1299 Superleggera @ Chuckwalla

roadracerx · May 16, 2019

Hey guys, so I was the 2nd person in the United States to get the 1299 Superleggera but I had not found time to ride it on track until last week so I decided to take it out for a little spin at Chuckwalla on a perfect Spring day, temp in the mid 80's with consistent sun!

My SL has limited modifications including handle bar switches and key re-location from Bike Sport Devlopments, Stomp Grip and Ducati Performance rearsets which require a small modification of the race exhaust carbon heat shield.

I ran stock tires, no warmers and was thoroughly impressed with the overall power, smoothness of delivery and INCREDIBLE brakes and the fact that the stock Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP street tires can be so good!

This truly is an expert only bike but quite manageable given it has 220 hp! The light weight of the machine means you can ride more laps with less effort!! I am 5'11", 190 lbs. I set rider sag at 40 mm front and 30 mm rear and static sag was in the expected range. I ran the stock tires at 33 front and 26 rear (cold) and checked to make sure after track use that the rear was set to 29 hot (don't go higher b/c they get greasy).

The bike was truly excellent and the fork provided great feedback and didn't blow through the stroke at all. I ended up with 10 mm of unused stroke after hard braking....I managed consistent 1:55s on street tires and had a blast without the added hassle of tire warmers/generator.

The bike IS narrow and the race rearsets made me feel a bit like a horse jockey but this SL is all about business and I LOVED it. I should have made time to ride it sooner!

Ryfly05 · May 16, 2019

That's awesome. Good to see that thing being used like it should!

KMY · May 16, 2019

Sweeet!!! Love seeing this bike in its natural habitat. Hope to get mine on track one day.

DStyleNZL · May 16, 2019

I saw a 1299SL being tracked in Australia. Rider was doing very well and was nice to see such a bike being used in anger.
Makes a difference from our local SL's which dont see day light

KarlKani · May 17, 2019

Greatpics and congrats on getting that a amazing bike out on the track!!

Sherpa23 · May 17, 2019

This is some good info. I am getting ready for a series of track days and thinking of taking my 1199 Superleggera to a couple of them. But I need new tires. Debating between Michelin Power RS and Pirelli Supercorsa SP.

roadracerx · May 17, 2019

@Sherpa23, the stock SP V2 that came on your bike with 200/55 is an excellent tire and I had zero issues riding a pretty quick pace on the stock tires. Follow my recommendations on pressure and you will be very happy. I DO NOT recommend changing to other tires as this bike is really designed for Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP/SC tires. The new SP V3 is even better but will require a big change in setup. If you need help, lmk...

Sherpa23 · May 17, 2019

roadracerx said:
@Sherpa23, the stock SP V2 that came on your bike with 200/55 is an excellent tire and I had zero issues riding a pretty quick pace on the stock tires. Follow my recommendations on pressure and you will be very happy. I DO NOT recommend changing to other tires as this bike is really designed for Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP/SC tires. The new SP V3 is even better but will require a big change in setup. If you need help, lmk...

Thanks, Brian. I just ordered another set of the Supercorsa SP's thanks to your recommendation. Hopefully they're on next week and I'll do a few track days over the following weeks. Hope to get 4 track days out of these tires and a two or three mountain rides.

double0 · May 17, 2019

^^^^

You're over there adding to your garage too I see. You too shall run out of signature room in the future just like KMY has!

Sherpa23 · May 17, 2019

double0 said:
^^^^

You're over there adding to your garage too I see. You too shall run out of signature room in the future just like KMY has!

Ha!

I have been adding a little but nowhere near the level that Kevin has. I think that my little collection of 9 is pretty good for an ordinary guy like me!

KMY · May 17, 2019

Sherpa23 said:
Ha!

I have been adding a little but nowhere near the level that Kevin has. I think that my little collection of 9 is pretty good for an ordinary guy like me!

PLAHHLEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZ!!!! You're stable puts us all to shame!

Sherpa23 · May 18, 2019

KMY said:
PLAHHLEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZ!!!! You're stable puts us all to shame!

Funny, Kevin. Funny.

Sherpa23 · May 18, 2019

roadracerx said:
@Sherpa23, the stock SP V2 that came on your bike with 200/55 is an excellent tire and I had zero issues riding a pretty quick pace on the stock tires. Follow my recommendations on pressure and you will be very happy. I DO NOT recommend changing to other tires as this bike is really designed for Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP/SC tires. The new SP V3 is even better but will require a big change in setup. If you need help, lmk...

Can you tell me more about the pressures you're running? I usually run 30.5R/31F but you're running much different ones. I run Michelin 2CT on just about everything other than the SL so this is definitely going to be a bit different.

I weigh 170 lbs without gear and I couldn't get comfortable on this bike at all until late last year I took out basically all of the preload to get the sag right. However, that was basically at the start of the season and I haven't had much of a chance to ride it this year.

I go pretty well on the track with all of my other bikes but the SL is the one bike that I need to learn a bit and that's why I think I need to do a few track days on it.

Twistedracer · May 19, 2019

These were Pirelli's latest recommended cold and hot pressures last season.
Unlike their recommendations of 31 hot for the front, my Pirelli guy had me running 33-34 hot up front and the tire worked better.

Hope this helps some.

roadracerx · May 20, 2019

@Sherpa, with the SP V2/V3 oem tires you can set the front at 33 (cold) and the rear at 26 (cold), no warmers. If the temp is 75F OR ABOVE and the sun is out then all you need is 1-2 laps and the tire will be ready to go!

When you come off track check the rear and if it has gone above 29 PSI then bring it back to 29 and check the rear one more time after your next session; if it has risen bring it back to 29. Repeat this process until it does not rise above 29 PSI and then you should be set for the day.

IF the sun isn't out or it is colder then you should run the cold pressures +2 PSI in the rear until it gets warmer and then repeat the process above.

The front will rise about 1 PSI but if you start with 33 then you really don't need to worry about it; few people brake hard enough to generate a rise of more then 1-2 PSI (if already inflated properly).

If you use warmers then 34 front (hot) and 28 rear (hot) off the warmers should be good. Once again, check the rear immediately when you come off track to stabilize the pressure.

WHEN the rear tire pressure rises above 29 PSI hot they tend to get "greasy" which means the tire will move around a bit more on throttle. Not a bit deal but you don't want to create a tire tear.

This advise works, if you follow it you won't have any issues IF your bike and rider sag are set properly.

I recommend 25-30 bike, 38-40 mm rider on the fork and 10-15 bike, 28-30 mm rider on the shock. Sag is VERY important and having the right spring on the bike makes all the difference. 170 lbs w/o gear should be fine for the shock but I would recommend .95 N/m springs in the fork. These are about $150 plus install and any shop should be able to install them easily.

Keep in mind the SL, like all single-sided swingarm bikes has an ideal ride height/swingarm angle that can only be properly measured with the Ducati ride height tool. Unfortunately, most dealers don't have it...and ride height can be affected by chain tension, chain length, shock length, gearing, overall preload and tire size.

The 1299 SL has an issue with tire warmer to header clearance that apparently no one else noticed. I did point this out to the lead engineer when I was at Mugello to ride the 1299 SL but they didn't seem to care.

I do have a solution if anyone runs into this problem....

Sherpa23 · May 20, 2019

roadracerx said:
@Sherpa, with the SP V2/V3 oem tires you can set the front at 33 (cold) and the rear at 26 (cold), no warmers. If the temp is 75F OR ABOVE and the sun is out then all you need is 1-2 laps and the tire will be ready to go!

When you come off track check the rear and if it has gone above 29 PSI then bring it back to 29 and check the rear one more time after your next session; if it has risen bring it back to 29. Repeat this process until it does not rise above 29 PSI and then you should be set for the day.

IF the sun isn't out or it is colder then you should run the cold pressures +2 PSI in the rear until it gets warmer and then repeat the process above.

The front will rise about 1 PSI but if you start with 33 then you really don't need to worry about it; few people brake hard enough to generate a rise of more then 1-2 PSI (if already inflated properly).

If you use warmers then 34 front (hot) and 28 rear (hot) off the warmers should be good. Once again, check the rear immediately when you come off track to stabilize the pressure.

WHEN the rear tire pressure rises above 29 PSI hot they tend to get "greasy" which means the tire will move around a bit more on throttle. Not a bit deal but you don't want to create a tire tear.

This advise works, if you follow it you won't have any issues IF your bike and rider sag are set properly.

I recommend 25-30 bike, 38-40 mm rider on the fork and 10-15 bike, 28-30 mm rider on the shock. Sag is VERY important and having the right spring on the bike makes all the difference. 170 lbs w/o gear should be fine for the shock but I would recommend .95 N/m springs in the fork. These are about $150 plus install and any shop should be able to install them easily.

Keep in mind the SL, like all single-sided swingarm bikes has an ideal ride height/swingarm angle that can only be properly measured with the Ducati ride height tool. Unfortunately, most dealers don't have it...and ride height can be affected by chain tension, chain length, shock length, gearing, overall preload and tire size.

The 1299 SL has an issue with tire warmer to header clearance that apparently no one else noticed. I did point this out to the lead engineer when I was at Mugello to ride the 1299 SL but they didn't seem to care.

I do have a solution if anyone runs into this problem....

This is super great info. I actually don't plan on using warmers on this bike so this is perfect, including ambient temp info and such. Thank you!

roadracerx · May 20, 2019

@Sherpa23, happy to help.

1299rFE · May 21, 2019

Sherpa23 said:
This is some good info. I am getting ready for a series of track days and thinking of taking my 1199 Superleggera to a couple of them. But I need new tires. Debating between Michelin Power RS and Pirelli Supercorsa SP.

A cheaper alternative - i just picked up the Supercorsa TD - the tires are amazing - they are less money than the SP and offer more all out grip. You can buy them here - I got mine from a Pirelli dealer for $359 mounted and balanced.

roadracerx · May 21, 2019

@1299rFE, you are totally right! The new TD is quite good and meant for this exact application and it comes in 200/55! I actually have a couple sets. One for my KTM 690 SMCR seen below

[youtube]MLaoKSU8Z00[/youtube]

and another set for my SL or RSV4. Not sure why I forgot about these, lol...go get em!

stealthblack · May 21, 2019

roadracerx said:
@1299rFE, you are totally right! The new TD is quite good and meant for this exact application and it comes in 200/55! I actually have a couple sets. One for my KTM 690
and another set for my SL or RSV4. Not sure why I forgot about these, lol...go get em!

Nice 690!
How is the warm up on the TDs? As fast as the SPs? Mainly to be used for canyon carving.

1299 Superleggera @ Chuckwalla

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