Great video, goes through everything with down to earth explanations on whats what.
How much is the killer question for an S.
Didn't they say it was going to be 36 for std, and 40 for s
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Originally Posted by Gonzo
If it rotates, oscillates, gyrates or reciprocates, put something slippery on it.
For anyone that missed it earlier.
season 2012 is coming.....
and the upcoming demo day I'll be there, along with everyone else i expect :-)
Who said there'll be a demo day?
First Ducati 1199 Panigale off the assembly line
The tour of that factory was awesome!
Ducati 1199 Panigale: Escaped to the mountains... - YouTube
There goes a waste of making making this Panigale advert ;-), this is what happens when non riding ad exec's make motorcycling ad's.
He who dies with the most toys wins!
Pretty funny!!
WTF? Who comes up with this retarded bullshit? Then again, I suppose it's for the ducatisti so I'm not meant to understand it when a bike meant for the racetrack is shown for <30% of the time, spends no time doing anything interesting, looks like a bad CGI effect for its intro and comes to a wobbley stop.
So, you think the Ducatisti think that's a great ad?
I'm going to go on the other side of the fence and say it's not a terrible ad, outside the horrid CGI.
Cam is wrong. No one listen to Cam.
Shame we can't order Ducatis over the internet eh. The usual excuses (taxes, market size, competition) account for a few percent. The fact is we, and most of the world get raped in order to subsidise the US market. This has nothing to do with the local distributors or dealers. It is the factory that effectively sets the costs. Particularly bad recently with the Aussie dollar so high, but it really sh*ts me the US are treated with such kid gloves at our expense. Applies to many consumer goods. Thats why internet sales are through the roof, which must be part of the reason the US market is so huge. Which also contributes to the diminishing sales in Australia. Vicious circle really.
Last edited by fangitjoe; 04-02-2012 at 09:09 PM.
How can people possibly say the front end looks like a CBR?? Thats almost blasphemy.
CBR = Parrot hitting a glass window and sliding down.
Panigale = Sheer Italian sex appeal.
Just a little upset now cause i want the tricolor and i dont think i can find an extra 35k+ for it >.<
Troy Bayliss via Twitter (press test rides are due to kick off this weekend I think?):
"Only one bad point , law, speedo blanks after 300, still pulling hard"
Ducati Panigale first ride: 'Like no Ducati I've ridden' - | Motorbike reviews | Latest Bike Videos | MCN
UPDATE, 11 Feb, 15:10
"We're midway through our day riding the new Panigale and it continues to impress. The 195bhp Superquadro engine is hugely impressive with just the right amount of usable torque to fly out of the corners and monster power for devouring the straights.
"Everything from the suspension, engine braking, traction control, ABS and god knows what else is adjustable, enhancing the Ducati any way you want it.
"I can't notice the difference between the frameless chassis and a normal one, but then I'm not a MotoGP rider. All I know is it steers like a Japanese 1000 and handles superbly.
"The riding position is brilliant, it's not long like the old bike, but really controllable and natural instead.
"The gearbox, slipper clutch and electronic engine braking works well and the brakes are mind-blowing.
"Usually Ducatis feel slow even when they're going fast because they're twins - this feels fast!
"There's loads more to tell you, so check-out MCN on Wednesday for the full lowdown."
UPDATE, 11 Feb, 13:47
"I've just had my first taste of the Panigale. Wow.
"It's only been three sighting laps around this surreal Abu Dhabi circuit behind Troy Bayliss, which seems half track half street course, but already it feels like no Ducati I've ridden: short, fast steering, not an excess of torque - to make it easy to fire out of corners and a storming top end.
"I'll check back when I've had a proper go, but it's shaping up to be epic."
ORIGINAL STORY
Senior Road Tester, Michael Neeves, will be riding the eagerly awaited Ducati 1199 Panigale at the world launch in Abu Dhabi.
He has just arrived at the track: "I have just arrived at the fabulous Abu Dhabi circuit to ride Ducati's new superbike. It's the perfect conditions for testing with tomorrow's temperature due to hit thirty degrees.
"I cannot wait to ride it, it could be a game changing motorcycle for Ducati. I will certainly be kept busy during the course of the day getting to know this brand new bike with its new engine, chassis, electronic suspension and a raft of electronic riding aids.
"Just standing looking at the Panigale in the floodlights of the Abu Dhabi circuit it looks stunning and I hope it rides as good as it looks.
"I will be reporting back during the course of tomorrow to give you my first riding impressions."
another launch story
First Ride: Ducati 1199 Panigale S - Road Tests: First Rides - Visordown
I'M SURE you won't have any sympathy, when I say I could have done with more time on Ducati's new 1199 Panigale S at the Yas Marina F1 circuit in Abu Dhabi.
That's not to say I didn't have enough time to form an opinion in the four sessions we had but with each session under my belt the Panigale just felt better and better. In the spirit of past Ducati superbikes, this is a proper rider's bike.
Before we go into how the bike rides, I want to run you through some of the technology involved because it plays a vital part in how this bike feels. First there's DTC which is Ducati's Traction Control. Don't get this confused with the DTC of old, this new iteration is so much smoother the the last. Then there's DQS, which is Ducati's Quick Shift, it helps you feel in gears with such speed you wonder whether it's actually cheating. Then there's EBC, which is Ducati's Engine Brake Control, designed to help keep the rear wheel behaving on rapid downshifts. EBC wasn't my cup of tea but it definitely contributes to the bike's feel.
Barely three corners in and what stood out to me and continued to stand out throughout the day was the engine. Not how much power it makes - although it does make a lot - but how it delivers it power. It is so smooth off the bottom and feels completely different to the 1198SP. The 1198SP, although a good bike, just isn't as usable in lower gears as you'd like it to be. To be honest, I thought the 1199 Panigale was going to be more extreme but it just isn't. It has precisely the amount of drive you want, not need, but definitely not such an excess that you wince every time you open the throttle out of a hairpin.
It doesn't feel like a twin but it doesn't lose the characteristics that I love about twins; torque, usable drive, the narrow riding position and the noise. The noise! It is so smooth and revs so quickly that if someone told you the Superquadro powerplant was actually a v-four, I'm not sure you'd disgaree.
I know that comparing the Panigale to the 1198 isn't really fair, but the 1198 typifies a lot of the characteristics of Ducati sportsbikes harking back to the 916; you feel like you're sat on them rather than in them, they feel firm and they demand effort. Lots of it. There is so much about the Panigale that's different, it's no longer just another bigger faster version of a bike that 15 years ago was a 916.
Again, all the hype leading up to the Panigale's launch left me thinking it was going to be more extreme than the 1198 the but riding position is really comfortable. You feel like you're sat in the bike, not on it. The reach to the footpegs is roomy and that's not something I'd have ever said about a Ducati sportsbike. The bars are wide but Ducati's design makes them look light on switchgear, further enhancing the race-bike feel. That extra room makes all the difference and the riding position feels natural, definitely not extreme. I daresay that, although the Panigale looks smaller than the 1198SP, it would suit taller riders better than most superbikes.
A lot of the areas where the Panigale benefits are to do with user feel and confidence. The old Brembo monobloc calipers, as used on the Hypermotard EVO 1100SP, 848 EVO and 1198SP are fantastic brakes, amazingly powerful and with the right master cylinder, give good feel. However, I can't forget the first time I used them: it felt like someone had shoved an iron bar in the front wheel. The old monobloc's bite is incredible and starts off being something you fear rather than embrace. Brembo and Ducati have worked together to revise the monobloc calipers on the Panigale and the result is brakes that no longer have the iron bar feel. Some sportsbikes are guilty of being under-braked and having brakes that fade on track, not this one.
I mentioned DQS earlier, Ducati's Quick Shift. Well it's not strictly DQS that makes all the shifting difference, it's also the new gearbox. It's slick and precise, like slotting bullets into a rifle. On some Ducati models the gearbox has a habit on throwing in a false neutral, often between fourth and fifth but I didn't miss one gear today, partly down to the new 'box and partly down to the DQS, which lines up another gear at the merest whiff of pressure. No backing off, no clutch, just bang, bang, bang in they go. Like I said: it feels like you're cheating.
Ducatis and handling go together like bees and honey, right? Right. Sat here now, I've only just realised that not once today did I think about Rossi's front-end woes with the GP bike's monocoque chassis. Put simply, it works and it works amazingly well. Sure, the Ohlins NIX30 and TTX36 on the Panigale S that we were riding definitely help, but the standard Panigale's Marzocchi forks and Sachs shock are unlikely to disappoint. The Panigale flicks from left to right with the eagerness of an R6, it's not a bike that requires effort to get it turned, it's not slow to steer like some big Ducatis but at the same time it's not slightly and nervous. The only drawback is Ducati's new technlogy EBC, when it's in its most intervening mode..
The EBC system applies a measured about of throttle opening to stop the rear tyre from moving around so much under heavy braking. Even coming off the back straight, flat in 6th, grabbing the clutch, heading to second and dumping the clutch doesn't faze it. It is so hard to get the Panigale to step out of line under heavy braking, so the EBC definitely works, but when you tip in late, still 'dragging' the rear wheel (even though you'd never notice it) the system does notice it and applies a tiny amount of throttle.
So what's the downside? Well, in a slow 1st or 2nd gear chicane or hairpin, when you've tipped in it the throttle opening takes you slightly off line. It's like jumping on someone else's computer and tapping the wrong keys on the keyboard you're not used to. Luckly, EBC can be turned off, but, like the keyboard, you quickly get used to it. If I was looking for faster lap times, I'd turn it off because I've never really worried about the rear moving around on the approach to a corner.
There's no denying the Ohlins factor, but the bike's naturaly stablility, both on the brakes and mid corner is one of its real strong points. It feels so settled mid corner it begs you to get on the gas earlier and often lures you in. Or at least, that's my excuse.
Now, I'm a huge fan of traction control, but only when you can't feel it. Some systems cut the power aggressively which can make you almost headbutt the top yoke. I'm not naming any names, Mr Original BMW S1000RR. When it's good, like Kawasaki's lastest ZX-10R then it's exceptional and massively improves my enjoyment of the bike.
I don't buy the argument that if it's got TC then it obviously doesn't handle properly but traction control and good handling are not mutually exclusive. When it comes to the Panigale, it really feels like the DTC is woven into the bike, not just bolted onto it. I couldn't begin to tell you how many times the traction control was cutting in around the Yas Marina circuit, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that it works, you can trust it and it'll help you and the Panigale gel. You really feel this is a bike that wants to be ridden hard but also wants to help you get to a place where you can.
I feel like I've not talked enough about the engine or more specifically, the outright power it makes. To be honest with you, I wanted to make it through this review without mentioning outright horsepower figures because when you do, it puts all the focus on that power. At no stage do you feel like the power is an outrageous excess that needs taming. It's not being waved in your face as is the case with the 1198SP and yet the Panigale is claimed to produce 25bhp more.
It sure is quick, but it's quick in a much subtler way than any v-twin I've ridden. If at one end of the scale you have an inline-four and at the other, a v-twin, then somewhere along that scale, closer to the inline-fours is Yamaha's cross-plane R1 engine. Well, the Panigale sits on the scale a mirror image of the Yamaha. Where the R1 has a hint of a twin, the Panigale has a hint of four-cylinder smoothness.
When it comes to superbike-class v-twins, Ducati are really in a class of one. So it seems indulgent, almost perverted, that despite the success of the 1198 - not least in the hands of David Checa in World Superbikes - Ducati decided to scrap this successful formula and try another angle. Most manufacturers wouldn't have taken that gamble. I salute the fact Ducati have, because the 1199 is something an evolved 1198 could never have been.
Long live the Panigale.
Read more: First Ride: Ducati 1199 Panigale S - Panigale page 2 of 2 - Page 2 - Road Tests: First Rides - Visordown
Read more: First Ride: Ducati 1199 Panigale S - Road Tests: First Rides - Visordown
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