Hmmmmm, Mixed review and feelings about the Panigale in MCN against the others

Hmm. From my perspective 50 is old.
Or maybe I am too young for a duc at 31?!

Grimmi said:

Hmm. From my perspective 50 is old.
Or maybe I am too young for a duc at 31?!

Click to expand...

nah, your certainly not too young for a Duc. The only thing that might occur is that some of us old farts could be jealous because you've got both youth and a Duc ... and some of us never had that. Well, i didn't

Mind you there are some old and lucky bastards out there who've had both

Enjoy it (a Duc) while you can. I'm adopting that approach. I could wish it happened years earlier, but hey, what's done is done

hi Peted almost 8 which can be a worry but last 3 on 848 with 900ss before that for a couple of years. I was out with one of my old mates hes had bikes since we were at high school while I have had some time out. Hes enjoyed every track in nz and he was on a voxen v twin that day on the road. I said nobody can tell how old you are with a helmut on and he said yeah some of us are still teenagers. .. I dont think how old I am with the bike alongside me just how good it feels and learning every day.
Check out Barber Motorsport hooligans on utube I'm sure you'll find something in the words there that will strike a chord.. enjoy

Reminded myself why this article pissed me off...

I read this thread again today and then went back to some of the pre-launch hype and marketing materials that we saw last year to see if I could work out why I felt let down by this article.

"in five moves the 1199 Panigale has succeeded in becoming the new extreme sportsbike benchmark."

So says the opening sentence of the glossy, hard cover, coffee table book my dealer gave me, and it goes on to repeat many other equally assertive comments which characterised the PR hype that Ducati perpetuated.

The statements were so strong that if you were to take some of them to the advertising standards authority I reckon they would be in danger of breaking the law.

I love the look of the bike and I get all the comments that everyone has made above but I can't help but feel a bit duped when this bike thats supposed to redefine the category is bested on the road and track in at least two group reviews so far.

I won't cancel my order but I can't help but feel the gloss has rather been taken off the purchase.

"The 1199 Panigale has quite simply been designed to put the competition behind it"....

Uh....don't hold your breath!

As a road going sportbike Ducati has allways lost against most of the competition.

1098/1198 was allways behind japanese competition. And was way more expensive.

But that did not stop my desire for having one. I still want 1198.

Many are wondering how can Panigale with stock pipe be so loud? How can they get through sound tests?

Well, they lie and they cheat.

And some of you are angry coz their claims are not true? Cmon, that is Ducati.

And coz of that we love them. Not coz they are perfect.

I start to drool when I see one. I dont do that when I see other sportbikes. Panigale is perfect bike in my eyes. Case closed for me.

But i will give respect to BMW. First time in their history they make superbike. And they just kill everything.

S 1000RR was the best superbike for 3 years now. So what else is new?

I really dont undrestand why are you so angry?

Cmon this is Ducati.

PS - I apologize for bad English.

LP

I know what you're saying WAFatboy, I guess that's kinda the point I was making earlier about the Checkmate teaser film. Personally, I dont feel let down for all the reasons I've stated before, but Ducati's marketing men might just start to feel a little bit silly if the non-class winning reviews continue to come in. More-so if the bike doesn't cut it at Superstock level I guess.

I remember back in the 90s, Honda released a Fireblade press ad on the back cover of most mags in the UK. Headline was:
"The 1996 Honda Fireblade will not be beaten."

The following month, after the group tests showed it was beaten by the GSXR SRAD, Suzuki ran a back page ad simply showing Honda's ad in the middle of it, but with the headline "WHOOPS".

Cant find an image of it, but it was pretty funny! Didnt hear much from Honda after that for a while!

Pogley said:

hi Peted almost 8 which can be a worry but last 3 on 848 with 900ss before that for a couple of years. I was out with one of my old mates hes had bikes since we were at high school while I have had some time out. Hes enjoyed every track in nz and he was on a voxen v twin that day on the road. I said nobody can tell how old you are with a helmut on and he said yeah some of us are still teenagers. .. I dont think how old I am with the bike alongside me just how good it feels and learning every day.
Check out Barber Motorsport hooligans on utube I'm sure you'll find something in the words there that will strike a chord.. enjoy

Click to expand...

Hi Pogley

Checked it ... Barber Motorsport Hooligans ... SENSATIONAL

I'm only 3 years behind you but have a bit of catching up if you've fitted in both a 900SS and an 848 since 50 or your return back to bikes.

Yeh, isn't it great that no one can tell your age once you've got all the gear on. *thinks* must get one of those mayhem style helmets that 18 year olds wear

peted said:

nah, your certainly not too young for a Duc. The only thing that might occur is that some of us old farts could be jealous because you've got both youth and a Duc ... and some of us never had that. Well, i didn't

Mind you there are some old and lucky bastards out there who've had both

Enjoy it (a Duc) while you can. I'm adopting that approach. I could wish it happened years earlier, but hey, what's done is done

Click to expand...

its good to be young n own a Duc!...my first duc was a 749 at 23.....then a 1098 at 25....and now the 1199 at 30.....o n did I forget to mention...never have I even owned a jap bike....on top of that....never had to finance either....cash only.....so 31 is definitely not too young for a Ducati

dave said:

I know what you're saying WAFatboy, I guess that's kinda the point I was making earlier about the Checkmate teaser film. Personally, I dont feel let down for all the reasons I've stated before, but Ducati's marketing men might just start to feel a little bit silly if the non-class winning reviews continue to come in. More-so if the bike doesn't cut it at Superstock level I guess.

I remember back in the 90s, Honda released a Fireblade press ad on the back cover of most mags in the UK. Headline was:
"The 1996 Honda Fireblade will not be beaten."

The following month, after the group tests showed it was beaten by the GSXR SRAD, Suzuki ran a back page ad simply showing Honda's ad in the middle of it, but with the headline "WHOOPS".

Cant find an image of it, but it was pretty funny! Didnt hear much from Honda after that for a while!

Click to expand...

Hahahahahaha, good one!

LP

i think everybody here agrees DUCATI build the 1199 with the intention not only to race but to stay consistently fast to finish each race with good results if not podium.

it may not have the outright grunt/power to the beemer but close enough...
that might be a strategy to be able to hold the tyre wear as long and stay consistently fast for each round..
Will the beemer keep it's speed consistently fast for every round if its tire wears faster with the more grunt it make..(yes suspension is another factor)

Did mcn's test expose the bikes to the standard number of rounds like in a super-stock race? too expensive and time consuming perhaps...

A sprinter is not necessarily a 10Km runner..

ducati corse incubates racing breeds and has race pedigree for many years of wsbk.
The 1199 will put up a good show. i'm glad i could afford one soon.

lol so now we are saying the v-twin can't out grunt the i4 bmw at low range!

The BMW win is only relevant of you live in a binary world. The world is a richer place because BMW decided to take on the Japanese at their own game, and even richer that Ducati decided to do it their way.

If every Ferrari buyer was put off because there was always a Porsche somewhere that was quicker round the track and easier to live with, Ferrari wouldn't sell a single car. Strangely enough I think that the average Ferrari owner couldn't give a hoot. . .

Regardless of the outcome of any magazine test, I still plan on yelling "CHECKMATE!" to any other brand of bike I encounter on the road, whether they're passing me or I'm passing them, or we're going opposite directions. I'll probably even say it to guys on 848s and 1198s. I have been totally brainwashed by the ad campaign.

As some have noted, if you're buying for bragging rights or absolute out of the box speed, BMW has a bike waiting for you. But as has also been noted, you'll always be on the cusp of having to upgrade to keep your rights. And for street-oriented riders, none of that matters much anyway. Shame on MCN for not going deeper with their comparo (just look at their published weights for example), but others will in time. Fair point of course that the S1000 appears to be better sorted out of the box, but then dialing in the suspension (not just clicking between preset modes) is a given to get a bike to work under you anyway, so who really cares what it feels like with stock settings? At 170lbs in full gear, I'd have taken it as a given I'd have to respring the thing at least, so if it's coming in soft under the likes of Hodgson, that sounds good to me...

I'm keeping my powder dry until I've ridden one, but the thing that appeals to me about the Panigale as a non-Ducatisti (there, I said it), is this: I've owned I-4's, triples, & twins, in SS and SBK sizes, and not one of them had everything over than all the others. There was always some aspect of one that I liked better than all the rest, and the one I often preferred to spend a day on was usually not the one that would put up the best lap times; it was the one that put the biggest grin on my face. To me, the Panigale puts a lot of the things I'm looking for together in one package; it's skinnier and lighter than my 675 Daytona, has the twin-cylinder soul of my RC51, the sheer poke of my Fireblade, plus better looks, technology and desirability than any of 'em.

Proof will be in the riding, but I'm not at all deterred by what I've seen so far in the MC press.

MCN review. Wouldn't have a BMW S1000RR, why ? the 2012's are throwing rods, any time now you will see a recall for sure. Also don't like the odd look. The Panigale is a bike which is different from the ground up with new design features all over it, a bike that you would love to own, a bike that dares to be different. The best MCN report is Adam Child's IOM TT course, that's more real world type roads. Don't think many Panigale's will see track days as I feel they will fail the noise tests. Either way I want one and my Tricolore arrives in about 1 week from now, can't wait.

Bottom line: GET THE BIKE THAT YOU LIKE!!! I posted a thread back in January, warning people not to believe the Hype and get caught up in the vortex of the "ADVERTISEMENT MACHINE" out of BOLOGNA. The same thing happened to me with the S1000RR and all of the hype released from Motorrad (engine parts on key chains/ necklaces; DVD's, Posters, multiple e-mails with updates on where your bike was in the world...). You have to ask yourself, Have you ever seen on youtube any Ducati running flat out with the GO PRO focused on the Speedo showing you the top speed? But how many of the S1000RR have you seen?
I don't think that Ducati has ever made a bike to get because of its' top speed or HP (other than the DESMOSEDICI), and the Panigale is no different. Ducati has never tried to compete in the power wars, and they never will (unless you have DESMO money, but even with that, my friend just put a $10,000 exhaust on his, to get more power out of it...). However, there are many other reasons to get a Ducati and own a piece of hisory
So, don't get caught up in the inauthentic rags whose agenda's are not based on why you would purchase a bike over another, but based on which company gave them the most cheese under the table.

MOTODOC
PROUD TO BE A TEST PILOT FOR THE 2012 DUCATI PANIGALE S + ABS

Grimmi said:

Hmm. From my perspective 50 is old.
Or maybe I am too young for a duc at 31?!

Click to expand...

when you get past 50 it does not seem so old especially if you keep yourself reasonably fit, I would have loved to own such a bike at 31 but then I had different priorities, yes it may mean in 10 years I will succumb to the HD disease but at the moment the Pan is giving me a grin ear to ear and long may it do so

the claims and the hype that Ducati put behind the 1199 is called marketing and / or advertising your product. They are in business to SELL motorcycles. Of course they will advertise the 1199 as the pinnacle of Motorcycle design and they have a right to do that because in many ways it is. Mono frame, advanced electronics, electronically controlled suspension, most powerful V-TWIN in the world etc.

The BMW on the other hand took a tried and true Japanese formula and sprinkled a lot more HP on it. Kudos to them but when I rode one it felt like every 1000cc bike I had before it. And it was not aesthetically pleasing to me. So I bought an RSV4 which in my eyes is a beautiful motorcycle.

Got to remember also that the BMW has been out for some time now and is a familiar ride to the test pilots. The Ducati is all new and may take some adjusting to before it's fully dialed in and testers can get the most out of it.

in the end its nice to have choice....if you make a living riding on the track then .02 seconds faster around may mean a great deal to you. But if you are not then buy what moves you and makes you happy. Lighten up and enjoy!

leebeeone said:

when you get past 50 it does not seem so old especially if you keep yourself reasonably fit, I would have loved to own such a bike at 31 but then I had different priorities, yes it may mean in 10 years I will succumb to the HD disease but at the moment the Pan is giving me a grin ear to ear and long may it do so

Click to expand...

Well put Leebeeone.

Don't fear about succumbing to the HD disease ... Nearly all my life I couldn't come to grips with the rationale behind a "freedom truck" but not that long ago I started to appreciate them for the essence that they are and I actually said some kind words including something along the lines of "I could see myself on that one". Thankfully one of my mates stepped up and gave me some pills. I'm cured now and in time so I didn't cancel my Tricolore order.

I'll pop a spare bottle of the same pills in the mail for you if you need. Just say the word! Ha ha ha

I still think it's a game changer, and I'm so excited to get one, a bit of wee came out.