[Entsurgeon]

Hello Team-bhpians.

Five years back, I brought home a Ducati Panigale 899 and surprised myself. Surprised, because by the time I sorted my life out and was on the verge of getting a big bike, I imagined my bike to be a daily commute-friendly and lightweight machine. Also, I wished it was something that aged gracefully. At that time, my shortlist consisted of Triumph Bonneville and Street Triple only. That was what my projected budget allowed. But as they say, the first million is the hardest. When I was ready with a budget for the Street Triple and started looking for available bikes, stars kept aligning favourably and I found myself to be comfortably able to afford a bike twice that price. Well, I remember a lot of those days in minute detail and would keep sharing them as and when needed.

Right now, the bike has done 8,000 'Red Carpet' km and has been getting closer and closer to my heart as she spends more and more time as a part of my life. This review will therefore have flashbacks from earlier days as well as other posts on the fly as I keep clocking the miles on her. This would have retrograde memories and hence allow me to write them in non-linear timeline.

More importantly, this would also include my riding impressions and analysis of a lot of different bikes big and small. The idea being, as a person inexperienced with superbikes, I read a lot of reviews and opinions but I couldn't get a lot of answers to the doubts I carried back then. I would try to contrast my observations of more common bikes and the big ones so that the inexperienced can get an idea of things from the perspective of someone who has ridden smaller machines too. I hope people would relate to that and I would be of some help to fellow riders.

Here is my first post that narrates my outing on January 26th with a lot of other bikers. Keep your comments, criticism and queries flowing in.

Time to shut up and let the pictures do the talking.

[Entsurgeon]

The Republic Day Ride 2020

The republic day ride is supposed to be a showcase of disciplined mature riders covering city streets at a sedate pace with brotherhood and bonding taking precedence over everything else and lots of tricolors hoisted on the bikes all around.

It was scheduled a bit late for my preference ( a 7.30 am meetup time) and it was only a full hour after that we saw a full house and people were ready to roll.

I ended up at famous Indian coffee house with another BHPian who owns a beautiful 848 2013 and has an ownership thread on this forum.

Over 5 years ago, at the age of 35, as I contemplated buying my first big bike, I wasn't really having the budget or vision to own a shiny supersport extremity. I was planning more for something I could take everywhere and on a daily basis. But, I also understood too well that neither was I required to nor did I fantasize off-roading on a bike and was very clear about the kind of bike I wanted - something desirable, nice, practical and beautiful. I was okay with a small 250-500cc bike, but I didn't want her to be too low-cost. It had to at least be as expensive as a family sedan, so that the non-petrolheads (that's 99% of people I come across during works and socializing) would spare me the 'get a car now' advice. I wished her to make a statement on my part.

Back then, I was serious about a Triumph Street Triple as it was lightweight, powerful and easy to live and having least of the eccentricities of big bikes - running hot, not okay with lower speeds et al. Much before that, I had drooled over big bikes spread across pages of automobile magazines. But back then, think 1990s India, these bikes were the moon. You knew they existed somewhere and that people had set their foot on them, but you would never get close to them. Not in this life. Not even as a spectator. Over the next 2 decades, India changed so much, we could wake up to the news regarding any Indian man or enterprise winning over the world in any walk of life and we wouldn't be surprised. Our mindset has changed in past 2 - 3 decades and only those who saw it happening would understand.

However, in a year or so, as the numbers in my bank account were enough, I was tilted towards a supersport. On offer were 2 red Ducati 848s in my city. Now, I was a person who had a first generation CBZ 1999 from the earliest lot and got a set of clip-ons installed on her the very next day. I was pretty used to this aggressive forward leaning pose and to this day, I think the biggest challenge for a newbie to switch to a superbike isn't really too much power, but getting used to an aggressive riding position that makes them uneasy to control all that power. Too powerful brakes is the next most deadly thing about big bikes.

Now, I was away from regular riding for over 7 - 8 years. I turned 37 by that time. I wasn't t sure that my body could take it. I was sure it would make mincemeat out of my wrists, forearms, lower back and chances were high that I might have to give up after first hundred km or so and let go of her at substantial monetary loss. It wasn't a financially sensible risk to take.

I have read too much about superbikes, but frankly I now retrospectively look at it and believe, most of the well-intentioned words by experienced riders still fail to make you understand the true feel of being on a superbike. What the feedback meant was all theoretical to me until I experienced the feedback of a superbike's tires, suspension, steering etc. Arms tearing off the socket is something you can't fathom unless you've experienced that quick acceleration. To top it off, most riders come from different biking histories and have different ways to perceive things and hence, have different abilities to understand stuff being talked about regarding a class of bike you've never ridden.*

But then I was a doctor. I knew how the human body works. I knew how brain cells work. And to a very little extent, I also understood how the human heart works. I knew what yearning is, what longing is, what heartache is. And since the object of desire wasn't a human of opposite sex, I believed it's not better to have loved and lost than to have won . I decided I will win this one over. I didn't take too long to conclude that in the worst case scenario of me letting go of bike in a few months and with an odometer reading barely three digits, I'd lose a couple of lakhs of Rupees or less. I had earned myself a right to spend that much for the only ultimate dream of my life that could be fulfilled the easiest - by spending money. I knew how costly the bike was, but my rational mind told me that I could recover a huge chunk of same should I be compelled to let go of it. And that's when I told myself, "Shoot it. Get that Ducati Panigale 899. People regularly lose more money on stuff more detrimental to health".

5 years and thousands of km astride her later, me and BHPian samyak were enjoying a breakfast inside while the 848 and 899 kept each other company across the window.

The last time I sat with him one on one was when I was finalising if I should get this girl. As an owner of the 848 pictured above, samyak graciously took an hour off his schedule to guide me on what to expect and what needs to be fulfilled to own and ride the Italian, importance and budget for riding gear, precautions regarding parking in public spaces and what not. Lots of practical advice.



BMW Motorrad Indore had graciously hosted a breakfast for riders that day and both of us went to their showroom to mingle with our fellow riders who arrived a while later after a much extended photo session at The Sheraton Grand.



It was nice to hangout with riders who I knew, but didn't usually ride with. By 11 am, I had to leave the place due to work commitments and that was end of another occasion with the 899. With the usual wide grin inside my Airoh GP500, I was back home rejuvenated for the week that lay ahead.

Until next ride,
Regards.

P.S. These riverside pics are from next Sunday's ride.

[Entsurgeon]

Thanks to the wonderful Team-BHP threads https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...ike-india.html (How to Buy and live with a Superbike in India) and https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...otorcycle.html (15 things to consider before buying a big motorcycle) I had a very decent idea of what I needed to be careful about when on a superbike and I knew well how impractical they were for Indian conditions. But that didn't stop me from desiring and modifying the track oriented machine to be as easy for daily use as possible. But I needed to understand her deeply first. And so, kicking in all the theoretical knowledge I gained from years of reading auto magazines, I set upon the journey of experimenting with the bike. I soon understood that just because someone is riding bikes for long time doesn't necessarily mean that he is very knowledgeable about stuff. Also just because someone has worked for a long time on bikes doesn't mean that he knows everything about your bike. Joining model specific international forums would help you a lot. But at the same time, you need to have a very basic awareness of scientific, physics and biking jargon to get the maximum out of those articles.

Right out of the showroom Panigale has rather tall gearing. It redlines at 11,500 rpm and the sixth gear is good for ~85 km/h at 3k rpms. It needed at least 75kmph to be slot into 6th without knocking. Second gear would lug the engine if you upshifted below 22-23 kmp/h. But that would barely be 2k rpm. This wasn't exactly my kind of riding. I love to gently cruise at low speeds in the highest possible gear. I am not in any hurry to reach anywhere. I already arrived the day I bought a superbike. Hell, for past 5 years my WhatsApp status has been 'Rat Race Ends' I am in no mood to change it anytime soon.

Also I was told that the bike heats up like crazy. Every rider abroad said that you need to go fast to make it remain cool. Thankfully, the radiator fan on this bike doesn't direct hot air on riders thighs or legs. It's channeled underbody ahead of the exhausts. The bike that way acts like a hovercraft.

Also, the bike would knock. Like, a lot - at lower rpms, with standard petrol. It was like the bike begged you to go fast. And those lumpy thumps, its like she taunts you if you go slow.

And then i remembered the words of a wise old biker - Italians are fast.

M.r Pandit aka Babasahab is 70 years old. He grew up with a Sunbeam SS7 and later their Yamaha dealership was also named after that bike. He is a phenomenal man and deserves a thread of his own recounting his life stories pertaining to bikes, cars and hunting (while it was still legal in india). I sat with his son prior to finalising this bike and was talking at bout which superbike should I get. That's when he overheard us and said just this one small sentence - ' Italians are fast'. I was amused to hear this as I knew all these superbikes are near 300 km/h machines, why would one of them be specifically called fast. It wasn't like this bike does 400 km/h+ while others do only 300. Now I knew what he meant. Italians are fast and they look bloody good standing still. Just read in a CBR thread in the end what they call character are just vibrations. I'd love to contest that statement now. She has loads of features that are very very different than I-4s. And here I was out to change her to suit my needs. Being in deadly first gear at sub-20 km/h speeds wasn't my idea of relaxed riding.

On to the research. I joined the Facebook International 899 owners group and immediately shot my query about making her smooth , non lumpy and nice tractable. For those westerners in streets conducive to higher speeds, the asking was so unbelievable that they thought this is some troll trying to mock the Ducs. I almost had to post my pic sitting on her with today's newspaper in hand if I didn't get the joke. Next up was engine heating issue.

The journey had been fun so far. And everytime I write a few lines, I feel like shoving the phone down my pocket and get out and riding her. Yes. Can't have enough of her and with each passing day, shet gets closer to my heart.

Next posts in this thread would summarise the changes I have made to this bike. The paint protection film lamination, frame sliders installation etc.


The family member at the gates.


That's my relative Anand's workshop. And his RD 350. You would remember him from pages of Overdrive and Autocar India that featured his Midtown Maurauder- handbuilt with M800 engine on a 350 chassis and gearbox.


Why wouldn't you click her on the banks of a scenic lake. This is from my first trip to Bhopal.

I hope you enjoy reading about my journey as much as I did remembering and narrating it. Watch out for lots of photo memories and my blabbering on bike related stuff.

So long.

[Entsurgeon]

My first motorcycle, bought for me by my dad and having my name on the RC was a 1999 CBZ first gen with clip-ons. 17k km and 3 years later, I sold her and got a Pulsar 180 'definitely male' first gen. Sold her 11k km and 3 years later. The buyer was a relative and 2 years later the bike ended up in my porch when he relocated. I rode her a couple of km during the process of selling her, riding her to meet prospective buyers. That was in 2007 or 2008. That was the last I rode any serious bike. A very short spin on a friends P220 or FZ16 won't really count.

Few years later, I knew I'll get myself a big bike. I wanted her to be user friendly, easy to maintain and above all, timeless. I didn't want her to look outdated much too soon. I wished for a long term ownership. Hence, most of the over the top designs were out of the equation. Back then, I considered a few old Brits and the Bonneville. That wasn't the time I was ready with the money, but was just testing waters. If any good deal came along the way and I could, I would jump in. Besides, for a first time buyer, homework, reading about all the bikes within and outside the budget, gaining all kinds of theoretical information, talking to people with riding experience of the same, following Indian and global news on options, watching YouTube videos and reviews from the world over remains the most fun part of buying the first superbike.

Next in line were the nakeds. Triumph came up with mouth-watering pricing when they announced their entry into India. 3 years later, a supposedly 5 lakh Rs. Street Triple ended up being 8 Lakh-ish on-road. However, it was still a contender. Most other motorcycles were not considered purely on budgetary constraints. And this was at a time from 2012-15. I wasn't jumping the gun and was patiently waiting for my time. By end 2014, stars aligned and I was to go get her. Luckily, funnily, ironically, the budgetary constraints were much more lax than when I began and i found myself looking at fully-faired epitomes of motorcycling this side of weird concept vehicles. By that time I had encircled Apollo 37 times and hit twice that number on a weighing scale.

The monetary issues uplifted, I was looking at a committed demanding ergonomic posture with an ageing body. But throughout my life, I was blessed with one thing - focus. Decision making was always a quick and easy process for me because very early on, I understood that every gain demands trade off. And I was very clear about one thing when it came to buying a superbike. It was something I desired, not something I needed. I wouldn't be crippled without a superbike. But, I was just a mortal who wished to live a few days prior to cremation. And so I didn't take long to zero in on a full blown superbike. R1, Hayabusa, CBR - anything. Was not a Harley person, though I did take a friend's Fatboy for a short spin and didn't dislike it. Somehow, sportsbikes weren't the commonest type of big bike in my city (only recently, have we seen few ZX10/6R , S1KR and the likes moving off the shelf - I hope this continues), but as I told a friend, the Yamaha showroom owner, new and used superbike dealer and a rider that I wished to have a superbike, he told me about what was locally available at that moment. If the fact that of all the limited superbikes in my city, two red spanking Ducati 848s and a pearl white 848 were on 'Craig's list' simultaneously doesn't wow you, I don't know what else will. I zeroed in on the outgoing (outgone) 848 purely because it was locally available and I even had choices between 3 manufacture years, 3 odo readings, 2 colours and 3 asking prices. I rode the red, talked to the owner of the white, (to gain knowledge on bike ownership and not to negotiate) and finally was told that I could get a new 899 Panigale. I could have it in any color I wished as long as it was red and I didn't have much time to enjoy more of the buying process. When I got the bike back then, it was Rs. 13,39,000 (ex-showroom). A 10% entry tax was levied on her as the showroom was not in state of MP.

It took me 2 years and lot of unanswered and answered phone calls to get my Registration Card. By then, I was riding solo and barely did 2k km and the first oil service. The process of registration warrants a post in itself and I 'd describe it if someone wishes to know the details.

As far as other alternatives that were on my mind, here's my take-

Bonne and Striple -great bikes. Did not buy because they had any shortcoming. It was a simple case of why buy 'em when you can afford a superbike.

R1, ZX10R, Hayabusa - all great bikes. Why wouldn't someone buy 'em? There are millions of happy owners worldwide, so why nitpick? Didn't find many around for a spin and to get a feel of. I must emphasise how much spec sheets lie. Eg. ride height. At 5'6", I had my reservations for a 32.5"/835 mm saddle height. A Hayabusa saddle, they say is full 5.5 cm or 2" lower. But due to its wide shape, my degree of flat-footing or tiptoeing was same on both. Take home message - never buy a superbike based on spec sheets alone. I must add, I may have gotten myself a 'Busa. Kick me, but I don't like the current shape. The original one is what I prefer. And that too only the 1998-99 unrestricted model. Obviously finding one would be a task. There was one owned probably by Suzuki India that went for Rs. 7 lakhs in 2011 IIRC. As legal as it gets and as showroom-y as they come. Back then, I didn't have the doe though.

Harleys - sorry Arnie. I loved T2, but remain a Van Damme fan.

Daytona - Beautiful, capable, awesome. It even has grab handles at the rear. I think I have a subconscious inclination towards the demanding and uncomfortable. Hence, pass.

848, 1098, 1198 etc - they were outgoing. Didn't have rider aids. I was a newbie. Not ashamed to admit, I went a bit soft here. Panigale has ABS, TC, Quickshifter. No slipper clutch on the 899 though. Today, I would prefer a 1198 SP over an 899, but back then, I chose to give myself the best shot to stay alive and stayed away from raw unaided old school missiles.

Why a V/L twin -
Ducati twin has 90 degree angle and hence called L twin. Only recently did I ride other bikes a bit extensively. And I must say, an L twin is just right for my kind of riding. It took me five years and spins on a variety of big and small bikes to say that last sentence. I am a sedate rider. I don't like to whip my steed making her scream at the top of her voice. I love sophisticated performance. And I love to be on my ride at zero/minimal throttle letting her cruise effortlessly as the world passes by at slow pace while her bassy engine note hits your heart ergo kick drums in a pub. I must say the sound reverberating and ricocheting off the row houses around my streets on a 899 is pure eargasm. Think 1962 cast iron engined Royal Enfield thumping like a boss and multiply the loudness thrice and you can imagine the pure music I am treated to beneath my helmet. Think old boy Sean Connery. No inline four can pull at that low RPM and no aftermarket would make the blower spin such a melody. They need to be screaming to make that sound people die for. Think Axl Rose. At my age, you can't listen to the rockstar all day. She has spoiled me with her torque. She moves as you release clutch at idle. An inline four would stall if I did that. However, this is again a result of lots of stuff gone in the bike over the first couple of years. Remember Babasahab.

This bike was geared tall, ran lean below 3k from the factory and would knock real bad below 3k. That was nearly 25 km/h in first gear. Even while coasting after rolling off the throttle, she would knock below 18 - 20 km/h. This bike was fast. You just can't ride her slowly without her nagging you big time. High octane petrol definitely helped a bit. Just a wee bit. This is what is called a lumpy engine. Lot of research, a -1 sprocket upfront and a piggyback ECU later, she was supersmooth low down on regular petrol. Back then she would complain if you were in any way lower than 75 km/h in sixth. Back then, she screamed, complained and taunted you to go fast, ridiculed you to be riding slow. She was a supermodel that wouldn't be caught dead with her partner in pyjamas. She demanded your limelight performance even backstage. With time and the aftermarkets, she now is an age old spouse that holds a conversation disregarding your unshaven unkempkt derriere. With her after all this time, I am comfortable in my own skin. Show off and rev bombs - It's not that you would, but you could.




These two are from my first ride around town. It was early morning on a Sunday.


And this one is from a later date. Note the elongated tail section with large OEM indicators. This extended tail light and number plate section would often foul with stuff while moving her around in the garage. I later modified the tail myself and the results are pretty decent.

[Entsurgeon]

The Panigale 899 came with a fully and independently adjustable suspension at the front. Both forks have individual setting for compression, rebound and preload.


Check the top cap (black fork tops). She has compression and rebound damping for each fork independently. The preload adjustment is at the lower end. By the way, look at that all alloy top triple clamp. It's not common even among superbikes to have them so beautifully designed.


That hex nut surrounded by red anodised disc - who in their right minds would make such a hidden part so beautiful? Probably those designers thought one should have a good mood while adjusting the front fork preload by having such classy things to look at.

Ditto with horizontally mounted, offset to left, yellow sprung rear.


The user manual recommended settings for road and track usage. I reduced preload at the rear to reduce ride height by half an inch. Set her to recommended street setting and rode. With that fat rear on misaligned concrete roads, she would tramline. I hated that. I felt that a few times. Made up my mind. Tightened her up to track setting. She doesn't tramline anymore, but on sharp undulations of concrete roads, it feels like you are off-roading. If it's tarmac it's smoother. If it's concrete, it better be billiard table smooth.

She comes with ABS with 8 levels, traction control again with 8 levels and engine braking control or EBC - an ECU assisted phenomenon to reduce the wild engine braking associated with this engine configuration. It has 3 levels.

She had three riding modes - Wet, Sport and Race. In each mode, the preset levels of ABS, TCS and EBC differ. Each mode is fully customisable, so no separate user mode. Another parameter that differs with modes is engine power. It could be set to low or high - low being restricted 100 BHP and high being 150 BHP. It's preset to high in both sport and race mode. However, the map is more aggressive in Race mode.

Therefore, straight out of factory, in Wet mode, she's fast charming and nannying. Any wild input cuts off engine power momentarily to keep you planted and prevent wheelspin. In Sport mode, she rips your arms off your shoulders. In Race mode, she's that angry Rottweiler - popping wheelies unintentionally. If you manage to control it and compose yourself, it feels like she's saluting your riding skills. If she catches you off guard, you'd wish you lived to tell the tale. She has a quickshifter for upshifts.

Right off the shelf she wears Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa. Corsa is Italian for track. They are grippy when hot. They heat up quick. You could wring the throttle without wheelspin. On not so traction-y concrete, with a little lean. They are over 5 years old now and I can see cracks on the rear tyre, but they still stick.


On a side note, even such a sticky rubber, if not misused on wheelspins and irresponsible throttle and brake inputs, you could make them last real long with normal road usage. This is my rear which has done near 9k km and the arrow is pointing at the wear indicator. If not for age and cracks, this could last over 20k km for sure.

The front is the standard 120/70 -17. Rear is unusual 180/60-17. Mostly they are 180/55-17. The sidewalls on this tire are steep and she's designed to flick left and right effortlessly, quickly and stylishly. Watch her negotiate Corkscrew at Laguna Seca to know what i mean. Basically, she is more at home on tracks than streets.


The bike got front fork protectors, rear swingarm spools, radiator guard, anodised shorty levers and expensive frame sliders from Sato Racing. This bike is a monocoque design and hence there's no chassis to bolt on the sliders. The sliders for this bike come with heavy metal plate, 4 - 5 longer screws to account for added thickness and the derelin sliders.


This is the photo from when we installed them. The red arrow shows the threaded hole to bolt the derelin slider (absent in the pic). If you are wondering, all that money goes in machining the perfect sized replacement bolts that ensure a flush fit - you still can't insert a human hair between the slider plate and engine casing . There's a smaller plate for the other side too.

Its usually US$ 400. That excludes duties, shipping and installation charges. She needs twin radiator guards for twin (upper and lower) radiators. Good for the rider because this bike heats up a lot. Thankfully, for pillion. She doesn't have underseat exhausts like R1 or classic Ducatis do. But the aft cylinder head rests just under the rider's thighs and makes the saddle warm.

Off the shelf, she's lumpy, she's hot as in high engine temperatures hot. She's mad at you for not riding her fast. She's the bike for you if you can live with that.

For the technically inclined, here's a clinical description of the bike from when it was launched- https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...-panigale.html (2014 Ducati 899 Panigale)


That's a quickshifter which works only for upshifts.

[Entsurgeon]

As soon as I brought her home, I searched the markets locally. In the absence of any active dedicated store in Indore, I fortunately got Alpinestar SP2 full gauntlet gloves that I picked up without a second thought.



An old edition, fat soled Alpinestar SMX1 were with someone who earlier started riding gear business out of his home. These boots were from his residual stock. Served me for a year or less. The soles ripped apart and I decided not to get em repaired. I did buy these.

On my first intercity commute to Bhopal, it rained profusely and these boots were soaked. This was hardly a week or two after my buying them. Four and half years and they are still holding up well. Woodland gets five stars for that.

I picked up an AGV sport mesh jacket from Performance Racing Store, Tardeo and Airoh GP500 from Bachoo Motore that's just across the street.










The Airoh GP500 is a 1.1 kg, carbon fiber helmet on the expensive side. Has a quick tool-less removable visor and externally removable cheekpads for easy removal in a post crash situation. They are used by professional racers and had all standard features including double D straps and a removable and washable liner. The air vents actually work.

A year or two ago, I picked up street riding boots Alpinestar Jam air at a throwaway price from the Tata Rafeal showroom.


Tata was assembling these at their Dewas plant for Alpinestars, who provided them with soles and the top.

Right now she has done 8,300 km on the odo - mostly Sunday morning rides, but also city spins and occasionally commutes. I am blessed my workplaces always have dedicated, secure and in most cases, covered parkings for doctors. So whenever life permits, I take her for work commutes too. I have friends who park their bikes out in public casually, but this is not the bike to do it. She attracts way too much attention. I have taken her to Bhopal a couple of times, which is 200 km away.





As far as styling is concerned, this model lacks Ducati's signature features- Trellis frame and SSSA (single sided swingarm). This bike is a monocoque design and lacks a frame. She also features an all aluminium double sided swingarm which is a few kg lighter than SSSA.


The rear swingarm is a work of art. Compare it with any other superbike swingarm and you would agree. It's a solid piece of aluminium. Check the scratch in next pic and you'd know.


Now you know why Ducs cost what they cost.

This bike was brought via a low tax Thailand assembly route. The fit and finish, while much above average, might just be a tad lesser than Italy assembled pieces. But except for a lax, peeping thermal insulation layer under the rear exhaust loop cover that you see under seat, there isn't much of an issue of any kind. Rust is absolutely a non-issue as this bike lacks any steel parts per se and almost everything is alloy. Five years of limited exposure to elements and I can say she's holding herself well. The multi-part fairing - which, by now, I've removed and fitted hundreds of times, fits so perfectly, even if you miss a bolt or two, you don't see gaps.

This particular model didn't come with a factory clear coat. I contemplated a variety of protective layers including ceramic and teflon, but finally went the most expensive way. I searched and found 3M Paint Protection Film locally. At Rs. 500 per square feet, it came to around Rs. 20k to wrap all the fairing pieces with PPF. The width of the film wasn't enough to cover the tank in a single go and I decided not to wrap fuel tank in 2 pieces showing a crack running along the edge of two portions. So, the fuel tank was given a 9H ceramic coat. The PPF is extremely robust and hasn't shown the slightest discoloration or even hairline cracks that develop over years of washes and wipes.

She also protects the fairing from damage due to stray pebbles. I've not read this on other reviews. Hence, would like to mention here. These fat tires somehow tend to throw up gunk, muck, dust/sand grains and small pebbles a lot. Most of these would just make the bike behind dirty. But, a pebble striking your bike at triple digit speeds is something one shouldn't dismiss casually. When riding with other SBKs, be all covered, visor down and pray. If you happen to ride behind another superbike (and that happens very often), this is what a big hard fast pebble would do if you have 3M PPF+-


You can guess what would happen if it didn't have same.

I did remove all the fairings including the front cowl and tail at a friend's workshop and got each piece individually (and painstakingly) wrapped at another. The whole stripping down to dressing up took 5 days and was a great lesson in future maintenance related undoing of the bike. Shout out to Irfan, an old family friend who has worked in Dubai long back and did all the work with really minuscule help from me. It's a really heart-squelching experience to do that to a brand new bike, but I seemed to have mastered that with clip-ons on my CBZ ages ago and then an Eliminator's 130/70 rear tyre on my Pulsar 180 within the very first week. I do have a few more pics from that session, which I may post if members wish to see.

[Entsurgeon]

Handlebars

Though an L twin, she is very narrow. The handlebars, I felt, are wider for clip-ons. Wider than S1000R, Benelli 302R and equal or wider than Striple, Z900, Benelli 600R etc. This is strictly my personal experience.

The switchgear has performed flawless over the past five years. Not that you would use it much.



On your right is the starter switch that pops up once you move the kill switch to start position.



Left side is busy. It has the horn, pass switch, turn-signal switch (non self cancelling) and menu navigation switches. Her DRL lights up on switching on the ignition and headlight turns on in low beam as soon as the engine revs to life. Hence she has no headlight switch. Note that embossed Ducati logo on the handlebar grip. These Ducati guys conspire to make you shell out a lot more money than standard by branding everything. But the charm works.

The saddle is thin, but comfortable. It's also slim. Being an L twin, the bike itself is slim overall and riders would find it easier to flatfoot as compared to inline 4s and 3s with the same saddle height. The pillion seat should either be called a child seat or a joke. But that's smart of the designers. This is not a vehicle that behaves well with an ordinary pillion. Her body balance, braking, acceleration, cornering, all go for a toss unless you strap the pillion to yourself and strap you must. This bike has got no grab rails and the pillion perch is so high that if you are anything less than a senior martial artist who can do splits all day, you'd hit the high pillion seat with your feet while dismounting. The trick is to keep leaning far ahead while getting off.


Notice that loose strap on rear seat. That's for gripping the tail while moving her around. They probably wanted you to even ride her in your garage instead of maneuvering. The strap can be hidden under the rear seat and at first glance, it looks like it can't support the heavy tail to slide her around. But so far, it has held up.

Riding position and ergonomics

The magic lies in the forward leaned position. This posture, while torture to your wrists at slow speeds, makes you one with the bike. It moves effortlessly. It flicks intuitively. Forget torso or butt, just tensing your shoulders would make her change course slightly. And that leaning, aggressive position has one very big boon. It makes your spine, coupled with flexible, bent elbows work as a shock absorber. I've done a maximum of 350 km in a day atop her on Indian four lane roads. It's tiring, but not by a long margin if you don't end up in a long urban crawl at your destination city. Though one needs to stretch himself and his legs often, that's something every cross-country rider has to do to keep those veins patient. The first time I rode to Bhopal, habitual of doing that commute in cars so far, I rode all the way to Dodi - a highway restaurant midway. No stops in between, no leg stretches. I was new to riding her and this was probably August 2015. It didn't feel odd or uncomfortable at all but the moment I stopped and placed my feet on pavement, surprise!!!! My leg was missing. I didn't have a leg. None. I could see it but couldn't feel it. Couldn't feel its position on the pavement. I suspect Ducatis bring down a priest to bless their daily produce straight out of factory. There's no other way my bike could've been saved from falling down.

These Sunday rides have taught me one thing if you allow me to be unbiased, it's not like these extreme sporty riding positions are bad for urban commute. It's just that you use them for much, much longer rides. On my CBZ and P180, barring a commute to Bhopal and back on the same day, I'd seldom ride more than 20 km in an entire day. On this bike, that could be done every single day for the rest of your life, but we riders tend to load the expectations when making a comparison. This is not an uncomfortable vehicle. It's a very capable and comfortable Equine.

Hindsight

The rear view mirrors are foldable, unlike on any other Panigale. And that's a blessing. The mirrors are good to spot your trailing rider and check occasionally if he/she is still tagging along or lost midway. Barring that, they aren't of much use. But they look sexy. They are made of solid aluminium and are extremely lightweight.



That tiny red arrow points out the integrated turn-indicator. She is the only Panigale with foldable mirrors. Almost every 959, 1199 or v4 that I personally know, has had them broken in parking lots because they don't fold.

My LH mirror stalk broke when a friend accidentally tried to hold and support her on the mirror stalk as she was about to fall due to the kickstand resting on loose gravel. My friend Anand repaired that so well, retaining the foldability, that I didn't bother to change to the new mirror that arrived a month later. I've got that mirror as a spare until now.

The headlamps have LED DRLs. Headlights are halogen and I haven't changed them as yet. Maybe I'd go for LEDs or Nightbreakers when the time comes. They have H11 bulbs. The beam is good for a city commuter. I think any rider who thinks a bike should illuminate enough for a 150 km/h urban commute is riding right after viewing Avengers and such Sci-Fi movies. The headlights are good for what they are. I've seen better brighter LEDs on bikes, but those were the large flood lamp kind of things and they didn't illuminate too far ahead like the Duc's high beam, though at short distances they were brighter. However, there's no way a headlamp can substitute for daylight and expecting an illumination worthy of 150 km/h is insane.





The nose isn't bulbous and won't remind you of Rastapopulous, but surely that Eagle beak looks like it will bite you and take a piece of you with her in a true bird of prey style.

She has an underseat storage space for a toolkit and even a few more papers are a squeeze there. It's lockable though and safe. Ironically, the tool kit provided didn't have the allen key that fits the fairings standard bolt heads. That said, most of the fairings have at least one bolt of a different size and you can't remove the whole fairing with just a single size hex key. The preload adjuster at the rear uses a standard tool of the same size that most other Indian small bikes use. I used one from the Pulsar and it has been unaltered ever since.

Ducatis are usually designed such that more than a few workshop jobs need specialised tools. One such is needed for front fork disassembly. But more on that in long term posts.

While the gearshift on this bike is positive and false neutrals are few and far between, the hydraulic clutch is a bit on the harder side. The first gear clicks in with an expected bold thud. Although it has a quickshifter for upshifts only, a street rider can comfortably do clutchless shifts very early on. Lack of slipper clutch coupled with high engine braking characteristic of v-twin means aggressive downshifts would be appreciated with a slight tail out. As compared to inline fours, this engine pulls from idle and wouldn't stall even if you release the clutch at zero throttle / 1,500 rpm.

Trust me, that torque is addictive. No matter what your riding style is - aggressive or sedate, that torque is addictive. It's spread across the rev range. It makes the engine so rev happy, at lower gears that it doesn't take more than 2 - 3 seconds for the engine to hit the limiter under hard acceleration. And this results in B-R-U-T-A-L acceleration. You have read that line often in reviews - brutal acceleration. If you wanna know what it is, redline her. This bike, out of factory, was quicker to 100 km/h than any inline 4 street legal machine. Quicker than even 1199 and 1299 Panigale upto 100km/h. And then I replaced the front sprocket with a -1T sacrificing some top end with what I'd term "Widow-maker" acceleration.



Check out how the whole handlebar, top triple clamp, steering damper, ignition slot, clutch and brake oil reservoirs come together and rather than looking busy, look stylish and sexy.

[Entsurgeon]

Off the shelf, this bike detests cities. Hates slow riders. Abhors low speeds. It writhes, it coughs, it gets angry. Engine temperature shoots up. It taunts. It pesters you to belt her. Higher octane fuel definitely helps a bit but that only means her lumpiness isn't entirely her fault. Though I now wish to someday find out why would western people with access to even higher octane petrol find her lumpy.

Push her and she rewards the rider with smooth crisp ride the moment the right wrist twists. It salutes, it cheers, it celebrates. Off the shelf, she has a flipper valve in the exhaust which subdues the engine note below 3k rpm. And when you go slightly high on rpm range, she pulls up her skirts and screams as she approaches warp speeds. Her engine note opens up from a sufi prelogue to a melodius rock encore. From a bassy growl to a deep-throated scream. And hence, the highway is a different story altogether.

On the highway, she kisses you, she gives you aural pleasure, she makes the winds caress your skin. With power wheelies, she seems to salute you. And she plays it cool as she runs hot. The engine temperature at high 2 digit speeds (and those are very sedate speeds on today's four lane toll roads) would not let her over 75 degrees Celsius with standard coolant. But encounter a patch of 60 km/h and below and the temperature climbs a bit higher. Remember that aft head that's under your crotch between thighs? Coupled with the tank, it creates a heat trap between your thighs and crotch and you need to move them wide for a second or two to let that heat build up wash away in the wind while you are on the move. This happens only when you get slow. If you keep riding her at near triple digits, 72 to 75 degree Celsius isn't trouble at all and it's a totally manageable and comfortable safe speed for most highways. The steady rumble of the engine at that moment, the positive gearshifts, the pull from even lower down - it makes your loose helmets fit and fitting helmets tight. Such is the size of grin she brings. So if you plan to get her, buy your helmet a size larger.

Off the shelf this bike runs tall. She would do 81 km/h at 3k rpm in sixth i.e. 27 km/h per thousand rpms. Gearing is closely matched and the first gear is good for half that speed i.e. the engine would spin at 2k rpm if you are at 27 km/h in first cog. This is the reason she would be lumpy at speeds below 20 unless you ride the clutch as at that speed it would barely tick at 1,500 rpm - idle speed. I'd say it's still not bad considering that alternative-stalling. I changed the front sprocket early on so didn't test this, but with - 1F, she currently hits the rev limiter in first around 120 km/h. By contrast, my Honda City petrol CVT does a respectable 90 km/h at 6,750 rpm limiter in first and that's when different gearing means she spins at 1,800 rpm in 7.5th gear ( that's half a gear taller than 7th in this CVT) at 100 km/h. In aggressive race mode, she gives you a power wheelie in first gear <6k rpm that's a safe 70-80 km/h. Didn't try that in any other gear. Don't recommend it for safety issues. I have done it on completed patches of under-construction, closed, smooth highways with all safety gear. Off the shelf she wouldn't want you to be kept below 75-80 km/h in sixth gear.

Straight roads are for fast bikes and twisties are for fast riders.

Endless YouTube instructive videos and learnings, endless coffee table discussions with senior riders and you start bending into corners the way you haven't done on your smaller bikes. If highways give you wide grins, rest assured a 190 kg kerb weight (-5 kg for fuel already spent by the time you reach there) would turn your grins to stupid grins and maybe to a maniacal laugh as you succeed in taking that corner perfectly or if you just get a slight tail out, a heart in mouth moment. If this bike is a pleasure on highways, it's bliss on twisties and it's definitely nirvana on tracks. The flickability, the engine braking, the torque from low down ensures that this becomes much more forgiving to slower riders and helps their lap times even though they take a corner in a gear too high.

I've heard great things about I4 refinement, but i've seen vibrations creep in to them too. If you stop comparing I4 vs L-twin for matched speeds and compare them rpms for rpms, you d find L-twins lumpy at rpms that I4 don't even support. They run above 2.5-3k rpms and by then L-twin is silky smooth. Below that, it's lumpy and I4]s stall. I rode 4 I4s back to back to give you that information. And the crossplane R1 was the only one that was an even match, but I still couldn't make her pull at idle speeds without clutch. If you wonder why I am so fixated to low speed performances, it's because you either have a tow trailer to take her out of the city and then ride, or you would ride her at city speeds at lower rpms half the time. If your bike isn't good at low speeds, it'll murder your wrists, back and forearms that are continuously pulling the heavy clutch lever. You can live with bikes that are not good at higher speeds as you rarely reach there and almost never sustain them in this part of the globe. But you can't live with bikes that torture you at slower pace. And off the shelf, she was one. Since I am using her in and out of the city, I wanted her to be supremely comfortable and at ease on city streets. In came the piggyback ECU which I bought from USA online and got it hand delivered to a relative who then carried it back. Installation was easier than most other service stuffs on a Ducati. In fact it was a breeze. It has a residual port too in her loom, which I erroneously connected to the bike disconnecting some other port as it felt intuitive.
Punching in the key made all the dash lights and warning signs go haywire and I cut the key immediately. With a beating heart I double checked and rectified my mistake and thankfully on next punching in, the bike didn't show any residual damage. The piggyback ECU auto tunes the bike to run richer at low rpms making her smooth and cooler.

The sprocket and ECU have now made her run smoothly in 6th from 50 km/h on normal fuel. Can't tell you how happy I am. I don't remember much but both my CBZ and Pulsar did need a downshift from 5th gear if the speed dropped below 40-45 km/h. That way, this 40 kg heavier bike is not only as tractable as small Indian singles, she's smoother and cooler than ever doing it. At times when i go for city coffee rides in evenings, most of the times it doesn't rise up to the fan-kicking 103 degrees. That is despite me trying to make her reach there so fan gets its occasional dose of spinning. Also, while in the initial years, all I read about her online was how hot she ran and how aft cylinder head and underseat exhaust loop were a PITA, she runs coolest now for my kind of riding.








Note, in the last pic, how her tail section protrudes out. We modified the original tail and reduced that protrusion by 3 - 4 inches. Here is a pic off the internet and my current tail for comparison.


That is the factory tail.


And this is how we ended up. Note that we preserved the original end piece including the number plate light. Currently, I have Ducati performance LED indicators which are sleeker.

[Entsurgeon]

These international brands have a degree of smoothness that's unheard of in Indian bikes. A very small degree of foot peg vibrations seep in at around 120 km/h in sixth and disappear by 130 km/h and those too are not intrusive at all.

These bikes are mighty susceptible to riding style afffecting their fuel consumption. Ridden sanely, if 80-120 km/h on highways for whole day seems sane, she has given me 30 km/l with the previous sprocket. With a -1 front, some highway efficiency is sacrificed. I got those fuel efficiency figures in the beginning when I was new and wished to check all this stuff. I was expecting around 15 km/l and fearing an 8-12 km/l on highway. I must say, she relieved me with these figures. I think they are insane for a 150 bhp bike. But then, it would depend a lot on your riding style. On city streets, I am usually a soft rider. I don't like to over rev the engine or brake late. I coast her a lot, whenever possible. However, on twisties, she has returned me a respectable 18 -20 km/l on zero coasting and slow down and acceleration every half a km as demanded by canyon roads. The bike display could be set to show you instant fuel consumption which could further be set to km/l or L/100kms.

She has a 4.2 gallon or 17.5 litre fuel tank and understandably, the low fuel warning comes up when she still has more fuel than full capacity of some bikes - 8 litres or so. But looking at how some people ride these machines, a 70-80 km range on low fuel in worst case is nice. She has just a low fuel warning and not a needle showing the fuel situation. The moment fuel light warning comes up, the odo is replaced by a km counter starting from 0.0 and shows how much distance you have covered since fuel warning light comes up. The maximum I went post the low fuel warning was around 56 km and less than brimming her up took in 13 litres of fuel. So far a 200 km Sunday ride in mixed traffic situations demands 8-11 litres fuel.

A kerb weight of 190 kg isn't too much, but not having any grab handles definitely makes it a bit tough to move around. The turning radius is more as usual and you need to lean her slightly to tighten a U-turn.

The bike's riding posture is extreme and if you don't support yourself with your midriff, your wrists will ache. Almost every non-superbike rider complains of this and that's what makes her so endearing to me. The fact that most people won't be able to tolerate more than 10 minutes on this bike makes me feel a bit ecstatic. It shows that being able to ride such an extreme bike for hours means you are able to do things other people find tough.

The brakes are progressive and taut forks that don't dives as much, the bite is not as dramatic despite being strong. Aided by a multiple level ABS they are a breeze. At the highest setting they are too intrusive and at the lowest they just prevent front wheel lock. It could be totally switched off by hooking up to a pc which is not a user manageable, at home, service.

I have scraped the belly occasionally but for most part this Ital-twin is tall. It scraped only because I softened the rear which makes her squat trading in a valuable 10 - 15 mm of GC.

The kickstand is tough to find for first timers but intuitive thereon. Maybe they tucked it in neatly for aerodynamics. But if you look at those piece of alloys two things become clearer - 1. Why italians are heart achingly beautiful and 2. Why they don't come cheap.


This is what they moulded the alloy metal into....


...and that's what the design is.

These bikes are extremely well made for where they were intended to be sold as. That they are still holding on after much abuse that Indian roads and riding cycles throw at them is a testimony to how well engineered they are. Nevertheless, because most such bikes aren't ridden daily, they suffer niggles like dead batteries, leaking fork seals etc ever so often. And yes, the horn. It's fitted facing downwards somewhere under the front fairing. I don't know why but the factory horn gave up in few months and replacing it with roots worked like a charm until I replaced the battery last year with a Li-ion one. I must say, shaving off those 3 - 4 kilos also makes you feel that the bike has become very very light - brain games.

There's no showroom in my city, but we have around 10 Ducatis around here. A couple of 848s, Monsters, Diavels and v4s. Ever so often a few of us pool up and get a mechanic from official SVC down here and get the routine service done. Major replacements may need flat-bed carrying to Mumbai or Ahmedabad. It doesn't cost way too much to get doorstep service. However, each oil service would usually be around 10 k. That includes our share for getting the mechanic at our doorsteps. At 10k km or once a year, this isn't too much for sure. Though it's definitely more than what a Jap's service costs.


That, by the way, is my friend's Heritage Softail. Fully customised, this won the best customised Harley award in Goa IBW few years back. This is the only pic from his visit where my kids weren't swarming over her.


Beautiful from every single angle. Maybe it's one of the criterion for Ducati designers. They probably also have a prize internally for finding an ugly angle of their bikes.

[Entsurgeon]

Only your close friends or relatives would congratulate you on your first Merc, Audi or Bimmer (okay, okay, Jag too.)

But the Ducati, it makes your classmate from childhood call you and talk for a full hour from Europe. Not the WhatsApp call mind you. That's what happened with me.

How people around me reacted when I got her and other anecdotes of us going out together on streets are worth a thread on itself should I ignore the privacy issues. And this is when I haven't made her my display pic anywhere. Even my Facebook doesn't have her in my posts. As much as I love to be a rider, I am much more than just an owner of a superbike. Despite that, there are lot of conversations I got myself into that centered on her. So, I guess I have much fewer stories to tell in this regard.

Nevertheless, I'll keep narrating on the fly. Would also do some photos of size comparison as well as ground clearance pics in addition to other stuff. Until then, let's burnout before changing the old Pirellis.



And that's how they look after a small 10 sec burnout. It doesn't shows the tons of rubber dust that covered the whole road after that.


From a very old short breakfast ride with close friends. My colleague's Avenger is covered by the Panigale.


Superbikes need super riders, right? That's my younger one from early days.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Superbikes Section. Thanks for sharing!

Your sexy Ducati & passionate review are going straight to our homepage .

[krishnaprasadgg]

One hell of a review, very passionate too, like the Italians .

I must say, as much as I am not a fan of the L Twin engines(full disclosure, I haven't ridden one) or how they sound, I cannot help but just stand and stare and drool over the way the Ducatis look. They are just pieces of art and seem very fast just standing still.

Special mention to the design team for that exhaust placement, as for someone who hates underbody exhausts, this one just looks gorgeous.

I remember drooling over the Panigale and the Multistrada when I had visited the Ducati showroom at UB City a few years ago.

Subscribed to the thread, hoping to hear more experiences with the beauty.

Cheers
Krishna

[Entsurgeon]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Superbikes Section. Thanks for sharing!

Your sexy Ducati & passionate review are going straight to our homepage .

Thanks a tonne GTO. I am honoured.

[Jacob1000]

Saying that this is one of the most passionate ownership reviews I've read here, is underselling it. This is making me want to get a Panigale too when otherwise i love Jap I4s. Was in Mhow a while back and if I knew anything about a passionate biker like yourself living there, I would've met up.

Completely agree with the obsessive attention to detail, especially to the bodywork. Always wonder how do they get those body panels to fit so tight and clean.

[kmonza]

Amazing write up, the passion in reflected. You have gone into quiie a bit of nuances of the motorcycle and explained them in detail. Happy to see different perspective of Ducati than what I have. Thanks for the time and effort.