First "ride" and first impressions... 1199

Hello all,

I finally got a chance to take the 1199 out for a quick "ride". I picked it up from the original owner on Saturday and am still waiting on the title, so I have been unable to take it out on a long/proper ride. Needless to say, the wait is just killing me.

Although the first ride was a quick one, I believe it left some very strong impressions and not all of them are good

Firstly, the steering feels quiet heavy, not as heavy as my 998 but it still likes to "dive" to the left or right at low speeds. Making slow turns or U-turns, it felt just very much like my 998 - something I didn't expect and can't say I like

- I now fully understand why so many people are looking for a throttle fix, the "play" in the throttle is very noticeable and almost led to me bogging the bike on 2 different occasions. Thankfully I have a "fix" on the way

- The clutch feel very different than the old dry clutch in the 998. This one has better feel but there is still a small window where it grabs, The effort required to engage the clutch is far less, so I am happy with the clutch

- The bike does NOT have the same TQ down below as my 998, putting around at 30 MPH on a side road in 2nd gear, the bike was bogging down where my 998 could take off in 2nd gear from a dead start. Again, I know its a totally different bike with different power curve and map, looking forward to the "power band" once I have the tags and can take it out for a proper ride

I will keep you all posted as I get more familiar with the beast. I know none of this information is new, but lots of people are buying pre-owned panigales and they find this helpful in some way

cheers!

Sounds about right.
But when you take it screaming at full tilt, you'll understand what it's all about
And when you pull all stops on the throttle coming out of corners in full reckless abandon, you'll never miss your 998 ever again.
Congrats on the purchase.

Did you check the tire's pressure? Steering is strongly influenced by it!
You gonna love this bike, promised

My bike has zero free play in the throttle and never has. Throttle is impeccable. I guess I'm lucky. I don't notice your handling issue. It could be that it's different from your previous bike and you are just not used to it, but I agree with the post above that it sounds like a tire issue. If the tires are not new it could well be a wear issue. New tires always fix wonky handling.

I ride with a guy who has an 1198 and completely agree with the low/mid range torque issue, but I'm sure that was not a surprise to you. That has been well known since the day the 1199 came out.

I'm sure you will get used to the bike and love it....then lust over a 1299. I'm 62 years old and have three bikes. For a variety of reasons it makes no sense for me to upgrade the Panigale - my motorcycle money will go to replacing my other two bikes. And I can honestly say I have no problem with that. I put 150-180 miles on the Panigale most Sunday mornings and still look forward to riding the bike (the other two get ridden on longer rides on Saturdays).

Morning, I too came from a 748/9xx/9xx and feel the same way as you. After a few hundred miles my first impression of the bike was it was heavy steering and it lacked low end the latter of the two being the nature of the beast tho a 14T front sprocket somewhat helps that. The slow/heavy steering is one I'm currently having trouble with and it baffles me when people say it's the best turning bike they ever ridden; maybe high speed turns but certainly not back road flickability, "thus far"... My sag is set properly and my F/R compression, rebound, and preload are in the ballpark so I've most recently moved on to ride height/geometry. I have 8mm of fork tube showing from the triples incl the black cap which seems aggressive as far as what I've read, so I was talking to my mechanic last night who's done literally thousands of race bike setups (one of the best Techs in the Northeast) he said start w adding 4mm of ride height to the rear, it'll bring the CG up and shorten the trail which I'm more use to coming from my 916sps.. This afternoon I'll be making that change... Also, tire psi makes a big difference on these from what I've read, so I added 4 psi to the front from 30 to 34 and 5 psi to the rear from 31 to 36... We shall see....

Badlarry said:

Morning, I too came from a 748/9xx/9xx and feel the same way as you. After a few hundred miles my first impression of the bike was it was heavy steering and it lacked low end the latter of the two being the nature of the beast tho a 14T front sprocket somewhat helps that. The slow/heavy steering is one I'm currently having trouble with and it baffles me when people say it's the best turning bike they ever ridden; maybe high speed turns but certainly not back road flickability, "thus far"... My sag is set properly and my F/R compression, rebound, and preload are in the ballpark so I've most recently moved on to ride height/geometry. I have 8mm of fork tube showing from the triples incl the black cap which seems aggressive as far as what I've read, so I was talking to my mechanic last night who's done literally thousands of race bike setups (one of the best Techs in the Northeast) he said start w adding 4mm of ride height to the rear, it'll bring the CG up and shorten the trail which I'm more use to coming from my 916sps.. This afternoon I'll be making that change... Also, tire psi makes a big difference on these from what I've read, so I added 4 psi to the front from 30 to 34 and 5 psi to the rear from 31 to 36... We shall see....

Click to expand...

I will surely be playing with the air pressure when I get home. the rest is a longer process and I will start to tackle it one by one, and document all changes so I can keep track

I have heard of people replacing the steering head bearing and that makes things a lot better..but I don't have enough information on the subject at the time

Whatever impressions you form on the street, throw them out the window once you get it on the track. Turns into a ....... animal on the track. A lot of the reviews say how it's a handful and, having done my first track day on my new (to me) 1199S a few weeks back, I can say the reviews are quite accurate in that regard. Loved it. Traction control is amazing!

Well, congrats to you if you made the purchase man, and a sincere welcome to the best Forum for that bike online too!

As a former 748R/996/998/1198 and now 1199s Tri owner I agree 110% about that low end torque which was unreal on those previous models- however you will soon come to like what you have here trust us! IMHO its much more comfortable as well.

Wishing you all the very best with the new bike and here on forum. Lots to learn and see - take special note of the "stickies" which may have ALL the answers to questions you may have-without having to ask them and get flogged by the Grim Reaper for beating a dead horse (always hated that term personally ) But you will see what I mean here Desmo! Stay safe out there!

Semper Fi

Gunny

DLIT said:

Whatever impressions you form on the street, throw them out the window once you get it on the track. Turns into a ....... animal on the track. A lot of the reviews say how it's a handful and, having done my first track day on my new (to me) 1199S a few weeks back, I can say the reviews are quite accurate in that regard. Loved it. Traction control is amazing!

Click to expand...

+1

I like the Pani on the street until I hit a bump. That's when I realize this bike sucks on the street and I'd rather ride my 1098.

I thought the bike was good on the track until I put a 200/60 rear. Now with the bigger rear tire, it's amazing.

I thought the bike was good on the track until I put a 200/60 rear. Now with the bigger rear tire, it's amazing.

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Im patiently waiting for a 200/60 for the street... Wish someone would hurry up and come out with one!!

RRnold said:

+1

I like the Pani on the street until I hit a bump. That's when I realize this bike sucks on the street and I'd rather ride my 1098.

I thought the bike was good on the track until I put a 200/60 rear. Now with the bigger rear tire, it's amazing.

Click to expand...

First time I've ever heard that before. An 1199 might as well be a Lexus compared to the torture rack 1098.

Gecko said:

Did you check the tire's pressure? Steering is strongly influenced by it!
You gonna love this bike, promised

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Just wanted to report back that you were right on the money

Tire pressures: Front 19
Rear: 21

Needless to say it now makes sense why the bike felt so "heavy" and why the steering felt so weighted and wanted to "dive" in corners.

STILL waiting on title from seller's bank so cant ride the bike on public roads (well I COULD, but...)

Thanks again

RRnold said:

+1

I like the Pani on the street until I hit a bump. That's when I realize this bike sucks on the street and I'd rather ride my 1098.

I thought the bike was good on the track until I put a 200/60 rear. Now with the bigger rear tire, it's amazing.

Click to expand...

My friends 1198s rides MUCH worse than my Panigale. But then I don't know how his suspension is set up compared to mine.

Pani Dropper said:

First time I've ever heard that before. An 1199 might as well be a Lexus compared to the torture rack 1098.

Click to expand...

jjsC6 said:

My friends 1198s rides MUCH worse than my Panigale. But then I don't know how his suspension is set up compared to mine.

Click to expand...

I'm not talking about canyon carving, where it's fun.

Here in the Bay Area, there are so many nice roads and so many rough roads.

I'm talking about bumps, potholes and cruising anywhere under 40 mph. The bike likes to lunge forward when steady on the throttle at low speeds. If I don't see and brace for the bump, I often get a sudden buck and chomp my teeth. On my 1098, the bumps are more forgiving and smoother to cruise around town in. It sounds bad ... too with that dry clutch.