Ducati 899 Track/Street Bike

jarelj · Jan 21, 2014

Just finished our 3rd 899 Panigale track bike project, this one is a dual-purpose (95% track but still street-legal) bike. Ducati Performance race bodywork kit, Termi performance exhaust, Rizoma rearsets and a few other track bike basics. Looking forward to seeing lots of 899's at the track this year!

JeffD · Jan 21, 2014

Not so sure about that red/white color scheme... j/k

Is there an alternative to the OEM 899 shock link yet? I consider the progressive-only link the real indication that the 899 is not the middleweight track machine that many hoped it to be. Then again, I'm not sure how many riders could outride the OEM link or even tell the difference.

Those BPF forks on the other hand - lots of nice aftermarket options for those, many more so than the 1199 base model.

Any dyno runs yet to compare with the 1199? Have you ridden the 899 at the track yet? If so, can you compare/contrast the experience with the 1199 (with your "rider" hat on and not the "Ducati Dealership GM" hat on, of course

)

jarelj · Jan 22, 2014

Well, it's all relative really, we've now been conditioned by the 1199 to view the flat-rate linkage as a requirement for the track, however how many other bikes now come stock with a flat-rate linkage? None that I can think of. In fact, the only prior Ducati Superbike that came with one was the 749R. We had to add an aftermarket flat rate linkage to the race/track bikes on the 749/999 and 848/1198 models.

The 1199 linkage will bolt right on the 899 to get a flat rate for the track. I doubt many riders can tell the difference between progressive and flat on the track, but the difference in tire wear should be readily apparent for anyone who's riding hard. In general, that's something that I'd recommend for an experienced/advanced track rider or racer (who's class allows it) or someone who aspires to be at that level and wants their bike set up optimally for the track right from the start.

I haven't ridden my 899 yet, still middle of Winter here so won't be back at the track until April. I'll do a full write up comparing the 1199 and 899 as soon as I have some lap times in decent conditions to compare.

P.S. - If anyone needs a flat-rate 1199 linkage to put on their 899, shoot me a PM, we have a whole pile of them that we've accumulated.

CW AF 03 · Feb 7, 2014

jarelj said:
P.S. - If anyone needs a flat-rate 1199 linkage to put on their 899, shoot me a PM, we have a whole pile of them that we've accumulated.

Out of curiosity, what are the stock 1199 linkages being replaced with?

jarelj · Feb 7, 2014

CW AF 03 said:
Out of curiosity, what are the stock 1199 linkages being replaced with?

There are no aftermarket replacement linkages that I know of, other than the Ducati Corse WSBK linkage that mere mortals cannot buy (nor would want to buy, due to cost). We get the stock 1199 linkages from a salvage provider who parts out crashed bikes. The linkages are virtually never touched in a crash, so there's no point in buying a brand new one from Ducati for triple the price.

zohsix01 · Feb 7, 2014

jarelj said:
There are no aftermarket replacement linkages that I know of, other than the Ducati Corse WSBK linkage that mere mortals cannot buy (nor would want to buy, due to cost). We get the stock 1199 linkages from a salvage provider who parts out crashed bikes. The linkages are virtually never touched in a crash, so there's no point in buying a brand new one from Ducati for triple the price.

just curious about how much is the WSBK linkage cost

jrockcolors · Feb 7, 2014

zohsix01 said:
just curious about how much is the WSBK linkage cost

You don't need it . Waste your money else where

Like on tires and track time

kickarsmann · Feb 7, 2014

Thanks for sharing. The race bodywork kit looks great. Were you able to put the headlight on the race body work? Reason I'm asking is because I want to preserve the OEM bodywork even for the street and do a custom paint job on the race kit.

Second idea would be to put 3M film on the OEM bodywork, not sure how much it'll cost compared to having a second set of plastic.

How long did it take you to remove OEM and put these on?

jarelj · Feb 7, 2014

zohsix01 said:
just curious about how much is the WSBK linkage cost

If it's anything like the ones for the 1098 were, it's probably over $2k.

jarelj · Feb 7, 2014

kickarsmann said:
Thanks for sharing. The race bodywork kit looks great. Were you able to put the headlight on the race body work? Reason I'm asking is because I want to preserve the OEM bodywork even for the street and do a custom paint job on the race kit.

Second idea would be to put 3M film on the OEM bodywork, not sure how much it'll cost compared to having a second set of plastic.

How long did it take you to remove OEM and put these on?

Yes, you can retain the headlight with the Ducati Performance race bodywork kit, and it also comes with blanking plates for the headlight and taillight if you are not going to use the bike on the street. It takes our techs a couple of hours to install the kit, if I was to do it myself it would probably take me all day.

EDIT: This is WITHOUT the oil-retaining belly pan kit, which is required for sanctioned racing. If you were to install that it would add a lot more time to the project because you'd have to remove the exhaust to install it.

youngR · Apr 25, 2014

thank you for the info and sharing. i think 899 is way to go for track.

jmparton · May 22, 2014

jarelj said:
Just finished our 3rd 899 Panigale track bike project, this one is a dual-purpose (95% track but still street-legal) bike. Ducati Performance race bodywork kit, Termi performance exhaust, Rizoma rearsets and a few other track bike basics. Looking forward to seeing lots of 899's at the track this year!

Curious about the race body work. I have been considering Sharkskinz for some time but have heard a few complaints about the fitment. This also seems a bit cheaper as well as convenient for not having to worry with removing the headlights and just using the blanking plates. I don't race but really only ride the bike on the track. Can you give the pros and cons to the race bodywork vs. the Sharkskinz? Recommendations? Thanks!

BTW, I have an 1199 not an 899 if that matters.

jarelj · May 22, 2014

jmparton said:
Curious about the race body work. I have been considering Sharkskinz for some time but have heard a few complaints about the fitment. This also seems a bit cheaper as well as convenient for not having to worry with removing the headlights and just using the blanking plates. I don't race but really only ride the bike on the track. Can you give the pros and cons to the race bodywork vs. the Sharkskinz? Recommendations? Thanks!

BTW, I have an 1199 not an 899 if that matters.

If it's going to be a dedicated track bike, I'd put fiberglass race bodywork on (Armour Bodies, SharkSkinz, Catalyst) since it's more repairable if the bike were to go down, but if it's going to be dual-purpose street/track bike then the Ducati Performance kit is pretty nice as far as fitment goes since it mounts to all of the stock locations with the stock fasteners. The other option is to get a pre-painted kit of ABS plastic stock-fitment bodywork from:
Moto XP - Carene moto abs verniciate, vetroresina e carbonio, adesivi moto, honda yamaha kawasaki bmw aprilia ducati ktm suzuki triumph mv agusta

jcbertin · May 31, 2014

jarelj said:
Well, it's all relative really, we've now been conditioned by the 1199 to view the flat-rate linkage as a requirement for the track, however how many other bikes now come stock with a flat-rate linkage? None that I can think of. In fact, the only prior Ducati Superbike that came with one was the 749R. We had to add an aftermarket flat rate linkage to the race/track bikes on the 749/999 and 848/1198 models.

The 1199 linkage will bolt right on the 899 to get a flat rate for the track. I doubt many riders can tell the difference between progressive and flat on the track, but the difference in tire wear should be readily apparent for anyone who's riding hard. In general, that's something that I'd recommend for an experienced/advanced track rider or racer (who's class allows it) or someone who aspires to be at that level and wants their bike set up optimally for the track right from the start.

I haven't ridden my 899 yet, still middle of Winter here so won't be back at the track until April. I'll do a full write up comparing the 1199 and 899 as soon as I have some lap times in decent conditions to compare.

P.S. - If anyone needs a flat-rate 1199 linkage to put on their 899, shoot me a PM, we have a whole pile of them that we've accumulated.

I was just about to say the local guys here in Indy put a 1199 linkage on a 899...will report on track results in July...

Deleted member 4502 · May 31, 2014

buddy in indy just put the 1199 linkage on his 899.. I bet its the same one.. he will be coming to mid ohio in june with me... then back to Putnam in july.. prior to that though I believe he is going to black hawk

Ducati 899 Track/Street Bike

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