http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2...-anniversario/
Just me drooling over a special edition Ducati sportbike again.
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2...-anniversario/
Just me drooling over a special edition Ducati sportbike again.
Get that weak shit off my track
That 1299 looks killer. I love the roads around erueka springs AR.
No bars show F1 that are located between us?
On Tuesday, i went to work early, 7am, and given that I had the next three days off, I rode to Phoenix directly after work.
That was a sufferfest of note. It was hot. I was already tired. I hadn't slept well the night before. There was a lot of traffic. I really thought about whether I would ever undertake a long distance ride like that again.
Coming back, I was adequately rested, obviously off, i left with cloud cover partly obscuring the burning rays of the sun, and it was easy peasy. A bike CAN get just 30mpg if you're caning it on the freeway. And it's windy.
51XX miles on it since June 25 or thereabouts, when it had 2. Love the Africa Twin.
Ducati has a promo where current owners can test ride a 2016 model and get a free Leatherman Rev multi-tool etched with a 90th Anniversary logo.
I decided to schedule a test ride of a 959 Panigale, to go with something quite different from my Monster, but still rideable in Chicago traffic with my stubby legs. Unfortunately, I couldn't schedule the ride at the suburban dealer; it had to be at the city dealer where I bought my Monster 696. Today's weather was sunny with a high of 70F with strong winds that blew my Monster around quite a bit at highway speeds.
After signing the requisite waivers and letting the 959 warm up, I was on my way to do a quick loop of city streets and a brief freeway run.
I've sat on sport bikes before, but never ridden any, so I didn't really know what to expect comfort wise. Honestly, the 959 felt pretty good in terms of dimensions. II didn’t feel like my torso and arms were uncomfortably stretched out, and while the seat was a little on the tall side for me, it was nothing that would have me leaned over 20 degrees standing on one leg at a stoplight like a Hypermotard 939 would.
I kept the bike in Sport mode, which FWIU gives full power but is less twitchy than Race mode and has the electronic rider aids at their max levels. Even with 158 hp on tap, power delivery was very smooth, smoother in fact than my 80 hp 696 was with the stock fueling. Shifting was light and easy; much less clunky than my 696. The mirrors didn’t vibrate into uselessness, but like many modern motorcycle mirrors, they were useless at showing anything directly behind you. Replacing them would be involved since the turn signals are integrated into them. Interestingly, the ride over rough roads felt better than on my 696. Turns out that the mid/high end Showa fork/Sachs shock combo… dampen more effectively than the cheapest Marzocchi fork/Showa shock combo that Ducati could spec. Not wanting to get a texting driver up my ass (Chicago traffic and all), I didn’t get a chance to give the brakes a hard stop. All I can say is that they stopped the bike effectively without drama while having a nice, linear feel.
What was less-than-stellar was the extra weight put on my wrists while riding, but I think I could get used to that. If not, bar risers would do. What would make me seriously question having the 959 as my only bike was the heat that it puts out on your legs. I rode it on a windy 70F day with moderate traffic; I don’t think I’d want to be stuck on it in heavy traffic on a swampy Chicago summer day.
The bike I rode pretty much looked like this one:
I’m expecting my Leatherman in 2-4 weeks.
Getting longer mirrors shouldn't be a huge problem. I installed Ducati signal mirrors on my RC-51 and they were just two wires each.
After further reading up on the 959, apparently the stock mirror plastic is brittle and easily broken by people bumping into the mirrors.
These folding mirrors are a popular replacement.
The turn signal mount plastic on my stock rear fender was the same way, which is a big part of why I got a tail chop instead of paying the same or more for another brittle fender. If course, with the integrated tail light and Diavel style mudguard, I've spent twice as much, but at least it's durable, good looking AND keeps water off of me.
Bought a bike to turn into a track bike. Ordered springs, oil, shocks, pads, service kit and I don't even 'own' it yet
Nice. The fact that the 959 actually rode better than my 696 has me wanting to upgrade the suspension even more. The cheap adjustable options would be getting the Ohlins DU737 that came on Monster 1100S for about $615 and Andreani fork cartridge inserts for $569, both sprung for my weight.