To me its a bloody nice bike, far faster than anything I will ever be capable of pushing anywhere near its limits. Unless you are at the least a top level bsb rider you wont get close to what it can do. Pretty much it comes down to what bike you like the look of the best. racing wise the bikes all seem to be pretty close to each other now, so a brand new one will be at the back till its figured out. All the previous bikes seemed to be more of a evolution from the previous model. This looks more like a start from scratch bike, gonna have to give it time
is there a link to this? I have ridden both and they are quite different beasts. My aim is to be able to get my Panigale to work this year, but I struggled last year. It's a schizophrenic bike. Magic engine, crappy electronics, odd frame/setup. Pretty looking (compared to an RSV4 and S1000R certainly) and extremely light, but hard to ride fast I find. Have had mine back a week now and therefore settled again on it and pushing it along more briskly. It's a handful, frankly. Mainly because of the electronics not being able to give me what I ask for on the throttle. I would love to ride one with a mechanical throttle to see what the difference in the RBW meant. The new Ducati map is much improved, but still quirky. Give me a few weeks and I will thrash it a bit more and report back. I haven't tried it on track yet, where clearly it would be easier to ride than bumpy roads, as this bike also kicks you around a lot, there is nothing to grip between your legs for stability, and the throttle action is so light (there is no spring/cable/mechanical resistance) that every bump in the tarmac makes the throttle roll on and off through deflections in your hand position affecting the throttle so much...... But the WSB bike will have completely different electronics again - and wondering why they couldn't solve what seem to be to be basic issues. The frameless design means the bike feels like the front and rear don't react the same to what's beneath you, making it harder to push as you lack feel for grip and the road. I think that's the main effect, rather than that the bike is mechanically impossible of doing what it needs to. It's (for me at least) a confidence issue. The bike isn't stable, and does erratic things via the electronics/engine - and you have little road feel, so you don't push. For e.g. throttle response is inconsistent and you can't feel when it is going to "connect" with the engine and give you drive, it does "it's own thing based on what you ask" rather than what you actually asked for, and it's lumpy and jerky, under braking and downshifting, EBC doesn't react consistently from one situation to the next, it's abrupt and crude, and the throttle doesn't blip reliably either on downshifts. None of this helps the road bike, so presumably the electronics on the WSB bike to tame this engine must be tricky......
This isn't really sounding good. I think it's easy to forget sometimes why you want a sports bike in the first place. If it's for the road, you want it to be sporty but still able to deal with all that road riding implies. This means it still has to be rewarding and manageable at subsonic speeds. I just wonder how much more real fun it is than its predecessor, or predecessors. Sportsbikes have become ever more focused over the years, as they seek to shave lap times on track. This doesn't necessarily make them better road bikes. Certainly the 916 was a lot more focused than the 851. The 996, 998 just refined the concept. The 999's biggest advantage was that it made a better road bike than the 916 generation: more comfortable, more ergonomic riding position, whilst delivering a bit more power and brakes. My garagiste has always maintained that the 999 is an easier bike to ride than the 1098/1198, which are again more focused. I don't know if this is the case as they are some of the few latest generation Ducatis that I surprisingly haven't tried (have taken spins on Streetfighter, Hyper, Diavel and Mutley). But his opinion is one I respect as he is also a bloke who has done a lot of track time on all Ducatis over the years. WSBK and success in it drives sales, so sports bikes have to provide good bases for WSBK victories. Strangely, that might not make them such good road bikes. Sure, sports bikes have to be pretty cutting edge, but one of the things people appreciated about the Fireplace was that it made a great road bike whilst winning nothing in WSBK for which it wasn't eligible for ages. There comes a point when your weapon is so sharp you can't really use it. I have to say that if I was to upgrade my 999, I think I'd be more likely to look for a 1098/1198 rather than a Pani (whose looks don't do much for me anyway).
Glidd, I agree with that sentiment, but even with a stable of very focussed bikes (which I am used to), the Panigale is not easy to handle. I find the 848 I have far easier - but get this - the Desmo is much easier as well other than the fact that it overheats at less than 40mph. The Desmo engine is sublime, chassis is sublime (but stiff) and the bike has fantastic ergonomics (for me). How can it be that the Desmo is a better road bike than the Panigale? It's because it has a fantastic engine with a very good throttle. Sod how stiff it is, you have control of the bike. The Panigale chassis is much softer, much easier to ride on the road, but the throttle/engine connection makes it hard to control the bike. Daft. But potentially fixable stuff with the right electronics.... 848 is by far the best road bike of my stable. You can use it hard on road, it's relatively more stable (heavier), power is manageable on road and throttle control/delivery is excellent even with a QA throttle. I will get my Panigale to work eventually - I am determined!
The first (track-based) test reports all noted that the bike behaved far better once they had played with the back-torque settings (although I'm buggered if I can remember whether they increased or decreased it), apparently it makes a big difference to corner entry stability/confidence. Yep, that's pretty much why I've given up on sportsbikes. Even my old RSV was a pig below 100mph, Britain's too crowded to make any use of a sportsbike these days.
