May be picking up a new V4 , but have a ?

So yesterday I got to hit my local favorite twisty roads with good weather conditions and I got to say I love the 2020 V4S!
For as long as the wheelbase is and how much trail it has it's shocking how well the bike turns. I also can notice the wings working.
There are several small hills that I could hold wide open over them and normally a bike would wheelie at part throttle( which is also fun) but this bike for the most part stuck to the ground or just came up a little briefly.
I also could notice the reverse rotating crank. It was awesome coming out of a corner and getting on the throttle and instead of the bike wanting to try to go a little wide it just felt like it sucked it in and pushed the front wheel down.
Been pretty busy so still haven't set my sag yet. I can tell there isn't much static sag, but didn't feel the bike trying to buck me out of the saddle over bumps. I do like the suspension so far on the default settings at least on the road. It hasn't done anything that I don't like yet. I am sure it can be made to feel even better once I get it dialed in.
Fueling is really good , especially compared to the 1299. I also like the throttle in sport mode and haven't tried race yet. Feels pretty natural as far as throttle progression where the 1299 doesn't.
Really like the ergonomics too. It fits me really well and kind of reminds me a little of the rsv4 which I am very comfortable on.
I still stick by what I said about the bike feels slow at least this 2020 model. Yes I know it isn't , but it feels tame compared to the s1000rr or the 1299 in a straight line. This is NOT a criticism. It gets very old on the track after a while battling wheelies , headshaking , wheelspin etc. Especially if it's windy out. So I can appreciate the engineering involved to keep it planted.
If someone only rides in a straight line to get an adrenaline dump with a bike doing wheelies over every bump and gear change I would look elsewhere. ( the 2018-2019 could be a totally different story from what I have heard)
With that said I think this is the most amazing bike I have ridden and I have ridden a lot of bikes.

Yeah man, you don’t battle anything with this bike on the track. I ride at NC Bike and coming out of the sweeper hard I’ll get to 170 on the straight and there is zero wheeling or head shake I’m 100 % throttle the entire time and my wheelie control setting is very low, definitely a good thing. I’ve never had a concern yet with the front end coming unstable. Perhaps the wings actually do help hold the front down.

I'm going to jump in here. Quite a few comments around the 2020/21 V4/S not lacking power. Of course it doesn't BUT if you are comparing it to a 2018/19 model then there is a night and day difference. And to your point BoostFiend re: the S1000RR, it will leave the 2020/21 V4 for dead in a 2nd or 3rd gear roll on. Yes, it's much more user friendly but from my experience, feels significantly down on torque in the first few gears.

Agree, 20/21 will not keep up stock with 18/19 models. Happened to me many times

brad8266 said:

Yeah man, you don’t battle anything with this bike on the track. I ride at NC Bike and coming out of the sweeper hard I’ll get to 170 on the straight and there is zero wheeling or head shake I’m 100 % throttle the entire time and my wheelie control setting is very low, definitely a good thing. I’ve never had a concern yet with the front end coming unstable. Perhaps the wings actually do help hold the front down.

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It's a fueling and subtle geometry changes thing, I'm sure. I threw wings on my 2018 V4 and it still feels like I'm riding a wild horse out on track. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but every lap is full of excitement in the form of Panigale head shake, wheelies, and slides.

I have zero doubts the new models produce much better lap times. I'll come out of corners, bike making all kinds of shapes, holding on for dear life, feeling like I'm on a rocket ship straight to hell, only to watch a new S1K or newer V4 pull ahead like they're on a Sunday ride. But ultimately, I'm not out chasing lap times. The experience on the older models is much for visceral and raw, which is why I would never trade it in for a new one. Of course, if I didn't own a V4 at all and had a choice, I'd buy a new one because it's objectively a better bike. I'm just glad I have the one I do, if that makes any sense.

Yeah good point on the throttle, I have a tune which did give it some additional power down low.

MaverickiB said:

It's a fueling and subtle geometry changes thing, I'm sure. I threw wings on my 2018 V4 and it still feels like I'm riding a wild horse out on track. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but every lap is full of excitement in the form of Panigale head shake, wheelies, and slides.

I have zero doubts the new models produce much better lap times. I'll come out of corners, bike making all kinds of shapes, holding on for dear life, feeling like I'm on a rocket ship straight to hell, only to watch a new S1K or newer V4 pull ahead like they're on a Sunday ride. But ultimately, I'm not out chasing lap times. The experience on the older models is much for visceral and raw, which is why I would never trade it in for a new one. Of course, if I didn't own a V4 at all and had a choice, I'd buy a new one because it's objectively a better bike. I'm just glad I have the one I do, if that makes any sense.

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100% my experience. The only difference is, I wish I had kept my 2019. I sold it for all the reasons you mention but now I miss it.

Congrats on the new addition!
I’m on roads that are standard glassy smooth new, then without warning turn into a goat trail for 1/2 mile. Tell me how to wrench a suspension set up for that optimized. This is the meaning of Dynamic electronic suspension. On the track, it’s the same road all day so dial in one setting and go with static (dynamic off).
I have not turned off all the controllers in Race mode and hammer a track yet. It’s still warming up here. I wonder if you’d still feel it was down on power in the low gears. I’m wondering if the ‘18-‘21 comparison is software settings or something else?
I haven’t ridden the ‘18-19, but I did pin the throttle on the ‘20 for a kilometer and I could find no complaints. I only weigh 175 though.
I’m curious to hear when you get it broken in and get the revs Up. I find it’s entirely another beast past 9,000rpm then again past 11,000. The first time I got the revs past 9, the sound was so different I actually looked around for another bike coming up on me. I was alone hahaa.

Vbreeze said:

Congrats on the new addition!
I’m on roads that are standard glassy smooth new, then without warning turn into a goat trail for 1/2 mile. Tell me how to wrench a suspension set up for that optimized. This is the meaning of Dynamic electronic suspension. On the track, it’s the same road all day so dial in one setting and go with static (dynamic off).

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Thanks!

Well I am glad I don't have to worry about roads like that!

I still would take a conventional ohlins over the electronic one.

Keep in mind these Ohlins are not semi active. They are event based for braking , acceleration, mid-corner etc. So correct me if I am wrong , but I don't believe the suspension adjusts at all going over rough roads etc.
The electronic suspension on the S1000RR is semi-active so it could adjust on the fly to bumps, but it still felt worse on rough roads than a properly dialed quality conventional suspension.

I mean you could have a mode set up for a softer configuration you could change over to with a few buttons, but honestly it's just not something that gives me much benefit if any.

Others will argue it's easier to go from road to track settings, but honestly my base road settings are usually set up very close to my track settings on my other bikes. I might have to add a couple clicks of rebound or compression , but it doesn't take me probably any longer to do that then to go through the menu to change it on the electric ones.

Vbreeze said:

Congrats on the new addition!
I’m on roads that are standard glassy smooth new, then without warning turn into a goat trail for 1/2 mile. Tell me how to wrench a suspension set up for that optimized. This is the meaning of Dynamic electronic suspension. On the track, it’s the same road all day so dial in one setting and go with static (dynamic off).
I have not turned off all the controllers in Race mode and hammer a track yet. It’s still warming up here. I wonder if you’d still feel it was down on power in the low gears. I’m wondering if the ‘18-‘21 comparison is software settings or something else?
I haven’t ridden the ‘18-19, but I did pin the throttle on the ‘20 for a kilometer and I could find no complaints. I only weigh 175 though.
I’m curious to hear when you get it broken in and get the revs Up. I find it’s entirely another beast past 9,000rpm then again past 11,000. The first time I got the revs past 9, the sound was so different I actually looked around for another bike coming up on me. I was alone hahaa.

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It's all software. Like I said, no one should have any complaints about the 20-21 bikes. The 18-19 was also an entirely different beast at 9k and 11k but the old bike got to 9k and 11k faster. Noticeably faster. It's the curve below 9k that is different. I don't sense any difference from 9k onwards.