all the gizmos and the fuelling make the 1299 so easy to commute on. The auto blipper is brilliant in the wet. During winter the heat is brilliant too!
Supercorsas are fine. I know they are often referred to as 'Superbastards' but it's just having confidence in them. I mean i know they will square off if you don't have any twisties on your commute. Luckily i do so on dry winter days i get the chance to lean a bit. I rode the demo 1299 in biblical rain a few days and even sleet on one occasion. Yes the TC light would flicker but it is that good that i have complete confidence in it stopping any slips or slides. Hand on heart i was going to put Supercorsas on the 899 when the second set of Rosso Corsas were done.
The 899 doesn't have supercorsa as standard, has rosso corsa which I think are much more suitable for all round riding. Personally I don't like riding in the wet on Supercorsa's, they don't have a lot of tread but that said they do generate heat quickly and are soft which helps.. Some love them, it's more about the personal preference. If your commuting u will go through a lot of tyres so I would say it's not drama to run a winter set and a summer set (that applies to any bike though surely)?
Thanks really don't want to hijack thread but last question (s) on this, how many miles did you get on your RC's on your slightly twisty commute? Any idea what the mileage on the SC's will be?
What factors would make you choose the Supers over the Diablo Rossos mate? Surely you can't exploit the extra on the road at all. I find the front on my 899 looses heat quickly and can be a bit 'wooden' sometimes... I don't personally really see the point in them on the road, especially for commuting myself?
On my 899 I got somewhere just over 3000 and a puncture repair on the rear. I then got a new set of RC's for £150 off 899 cup rider so stuck them on. SC's are roughly the same mileage according to Moby at MCN. Using the 1299 demo for so long allowed me to gauge the SC's and i think i'll get 2500 - 3000 again from the rear, more from the front. Having the twisties on my commute means that the tyre only really starts to lose profile in the depths of winter. But, as soon as the dry roads return they were sorted out as i can get a lick on over the last blast home. More feel from the front and rear was there straight away when i jumped on the 1299. AS @Phill748 mentioned they are soft and i find predictable. I've had them on a lot of bikes and i find they don't drop off. Whereas the RC's i definitely felt a drop off in performance after about 2000 odd miles. You just have to be sensible with them in the wet.
I get circa 3000 miles out of my RC's too , agree that the performance drops of at 2000 miles. My most recent set have felt skittish at 1500miles over this week but thats probably got something to do with the weather too. On a side note , I really can't get on with the Rain Mode, it never feels right. It always feels disengaged, 'artificial' , restrictive & unpredictable.
Within the first 800 miles on the RC's I was really worried about them squaring off! they looked awful for the mileage. they seem to have regained their shape after my 'spirited' cornering..
