First Track Day on the Panigale

Last Monday was my first track day on the new Panigale S. I took it to Jennings for the first track day after the break in service. The bike was amazing even if the rider was not. I cannot imagine in a million years why anyone would complain about the performance of this bike. It is simply brilliant. My previous track bikes were a Ducati 999S Team USA(sold) and a 2012 Aprilia RSV4 Factory(stolen).

The bike is powerful, lightweight and will do pretty much anything you want it to do. Loved it.

How does it stack up against your other bikes?

Obviously it's better, but what did you like best about the new ride?

The 999S was too heavy and lacked power but it was gorgeous and had torque galor. I was getting blown away on the straights badly. The Aprilia is very tough to beat. I was completely sold on that bike and never thought I could find a bike to please me more. But, the Duc is lighter and has more power in the mid range than the Aprilia and is an overall nicer bike. I was afraid I would be giving up performance since everyone told me the Duc was harder to ride than the Aprilia but I did not notice that at all. The Panigale was just awesome, very planted to the ground, light weight, nice, smooth power. Just a pleasure. I was really impressed and pleased. Loved it.

Cool, thanks. Can't wait to get mine out on the track.

I looked hard at the ape. But I don't think it's as tall guy friendly as the Ducati. And I've always wanted a Ducati.

rawdog said:

The 999S was too heavy and lacked power but it was gorgeous and had torque galor. I was getting blown away on the straights badly. The Aprilia is very tough to beat. I was completely sold on that bike and never thought I could find a bike to please me more. But, the Duc is lighter and has more power in the mid range than the Aprilia and is an overall nicer bike. I was afraid I would be giving up performance since everyone told me the Duc was harder to ride than the Aprilia but I did not notice that at all. The Panigale was just awesome, very planted to the ground, light weight, nice, smooth power. Just a pleasure. I was really impressed and pleased. Loved it.

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Congrats to you! I agree the Pani is really fun on the track! I have nothing to compare it to since I just got onto the track myself for the first time. I get a fair amount of 'thumbs ups' in the pits, I assume due to the 'R being in it's natural habitat vs. in a Starbucks parking lot lol. At Willow Springs there was a few, "That thing is ......' fast!" thrown out there. I'm glad it's fast because it helps me keep up with the dudes on the 600's that don't slow down much for the turns! Someday I'll get there I hope... Enjoy!

Pilot you are a brave man taking the R to the track. Absolutely gorgeous bike though.

Can't wait to take my Panigale R to the track. I have an 06 SV650 and an 08 CBR 1000RR, both of them being track bikes, interested how this one feels in comparison. I can already tell its narrow like the SV and lighter! Has the short length, similar to the CBR. There is a HUGE difference in weight with the R vs my CBR 1000RR.

Should be a fun time!

Buliwyf said:

How does it stack up against your other bikes?



Obviously it's better, but what did you like best about the new ride?

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It was AMAZING!!!
I took mine to the track a year ago after I bought it, and it instantly went as fast as my best-ever record done on my 848, and at that time I was still walking with a cane due to broken hip (done on my 848 lol).

Nowadays, as i got used to the bike and the suspension got sorted over time, my lap times are 4 seconds behind superbike racers around my local track. Considering they are doing 1min8, that means i am about 6-8 percent slower than those guys.
They run on slicks+warmers, tuned ecu, no lights.
I run on threaded tyres (sc1F/sc2R), stock bike, lights/plates/mirrors.

Go figure....

Where 848 was composed midcorner and stable, this bike is just mental and agile. But that's the beauty. At whatever speed, it just turns and moves to where you want it to point to. And that makes it extremely quick. Being fast (power) is a bonus too.
Even CBR600RR felt slow-steering / understeering compared to this (they weigh about the same. I've tested ours).

I also have a CBR400RR (Nc29), and the panigale is almost as quick-steering as that!

Rawdog is right. This is different than the usual ducati. While ducatis normally takes days to get used to and months to master, my brother (CBR600RR) can get on this one and comfortably and instantly pulls laptimes that are almost the same as his personal best, not through faster straights, but through similar cornering speeds.

The lean-to-lean is just divine. The traction over full lean is just amazing. ABS 1 gets me braking like never before. I can let the rear lift and let it wiggle side to side braking hard, harder than 600 bikes. ABS also allows me to trail brake so far into the corner. Slipper clutch allows me to bang bang bang 3 gears down rapidly. TC allows me to start opening up the throttle while leant and concentrate on controlling the line rather than worrying about the rear. And the power....oh, that wheelie-on-demand power, such oh!
It is wild, but in a great way! Unless you don't like that sort of thing.

What I don't like? Well, there are a few.
Tank is rather difficult to grab. Stompgrip solves this, but grabbing it with the thighs is still a conscious effort. Mind you it reminds you how small the bike is, increasing agility (in your head).
The rear is a bit unsettled over high speed bump, whereas Hondas would bump a bit going over a highspeed bump midway through a corner, the panigale would squirm and buck! I've tried everything in the suspension and still can't solve it.
The front dives hard under braking. I have tried adding oil, but I am sure I am not the only one with this problem.
Oil leak from the rear cylinder's valve cover (fixed).
Footpegs....I wish the rearset can go 1" higher (I've already jacked mine up 1" but it is still not enough).
Tyres only last a few weeks.
Brake pads only last no more than 3 months.
But, then again, I have trackday every 2 weeks

Life is beautiful!

Edit: mine is a 2012 1199S. Suspensions are resprung to my weight (65kg naked). I ride it on 195hi, ABS front only, TC2, EBC 2.

Edit: mine is a 2012 1199S. Suspensions are resprung to my weight (65kg naked). I ride it on 195hi, ABS front only, TC2, EBC 2.

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i'm almost the same weight. What spring/ settings do you use for suspension?

Err....not sure about the spring rate sorry. Was done a year ago.
For comp/rebound, i set front at 13/14 and rear at 12/18.

Here's how quick the lean-to-lean on the S is, while at a comfortable pace.
Camera bike is a competent R6 on slicks.
http://youtu.be/3ysfvTR8VCo

rawdog said:

Pilot you are a brave man taking the R to the track. Absolutely gorgeous bike though.

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not trying to sound harsh,
but how is it being brave taking a bike to the track?
controlled environment, surface that coated with burned rubber and debris-free, no cop, no car, no unforeseen conditions is the what going on at the track

tell me if i am wrong, but the one who rides on the street is actually the brave one

No offense taken and I agree that the track is a controlled environment, BUT, it is what you make of it and most rpeople ride much more aggressively on the track than on the street. I know that I do and I never drag knees or reach 150+ on the street but do so every track day when possible . It is why I take the bike to the track so I can push the limits that are not safe on the street.

I have never seen a track day without someoone crashing. The ambulance usually stays busy because someone always gets on over their head. Even in the advanced groups there is always someone that goes down. These are usually really talented riders. Its just part of pushing it out there and exploring what the bike is capable of doing. Personally, I am two vs one in track crashes to street crashes with about 40 to 1 in time on the street vs the track.

duckyduc said:

not trying to sound harsh,
but how is it being brave taking a bike to the track?
controlled environment, surface that coated with burned rubber and debris-free, no cop, no car, no unforeseen conditions is the what going on at the track

tell me if i am wrong, but the one who rides on the street is actually the brave one

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On the street you are at the mercy of careless and reckless cagers and road conditions no question, but unless you are equally retarded you won't be pushing your limits.

The track can be pretty tame if you want it to be but if you are a regular track rider you wont be able to help but try and push your limits.

I've been tracking for a couple of years and recently got my race license. Have had three low sides, one trip over the handlebars in the sand trap and five broken ribs for the pleasure.

The other thing that most people don't think about is that you're racing round with twenty or so other guys also pushing themselves and when it goes wrong they sometimes take other people out too. We had a coach wipe out a rider at 200kmh on a track day and hospitalised both of them.

Sometimes even a minor mechanical failure can be tricky. I snagged a false neutral into a corner drifted wide, guy behind me was obviously about to pass, grabbed the brakes, locked up and crashed.

The seasons over now but back at the track on Sunday on the Panigale (I race a HP4). I took it in for a check over because the front end had been feeling funny and they discovers the swingarm was loose!!

The track can be sketcy for sure. Two guys were killed at Daytona at a team Hammer event last year. A control rider was killed at Jennings a couple of years back and another racer was killed at a WERA event at Road Atlanta this Spring. He got a false neutral and went into a wall. I even crashed at Homestead in the Intermediate group due a slow rider locking it in a curve right in front of me. Instinctlvely, I hit the front brake to keep from crashing into her then I low sided.

The track is fun but can still be very, very dangerous.

pushing it at the track with known factor, and crash is one things, being rear ended at stop light or hit by a deer/squirrel/skunk unexpectedly to me seem more dangerous in a differently wall


if you crash on the track, the help is standing right there waiting for you, while if you crash on the street, it would take a while until someone arrive and pry you out of a tree

of course when it comes to RACING, danger is inevitable, you dont expect to ride 100% everyday and not having a scratch,

my comparison is simply about street and track riding, and i would take the track over the street any day if i could, dont you agree?

I cannot disagree that I feel safer on the track than on the street since it is a controlled environment. Living in Miami, doing a track day eliminates the car people down here that drive with no rules of the road or respect for other people plus it creates actual curves that do not exist on the roads in south Florida. Still, we have had issues where CCS pulled out of races at Palm Beach due to safety issues and there are quite a few people upset with Road Atlanta since there have been two deaths in the same curve.

I rarely ride on the street in Miami except to go back and forth to the beach or ride to Key West occasionally. The track is a safer environment but it is still a very dangerous place, and I love it.

duckyduc said:

but how is it being brave taking a bike to the track?

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Not if, when. More wrecks happen on the track then street.

Simple fact is, you go to the track to push it right to "your" edge.

Geographic location plays a huge aspect in all this, if one chooses to play on the street.


Here in northern Ca we have some sick canyons with little traffic, and more often then not it is the Harleys and dirt bikes that cause most accidents.

We get an occasional sport bike off the roads and death, but is very rare. Now deer wrecks are common but speed or pushing it is not a factor, less extent of injuries.

99% of the people don't ball up their slicks in the canyons, and those that do know better.

We typical and enjoy fast spirited riding all the way to the edges of the tire, but we can do hundreds of miles a day with never a close call in any aspect and always come home. Most of he time the canyons are so curvy you and second gear are friends. Pretty tough to ever get in third. Makes for somewhat safe fun and slower speeds then track.

Agree with outhouse!

This debate is more ancient than the dinosaurs themselves.
If you go in way over your head, it is bad whether it is on the road or track.
Riding is about envelope / margin. The more you push toward the envelope's edge, the higher the risk. The difference between road and track is just that (1) the average speed on the track is higher than the road, and (2) the risk of other vehicles is significantly lower.
But if you significantly go above your (your, not anyone else's) average or comfort speed, you are a lot more likely to get in trouble whether you are on the road or track.
What that comfort speed is is up to you to discover, of course. But there you go.

The fact that there are more people having false sense of safety and started pushing in way over their heads and binned at the track does not have any implications on you (unless you happen to be in their trajectory), as long as you keep within your headspace.

Also keep in mind because of the different riding characteristics, you'd have to adjust the bike accordingly too. Say, don't use crappy tyres, warm them up well before pushing, adjust the pressures, etc. riding on the track like you ride on the road would be the same as trying to run marathon while wearing skis. You'd fall off very quickly.

I've binned and broke bones both on the road and track. I've lost friends both on the roads and on the tracks. It does not have any difference.
Give it up, guys. It's like debating religions.

Coming back to the topic, the greatest thing about Panigale is its TC, ABS, slipper clutch, lack of weight, and agility greatly increase the size of the envelope, allowing me to push farther at the same risk/effort compared to other bikes I've had such ad, say, the 848 or CBR600RR or my Fireblade.

Marmoot said:

This debate is more ancient than the dinosaurs themselves.
If you go in way over your head, it is bad whether it is on the road or track.
Riding is about envelope / margin. The more you push toward the envelope's edge, the higher the risk. The difference between road and track is just that (1) the average speed on the track is higher than the road, and (2) the risk of other vehicles is significantly lower.
But if you significantly go above your (your, not anyone else's) average or comfort speed, you are a lot more likely to get in trouble whether you are on the road or track.
What that comfort speed is is up to you to discover, of course. But there you go.

The fact that there are more people having false sense of safety and started pushing in way over their heads and binned at the track does not have any implications on you (unless you happen to be in their trajectory), as long as you keep within your headspace.

Also keep in mind because of the different riding characteristics, you'd have to adjust the bike accordingly too. Say, don't use crappy tyres, warm them up well before pushing, adjust the pressures, etc. riding on the track like you ride on the road would be the same as trying to run marathon while wearing skis. You'd fall off very quickly.

I've binned and broke bones both on the road and track. I've lost friends both on the roads and on the tracks. It does not have any difference.
Give it up, guys. It's like debating religions.

Coming back to the topic, the greatest thing about Panigale is its TC, ABS, slipper clutch, lack of weight, and agility greatly increase the size of the envelope, allowing me to push farther at the same risk/effort compared to other bikes I've had such ad, say, the 848 or CBR600RR or my Fireblade.

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Yep that's a fair call.

Yes back on topic.....The Panigale makes the HP4 seem slow when it comes to changing direction, and it is so precise. Throttle lets its down but it just requires a different riding style. There was a really good write up by Mackie on here about this.