This is a very interesting thread with lots of valid points. The main thing is regardless of what each of us think is best, the 899 or 1199, they are both Ducati, are both awesome bikes and as long as each individual does what suits them, then that's all that counts. Stick yer arse on what's good for you and ride the nuts off her. Enjoy !
There was a girl on a blade on a trackday I went on a while back and I couldnt get near her. There were some really fast guys who couldnt get near her either.
That's a bit startling - about ten minutes ago I was reading a long-term test in Bike magazine which said, hang on, I'll dig it out: "power and feel from the one-piece Brembo calipers and support of the wide bars mean the 899 buries itself in the road with the shortest stopping distance we've ever datalogged". In general this is an interesting thread mind, as pretty much every 899 vs 1199 review I've ever googled says that in this instance smaller really is better, best real-world sports bike out there etc, but the Ducatisti verdict is a bit different.
Brakes are rubbish comapred to my old 848 fitted with monoblocks/hel lines, and compared to the m50 caliers on a 1199 they are shocking. Maybe they havent datalogged a 1199 braking. Im in no doubt the 899 is a better real world bike, but id of only wanted to spend coin on upgrading lots of bits anyway so migh of well buy the big one to start. Am i not correct in saying that the 899 decals arent even lacqued over?
I believe 848 and 899 both have M4 monoblocs? Just FYI I found out in the last few months that 1199 requires different braking approach (squeeze harder!) due to it having ABS. Not sure if this is due to the M50 calipers or the brembo SA pads. It actually stops harder than my 848. A lot harder. Changing to EBC HH pads recently gave me some of that initial bite's strength back, but i think the peak bite is not any different from the brembo pads.
I find on the 1199 brakes fade a little bit on the track, no big deal really and the problem will go away with proper pads. It's that bad, I'm not going to replace them until they are done. SFA to do with ABS.
Glad my topic has been met with a few "interesting thread" comments. I was worried this would be a well-trodden subject that I'd somehow missed. I've got a few things bubbling in my head, but I think the biggest two factors are these - 1. I've never done the litre bike thing before and 2. I have always worked on the basis that my bike is my leisure vehicle so having now decided to keep my trusty diesel 3 series instead of chopping it in for an M135i, I think I can maybe justify changing my bike next year. I worked my way up to 600s for quite a few years then up to my 750 and now the 848, but having owned the 750 for 6 years and now 18 months on the 848, I think I'm maybe just wanting to try the litre class with now being pretty used to 130ish bhp (I'll include the 1199 in the litre class for easy counting). I really need to ride one first before knowing what I want to do, and doing nothing is still probably the most likely option. Having the feeling that I'm barely scratching the surface of the bike isn't one I like though, which happens at times already (and always has), adding another 50bhp might just mean I get frustrated as I know I've got too much restraint to go properly mental on the road. Seeing the 1199s blasting by me on track recently just gave me that feeling that I absolutely had to try one for a while at least. If there is to be an 899S with ohlins all round and a single swinger then that would be hard to beat I reckon, but I can't see it happening as it'll rob sales from the 1199... but they used to make the 748/749 models like this. Kinda like the 911 / Cayman thing. Anyway, lots of water to pass under the bridge first no matter what I want to do.
