Today I could resist no more and took out the Ducati Nottingham V4 demonstrator for a ride. I was intending to ride over there on my S1000R but the battery had failed so I ended up riding over on the 1299S, which made comparisons between the two bikes easier. I took the bike from Beeston down to Upingham and back on a mixture of smooth A roads and bumpy B roads. The clutch was very grabby (slip, grab, slip, grab) whilst the engine was cold, but started behaving nicely as the engine warmed up. I found the V4 is quieter than the V2 at least from a rider’s point of view. The OEM seat on the V4 is grippier than the equivalent V2 item. I have changed the seat on the V2 for a better one but might not bother doing the same if I got a V4. The gearbox on the V4 is a big improvement over that on the V2. It is on a par with Honda and Aprilia gearboxes and is no longer the agricultural unit that I have grown accustomed to on Ducatis. I found little difference between the quickshifters on the two bikes. I found the display on the V4 mildly annoying. I am probably like most V4S riders in that am no spring chicken and I now need reading glasses. The display is neat and shows everything that you would expect but many of the items are borderline too small to read easily without glasses. Couple this with the vast swathes of empty space on the display and pehaps you can see what I am getting at. Ducati could have used some of the empty space and made the existing display items bigger. The tacho takes up a lot of space too, just to show you how fast the engine is running. I think that the displays on both the V2 and the earlier 1098S made better use of the available space. The V4 handling is pretty good, but several things conspired to make it hard to do a direct comparison. It wasn’t very warm today and the roads were damp in places. The V4 wore the OEM Pirelli Supercorsas which were well past their best (1800 miles on the demo bike) and didn’t really get hot. I use M7RRs on the V2 which function much better in those conditions. The front on the V4 felt reluctant in a few places. In race mode, the V4 suspension was very harsh, just like the V2. In sport mode both bikes were better behaved. I am a lightwight at 65kg so this is to be expected. I have dialed in some softer settings on the V2 but didn’t have time to do the same on the V4. I preferred the brakes on the V2 but they are pretty good on both bikes. The better feeling on the V2 might be down to the difference in tyres (see above). Now to the engine... WOW! That is all that needs to be said. Will I get one? Well that depends on a few things. My V2 is now 400 miles short of requiring a desmo service so if I keep it for anothr year that will need to be done. My existing insurance is up at the end of November so I have until then to decide. I have not yet enquired as to how much it would be to swap. The trade-in quote on the V2 was disappointing but much as expected. Nobody seems to ride their bikes very far these days so a bike that has done 5k miles per year for three years is considered to be high mileage. I do loads more than that, which is one of the reasons I bought a second bike! Just one final thought... The engine on the V4 is ballistic when you open it up. On the way home after the test ride I gave the V2 a handfull and it was ballistic too...
done 2600 miles this year on my V4 and I would not go back. The v4 has a less annoying character than the V2 that's al I can say. But if I had the resources I would have had both the 1299 and V4 in my garage as they are both fantastic bits of kit. Theres no right or wrong its just what you prefer ( they are both terrible on fuel haha).
I have the 1299Rfe for about six months now. I came from a 998s ( which was in my eyes the best bike I have ridden ) Never had a lot of money in younger years when i only rode older used bikes. So the 998s was allready like a dream. And i still miss the 998s even though the 1299R rides fantastic. On the 998sfe I did and could do all the maintenance which made me love and connect with the bike. It was really a pleasure to work on now its more like a struggle. Even to adjust the gear change lever.. Now i have a display with lots of options ( probably seldom use ) where before i had 3 clocks and some small light. If the v4 is better than the older bikes it must be heaven to ride. The next one will probably be even better... better how? Maybe next generation bikes will drive for you..? Something in my mind is not logical.. what happens to a driver that has only driven a bike with many rider aides when you put them on a well performing 998 or such? Crash or no crash because the bike has natural limits? Anyway.. every bike is the best of his age. Not better or worse. Just newer. The price goes up for things we probabbly not really need. And yes I am very curious how a V4 rides bud I will probabbly never buy it. It wasnt until they brought out de 1299Rfe that i concidered buying a pani. For me the the last of the "real handbuild" were the 996, 998, 999 series. You could recognize them from a mile away as a Ducati..
Get yourself along to Ducati Waterloo and take out a V4 for a test ride! But I'm sure the FE is pretty dam amazing too...
Does anyone think they might change the v twin like firing order down the line once people are more used to Ducati making a V4. Not that I think the bike sounds bad at all, far from it. If I’m being honest though I do think my previous Aprilia sounded nicer, although that could have had something to do with the full Akra system on it vs the standard Euro 4 compliant system on the Panigale!.
The main difference being the V4 has almost 100hp more than the 998. I don’t see how improving components enables the bike to ride itself, if manufacturers didn’t compete and make progress we wouldn’t have a motorcycle market.
