2 wks on the Pani

Picked her up as it begun raining, sweet, a reason to clean it tomorrow.
Cleaning the bike made me appreciate the quality, all those little bits and the way the thought has gone into the styling from the pegs to the stand to the sub-frames. The lines of the fairing are so elegant, sexy and nothing is without purpose.
Plate hanger needs to go!
Dash is a work of art, if I was 6 (which every time I look at it and think, thats mine, i feel 6) I could just turn the ignition on and off, on and off, on and off watching the pretty lights.
Plastics of the fairing are a little on the thin side.
Tax disc, where is it? nice place to put it - to the rad gill. coming off and under the seat cowl - what the fuck is that, a tool kit! Honestly I dont know why they bother BUT, the shity bag they put the couple of crap tools in fits a disc lock perfectly, the space for the kit is big enough for a waterproof bag with some spare fuel money ETC and the tax disc and (now wrapped) disc lock sit flat under the seat cowl - and thats ya lot!!
So now cleaned and polished, what does it ride like??

Getting used to the QS takes a bit and regardless to what Seastar say, my advice is only use it when the revs are above 4k and make sure ur firm with it cos if not it can be a bit clunky at low revs and it has missed twice for me and when iv been over taking so its revved hard and high-from this point on I sacked the QS till the first service.
Not aiming to do a review Il leave all the glitz, similes and metaphors and just say `ITS FUCKING AWESOME`

Iv said it before, all you 1199 haterz, what planet are you on this thing is the tits! I wanted a race bike and THIS IS just that; suspension too hard, no its not! there is nothing wrong with it, i can feel so much more from the tyres, can throw it over harder faster and with more precision.
Seat is very hard but again, it helps with feed-back.
Breaks, do just that. and so they bloody should-very well with no fade, lots of strength and feel.
Riding position is fantastic, I could sit in the saddle for hrs and not have bad knees, back or neck - in fact iv done hrs on it and apart from a sore arse ( which if you slide back off the tank it has a nice curve to the seat and sorts u out a treat) I cant fault it. Its like riding a push bike in terms of the feel. It puts you in control and its effortless to maneuver with the high/wide-ish bars.
Basically it rides and handles and stops as good as the mags say in their Hollywood way.
Instruments in general are brill, took a bit of adjustment getting used to the feel of the turn signal and the mode button in the middle of it. Horn button on the small side-but a good sound. Not really played around with all the functions and set-up cos well its a bit tricky, the block showed me but all I heard was `BLAH BLAH BLAH and release, BLAH BLAH BLAH and hold` I was smiling and nodding but in my head I was shouting, ` GIVE ME THE FUCKING KEYS TO MY NEW BIKE, I WANT TO PLAY`
Fueling was to begin with shite, I was mostly in 2/3rd gear to go at 30mph and only could get any higher by going on bigger roads but after each day/another 100 mile it got smoother at lower revs and now (600 odd mile) im just cruising at 30 in 5th ; intelligent ECU they say, or lazy and couldnt be arsed to do it so themselves? A little thirsty but its getting better - not bought for efficiency!!
Gear box is smooth as silk and solid, robust I would even say.
So far I cant fault it on any level. Once I had it on my drive I though, is it worth it, but now, YES 100 `/. even more so when I dragged my hulk of a GSXR1000 out and comparing the 2 makes me repulsed at the sight of it (not so much I wont ride it) but its like beer goggles! iv awoken to see Iv been sleeping with a wench and every time I go out on the 1199 and come home I feel inside Iv been out cheating on my wife of 8 yrs, and showing the yrs, with some sexy little italian minx who`s F****d me senseless.
Its taught me things about what a bike can do, some may say rider aids, I say bling. Damn straight bling- I paid for that cos I wanted it, Jealous? dont hate the player hate the game and the rules have changed. sadly very dog has its day and today is the day of the 1199s and even for a few they are reading this saying `TRICORLOR MO-FO` to-chay but then you only have the slip ons, Iv got full system. youve got some paint but if I bought a Ferrari and got asked what colour would sir like or if I wanted strips Id slap the bloke. Far play you get ur data logger ting, but is it worth the 2k that I could pay to fit it to mine? yes if my pockets were that deep. for the bling why not.

I smashed on 450miles in 4 days mostly in glorious sunshine we had at the end of the month and another 200 miles in the shity end/beginning of Aug and its a dream. Id go past some people and they were too busy dribbling to nod, the sound from the exhausts makes me laugh inside my helmet. the thumping from the engine at curtain revs when im getting on the gas actually makes my hoop wanna give up holding on and iv thought Id literately would shit myself. Its the whole package its everything they intended; for me right out of the create. If you want comfort, economy etc then ANY sports/race bike is a wrong choice. I love it cos it is what it is cutting edge and hard cord and sat next to a 12k jap bike even mine thats had 7k spent tricking it up the 23k for the 1199 is worth every penny. ridden in heavy rain and baking sun for 2 wks solid, on blasts and on town runs. NOT A PROBLEM.

If you can afford it and have thought about it.....GET IT. Every time I look at it, start it, ride it and get off it its like im 17 again on a 400 and iv just ragged the back roads, remember that buzz? Or the buzz u got as a spunky teenager getting to feed the pony. Some folks do crack, I do Motorbikes. Cheaper and better for your health. 1199s Panigale THE BEAST

 

And I did what i posted about the tail Tidy, bought the same LED flexible arrays, used everything from the original plate hanger, although paid the garage to do it as I have no tools and didnt wanna F it up. interestingly, after day 2 I got a stone flick of the the rear wheel and chip the rear light-if the tail tidy was done earlier the plate would of acted as a shield! £130 for a new light. It loooks better than in the link and I ditched the idea of carbon wrap. will put pics on, but if anyone is in/near Norwich u can meet me to look at. Chris Lewis at Shaun Taylor Racing, Norwich did the work. hes done all the mods to my gixxer and is quality. I highly recommend them for any work

 

LOL I wasnt aiming to become a column writer, but what the people want..... Termi system and first service this fri, and the weather looks good so I can see what the higher end of the rev range is like
Watch this space;pics will follow also

 

cant wait to see what its like at the top of the revs, after hearing people liking the high end Im already itching to hear it sing. stroker power band ting! happy days. Im moist already