Thanks for your reply, I planned to do one at Silverstone this year (California Superbike School), but circumstances and the weather have postponed that idea so far.
I must agree with gliddofgood with the track day advice. He is right also regarding the pressure one sometimes feels when being smoked by a less powerful less asthetically pleasing bike. However in my experience they are usually ridden by those types with primarni jeans and hitech trainers trying to prove a point oh and not fogetting the knock off bike branded fleece :smile:
Actually I bought a new Ducati 900 ss in 1980 and believe you me in its day it was quite something, it could be described as thePanigale of its era, so no it didn't take me 35 years experience to have a superbike.
Fair play, no disrespect intended. I just don't buy with the idea that XX years of experience makes for a better rider.
I was with gliddo until the gravel bit. Great way to learn what to do in panic mments is on track, But dont have them every corner eh and no reason why it has to end in disaster. Tuition is a great idea too, and CSS has a great rep alto I've mananged to teavh myslef using the books and vids online The only advice I will give is try an 848 as well
My experience was that a 916 was plenty to get to grips with on the track. If you open a Panigale right up on the straight, God knows what speed you are approaching the next corner at. You'd have to be pretty good at braking and cornering to deal with it. Very good even. In my view - bound to get it wrong while you're learning, hence bound to end up in the gravel trap. Not necessarily on day 1, but by day 6...? And if you're going to have a Panigale and not open it up on the track, where are you going to open it up?
I know what you're saying, and in my experince most dont open the throttle all the way, maybe in 2nd but trackdayers tend to short shift. I always did it was only when I started racing I used all the revs. On the road, my 848 was always through he revs and box, all the way into top, but on track you dont have the space or long corners to build the speed. Thats why leaving it in 3rd on most racks with a superbike can be as quick as jumping up and down the box I watched a vid of a mate from a month ago who has raced for 3 or 4 years now on small DD bike, and this year his 996 for the first time. He must have done literally thousands of trackdays over the years, yet you could hear he wasnt revving it out. Funny enough he started to and doesnt like he way it lifts the front and thought the suspension or geometry may need sorting; its simply that he's getting faster and using all the revs!
if this thread had started with the line 'I really want an 899' (or whatever the 848 replacement will be) I don't think anyone would have commented negatively. To me, a Panigale is a bad choice because: you're a road rider and you just don't need all that power on the road you live in the most congested area of the country - the South East - and you just don't need all that power on the road you have limited experience - 4,000 miles in 18 months isn't that much you are disregarding all the advice that says 'don't do it' and thanking all the people who say 'go for it'. You haven't met any of these people but you want them to validate your decision. You can have a lot more fun on a bike with almost no bhp than a massively powerful bike. In fact, you will learn a lot from the little bike and when you do step up, you'll be a lot faster but more importantly, you will be safer as you have experience to deal with issues as they arise. My advice would be to wait for the 899 to turn up and get that. You may find that delivery on the 899 is about the same as the 1199. I don't expect you to take this advice for the reason given above, but I hope that you do.
Nick, Its a beast, bit of a pig actually, you wont get on with it, Harsh choppy ride, under powered, duboius handling........if you buy one give it to me you wont like it! Welcome to the forums.
That's pretty interesting and surprising! It's true that of my first couple of track days I was short shifting (because at the time I thought that redlining my Ducati was being unkind to it....) . But all the later ones it was using whatever power the 916 had at its disposal. I've probably only ever spent 20 days on track. On the road, I am rarely over 7'000 (or spend very little time there). On the track I was barely ever under 7'000. But I'll be honest, I don't think I'd particularly want to attack the Triple Gauche at Ledenon, after the main straight at over 150 mph. That's a lot of savage braking. You are meant to take the corner (which tightens up) at 100 mph on your knee - but there aren't that many who do. So I doubt I'd be revving out the Panigale. Equally, the 748 and 749 got a great reputation as track bikes as people said that for most riders, they could get round almost more easily than the gruntier 916 and 999. Are there that many people who wring the neck of an 1198 on track? It does take a certain skill. Bet the 848 is a lot easier.
Pretty confident to say that uv had enough views of opinion pro/con a 1199 nick, your the one who`s gonna be riding what ever bike you get and its you who`s coughing up the dollar; its in your hands from this point on mate
