Hi, I've owned an 899 for the last two years and enjoyed it for all the reasons already stated by others. My only slight criticism shared by my brother, who coincidentally also has an 899!, is that lack of midrange pull. We both went and test rode a 1299S and a 959 last w/e and came away thinking that there is enough of an improvement on the 959 to consider a trade in. I could live with the Akrapovic side exhaust but prefer the look of the underbelly cans, after seeing Riders of Bristol offering a bike with that set up my question is, what is the weight saving over a Akrapovic side exhaust and is there a performance gain? Si White
I think the extra torque is noticeable through the midrange, the clutch is a lot lighter and I also thought the fairing protection was better. Bearing in mind I don't have termis on my 899 which would make a slight difference and is still a fantastic bike and in my opinion just about right for road riding.
If u think the 959 has enough factors and u can afford the change then worth doing, however. My personal view is that u could remap the 899 to open up some more midrange (perhaps with a set of exhausts) and change the gearing slightly (+1 rear, +2 perhaps) and it would probably deliver what u want. The funny thing is that on a dyno, the 899 has more torque at lower RPM than a 848 evo, but to ride the 848 feels like it digs holes in the ground behind it, especially when it has a 14t sprocket. I don't mind revving mine too much, I would like a lighter clutch and probably a slipper clutch for confidence on track Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
