899 or 1299?

I have been riding for a year now. I'm 34 and a late-comer to motorcycles. I started on a Ninja 250 last spring (per Rideit's advice) and moved up to a 94' Ducati 900ss halfway through the summer and that's my current ride. I've tracked it once and want to do more track days, but I want a modern bike with more safety features and of course, more power.

I am settled on getting another sport bike and nothing really excites me like Ducati's Supersports so my next bike will be a Panigale. My big dilemma, however, is whether to stick with a mid-range bike and get the 899 or to throw caution to the wind and jump to the 1299 for an extra $5k.

Money isn't really a big factor, I have the out of pocket cash to buy either one, although it would be easier to convince the wife to let me buy a second bike (like an old Beemer) if I went with the 899 and also easier to justify track fees, tire costs, upgrades, etc.

What I'm more concerned with is the jump to one of the fastest production sport bikes available. I rented the 899 for a weekend last month and loved everything about it except for a perceived lack of power (as silly as that may sound for a novice rider). I test drove the 1299 last Saturday and I now understand what true power really is. That bike is insane, but just as rideable as the 899 if not more so.

The power doesn't really scare me and putting it in wet mode made it feel like the 899 in sport mode. Quick-shifting both ways is a very welcome addition in the 1299 and the single-sided swing-arm is so sexy.

What I'm most worried about is power corrupting me. The 1299 was practically begging me to break the speed limit. My wife had a good point about jumping right to the fastest bike I can buy and not having anything to look forward to down the road. I want to track this bike but I feel like people will think I'm ridiculous for tracking a 205hp $20k bike with little more than 1 year riding experience (and they would be right).

The 899 is the more practical purchase all around but I don't want to feel like I settled. So any advice is welcome. I plan to purchase one or the other within a week.

Get the 899

Your wife sounds like a smart ..... Get 899. You will learn more actually being able to handle it than learning just hanging on to the 1199..

899.
The consensus deems riding slow bikes fast around a track generally outweighs riding a fast one slow. Not to say the 899 is slow! Plus, it will save you cash for mods.

This is a much better avenue for advice than Reddit.

b9009b said:

Your wife sounds like a smart ..... Get 899. You will learn more actually being able to handle it than learning just hanging on to the 1199..

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I had a friend racing a 1199 but was not enjoying it as it felt for him too fast for his skill level .
He went back to racing a 899 and is enjoying his racing more than ever. It's not always about HP .

wilkson said:

I had a friend racing a 1199 but was not enjoying it as it felt for him too fast for his skill level .
He went back to racing a 899 and is enjoying his racing more than ever. It's not always about HP .

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True. I may get flamed here but ive neverr been faster on the track than on an R6. To me its about usable power. Even on my 1199 its way out of my league. Its a rock star and im in marching band.

899 w/out a doubt. You'll have more fun on it on the track and on the street compared to 1299's longer wheelbase.

Clearly the 1299 is for you. (I'm sitting on his left shoulder). You might just get passed by a 600 though. So long as that won't bother you too much . Or maybe it should motivate you.

I wish the 899 was lighter with a SSS.

perceived lack of power?!?!? if 145hp is no power... haha go with the 899.. you will love it more on the track than the 1299... and seriously will learn so much more.. a 1299 gives the rider a false sense of skill and time because it is so forgiving and fast in general.. where as you will actually have to learn to ride the 899 that way if anything does happen you will be able to hopefully adapt or adjust better...
that's why I track an r6 and street ride an 1199...

If you're not over six-foot something, the 899 is an easy choice. I wish I got on an 899 -- but I'm too tall -- the 1299 I have is way too much power for me, and I've been riding bikes for over a decade, with track experience on an 1199 and an s1000rr. Those both had too much power for me too, and frankly all of those bikes have more power than most people who own them can really master.

The same is probably true for the 899, as well, but it's the least Ducati will sell you in the Superbike range, and fortunately all of these bikes have amazing safety features with traction control and other electronic nannies that reduce your chances of killing yourself. Without them, even on the 899 you'd be toast. I get that the SSS is pretty sexy, but you'll never notice it after you buy it. The DQS can be added after market.

Personally, I wish the 899 wasn't too small for me because I'd track it in a heartbeat. As it is, I'll probably keep my 1299 for the street and try and pick up an 848 for the track.

MotoPsycho said:

This is a much better avenue for advice than Reddit.

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I realize that now

TwiztedRabbit said:

perceived lack of power?!?!? if 145hp is no power... haha go with the 899.. you will love it more on the track than the 1299... and seriously will learn so much more.. a 1299 gives the rider a false sense of skill and time because it is so forgiving and fast in general.. where as you will actually have to learn to ride the 899 that way if anything does happen you will be able to hopefully adapt or adjust better...
that's why I track an r6 and street ride an 1199...

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I can totally see just ramming on the throttle after every turn to make up for mistakes, thus not learning anything. But man does that sound fun . Seriously, though, I totally get your point and I think I'm pretty much at 98% convinced I'm getting the 899 after all the feedback I've received tonight. I can always get a 1299 sometime in the future. Thanks for your advice!

showerfan said:

If you're not over six-foot something, the 899 is an easy choice. I wish I got on an 899 -- but I'm too tall -- the 1299 I have is way too much power for me, and I've been riding bikes for over a decade, with track experience on an 1199 and an s1000rr. Those both had too much power for me too, and frankly all of those bikes have more power than most people who own them can really master.

The same is probably true for the 899, as well, but it's the least Ducati will sell you in the Superbike range, and fortunately all of these bikes have amazing safety features with traction control and other electronic nannies that reduce your chances of killing yourself. Without them, even on the 899 you'd be toast. I get that the SSS is pretty sexy, but you'll never notice it after you buy it. The DQS can be added after market.

Personally, I wish the 899 wasn't too small for me because I'd track it in a heartbeat. As it is, I'll probably keep my 1299 for the street and try and pick up an 848 for the track.

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How is it too small . It's the same size as the 1299 ?

No it's not, if you ride the 899 you'll notice your head is much closer to the windscreen, if not on top of it (like mine). I worried I was dreaming this because I knew the displacement difference, but it was confirmed for me by Nick Rockwell and Dominique Cheraki from Ducati. The cockpit is closer to the rider.

I have not ridden one so I really don't know . Which part of the bike is different ? The race glass and fuel tank for a 899 and a 1199 are the same .

For track use (is this just track days?) I would be inclined to get the 899 BUT the great thing about the 1299 electronics is you can dial down the power, it has a low and medium power setting. Then if you want to play a bit you can dial it back up, the power settings and all the controls help tame the beast

If you really want to focus on track work and sharpening your skills I don't think I would get either one, buy an R6 for $5k and throw some aftermarket bodywork on it - if you dump it, no biggie

showerfan said:

No it's not, if you ride the 899 you'll notice your head is much closer to the windscreen, if not on top of it (like mine). I worried I was dreaming this because I knew the displacement difference, but it was confirmed for me by Nick Rockwell and Dominique Cheraki from Ducati. The cockpit is closer to the rider.

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The seat height and the rake are different on the 899, so perhaps that might have been what you've noticed.

At the track, I have put the Pani in Wet Mode a few sessions throughout the day just so I can mess around with the Ninja 250's and 600's. Having power at your disposal is cool but it does makes you a lazy rider. I'm waiting to see if Yamaha does something with the long overdue R6.

You can always put a 1299 into wet/899 mode.

They're both faster bikes than I have the skills to ride so I went for the one that I like to look at the most.