Buying a 2023 V4

I am not entirely sure what your expectations are. It's a thumping great V-twin sat just under your ... (sorry butt, as you put it over the pond). It is going to get hot, so as others have said, either wear leathers to mitigate it or buy another bike.

Gurneet said:

Hi Guys!
I currently own a 2016 959 Panigale, and wanted to upgrade to the new Panigale V4. I been researching constantly about how hot the bike gets, and a lot of the responses say it gets hot, but it's not bad, and some even say it's cooler. The dealer obviously isn't helpful, and i can't demo any bike in canada since dealers don't have any here to demo. This definitely makes the purchase harder as i don't know what to expect. I heard the new software update changes how the fan operates to make the bike a little bit cooler, but i can't really comment on that.

The V4 has always been my dream bike and i'm in a position to finally purchase one (i have a deposit on it and won't get it until April 2023).

My question for you guys is, is the heat really that bad? I mainly ride on country roads, sometimes to work (where i occasionally hit traffic) and no track riding (i know, waste of money owning a machine like this)

The people that i speak to keep telling me to get a s1000RR, but i don't know how i feel.

Can you guys help me with the heat issue? How bad is it? Any of you guys with the 2022 V4 with the new software update? How does the heat compare to the 959 Panigale?

Thanks in advance for all the help!

Click to expand...

hey mate, did you buy it in the end ?

Gurneet said:

Hi Guys!
I currently own a 2016 959 Panigale, and wanted to upgrade to the new Panigale V4. I been researching constantly about how hot the bike gets, and a lot of the responses say it gets hot, but it's not bad, and some even say it's cooler. The dealer obviously isn't helpful, and i can't demo any bike in canada since dealers don't have any here to demo. This definitely makes the purchase harder as i don't know what to expect. I heard the new software update changes how the fan operates to make the bike a little bit cooler, but i can't really comment on that.

The V4 has always been my dream bike and i'm in a position to finally purchase one (i have a deposit on it and won't get it until April 2023).

My question for you guys is, is the heat really that bad? I mainly ride on country roads, sometimes to work (where i occasionally hit traffic) and no track riding (i know, waste of money owning a machine like this)

The people that i speak to keep telling me to get a s1000RR, but i don't know how i feel.

Can you guys help me with the heat issue? How bad is it? Any of you guys with the 2022 V4 with the new software update? How does the heat compare to the 959 Panigale?

Thanks in advance for all the help!

Click to expand...

I never had a dream bike until I learned of the V4R, so I got one. Before I did I asked the same questions and heard people suggest the same "wear leather/upgrade the exhaust/ride faster" suggestions. Here's my data point:

I have gotten first degree burns on the insides of both calves when riding my V4R w/ the Akra race system. I never had the bike with the OEM exhaust, I suspect it'd be as bad/worse. I got the burns twice - once wearing leather (Dainese Mig pants) and once wearing single-layer riding jeans (Reax), always in the same'ish spots. Most tellingly, I know exactly when I got the burns the time I was wearing my leather pants: It was a 1hr ride involving a lot of rough/...... Chicago highway, and the ambient temp was around 55 (at night). So I was moving a highway speed and gripping the bike with my knees for lots of the ride. Neither the lower ambient temps nor the airflow moving at speed nor the leather pants did anything to keep my calves from getting burned.

Given all that, my suggestion is that if you buy it you should track it to keep the dream alive. My V4R has become much less fantastic when I need to splay out my knees every 2 minutes to keep my legs from getting burned. Obviously, others have their own experiences but folks who say that the V4 simply cannot cause burns through leathers are wrong.

…less likely to.

just get a streetfighter if heat is such an issue

The Streetfighter is every bit as miserable. I've owned both. Heat is merely a compromise of straddling a 200+ hp 1100cc engine.

Youse guys have heard this before I put reflective aluminum on everything. Then I wrapped the rear header which helped the right thigh heat but the most effective thing i did was put an 8mm air gap between the tank and seat so there's airflow between the tank tail and seat. That helped more than anything else. And I think the rear exhaust cams being out of time 9 degrees advanced had to contribute. So maybe fixing that will help some. I typically travel in June and September in the west and last year in September all good.