My Review of the 1299S!

I test rode the 1299S for about an hour today so i wanted to give my impressions of it as a current and still full owner of a base 1199. I'll touch key points first.

1. It is a truly refined 1199. If you ride it, it will make your 1199 feel rough around the edges.

2. I tried, I really did. I tried to make the new DQS up/down slips, trip, stumble, hesitate, fart or miss a gear. It won't. I tried 5th gear about 10k down to 3rd and it just gladly took it and no wiggle or squirm was as slick as glass. I even tried 5th to 1st at 6k and nothing. I really thought it was gonna start bucking... nope. completely solid. And damn it is so easy and smooth to shift up and down at mortal speeds.

3. They figured out how to keep the engine from almost stalling at school zone speed. Amazing. Lower revs it is very tame, but when you twist the grip it is the beloved psychotic, manic Panigale we all love. I would say the 1299 is bi-polar. In a great way.


4. The S Suspension is finer than frog's hair. It takes bumps, craters, un even pavement and everything the great streets of Philly could throw at it. It didn't jar my teeth out. Amazing and flawless everytime.

5. Everyone complains about Heat on a 1199 .. I've never really noticed it. But I didn't feel any on the 1299. None even sitting in traffic. I noticed it was also 8 degrees cooler at lights than my 1199..

Now. I did not and will not trade my 1199 for a 1299. Why, I love the rough around the edges, violent, manic feeling of my 1199.. The 1299 is just too modest, bipolar to give me that feeling. No matter how hard i pushed the 25 mile old tires it didn't startle me or make me nervous. So I'll still to Bella Demona for a heart stopping experience. But for those of you tossing around the idea of 1199 or 1299 for your next bike. Buy the 1299S.

b9009b said:

The 1299 is just too modest, bipolar to give me that feeling.

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Great review.

However, one of the things I love about this bike is you don't have to ride it at breakneck pace, it is still smooth and a joy to ride with power everywhere, but when you turn that throttle to the stop, holy sh*t - it really should be bike of the year in my book

fzr100098 said:

Great review.

However, one of the things I love about this bike is you don't have to ride it at breakneck pace, it is still smooth and a joy to ride with power everywhere, but when you turn that throttle to the stop, holy sh*t - it really should be bike of the year in my book

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Exactly. It really is a perfect street/trackbike.. You can cruise with it without being bucked and annoyed as hell and flat out beat on it and its as happy as ever. Which is why I wouldn't trade my 1199 for it. I bought a Ducati to be terrified beyond belief at every turn of the throttle. If I did upgrade it would be the Pani R. Unadulterated demon.

I might add you guys getting these one hour long demo rides must have incredibly nice dealers

b9009b said:

Exactly. It really is a perfect street/trackbike.. You can cruise with it without being bucked and annoyed as hell and flat out beat on it and its as happy as ever. Which is why I wouldn't trade my 1199 for it.

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You're in your denial stage, but that 1299 ride is going to haunt you my friend

fzr100098 said:

I might add you guys getting these one hour long demo rides must have incredibly nice dealers

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It's really about your relationship with your dealer. But, that was one thing I was looking forward to owning a Ducati. Their dealers have been #1 in the world for service and customer satisfaction for a while now for a reason. Not all are that way but luckily mine is.

fzr100098 said:

You're in your denial stage, but that 1299 ride is going to haunt you my friend

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I told my wife about it and she said so your looking at the R then huh lol.. She's knows me better than I know myself. The whole time riding it I was thinking what the R would do here.

Did you test ride it with the traction control, wheelie control and all the other controls on? Turn everything off and I bet it will be more fun to ride. The first thing I did on my 1198 is turn the traction control off before I even rode it. If it is not wild and crazy its not fun for me.
I really want to test ride a 1299. I am curious how powerful it is and how hard it pulls compared to my 1198???? Any idea on that? I got the 2011 base 1198. First year for a quickshifter on the base model.

pigpenracing said:

Did you test ride it with the traction control, wheelie control and all the other controls on? Turn everything off and I bet it will be more fun to ride. The first thing I did on my 1198 is turn the traction control off before I even rode it. If it is not wild and crazy its not fun for me.
I really want to test ride a 1299. I am curious how powerful it is and how hard it pulls compared to my 1198???? Any idea on that? I got the 2011 base 1198. First year for a quickshifter on the base model.

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I turned WC off as I dont have it on the 1199 and tc and abs to lowest setting like on mine. It was still rock solid.. As far as comparison to a 1198 I don't know as Ive never had one, but compared to my Buddys 1098 there is no competition the 1299 feels like it kicks the 1098's ... in power and how hard it pulls. It feels like it pulls alot harder than my 1199 which I didn't expect.

Sounds great but I can't quit my Tri...

flobrandx said:

Sounds great but I can't quit my Tri...

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It really is an amazing bike but i wouldnt quit your tri either flo.

Nice review.

How does the enhanced refinement feel in comparison to the 899's ride quality? I've done several extended rides on the 899, and have each time been impressed with just how dissimilar its mannerisms are to the 1199.