Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

I guess in some ways you could say this is the bike i desire most on the current market...or at least any bike i have the opportunity to ride.

My Multi was in for service today so i asked last week if i could test ride the 1299 whilst it was being done as they said i could wait for the Multi, its a two hour service. No problem was what i was told.

Anyway turned up this morning to find the sales guy was on holiday but the bike was ready to roll anyway. Got a quick run through the controls, particularly the mode changes but much is similar to my Multi in that respect. So started her up and was greeted to a cacophony of noise. I still cant believe this is was a standard bike, quite what you would want from an aftermarket exhaust I'm not sure. You don't need more noise nor more power.

As i pulled off onto the main road the fuel light came on so i stopped at the nearest station to put a gallon in so I didn't have to worry about running out of fuel. Test rides are limited to an hour by the insurers at JHP.

I had already decided to go out on the roads towards Mallory park, there are some cracking roads that way and quiet too.

First thing i noticed is that the 1299 seems to run cooler than the 1199, the heat from the curled length of exhaust on the 1199 becomes unbearable at times but not so on the 1299.

Took it steady for the first few miles but once i got to the open roads i was able to twist the throttle a bit....... this thing has unbelievable amounts of power from low down too. I had started off in wet mode but once fuelled up changed to sport mode. The fuelling is far better than the 1199 too, no jerky throttle, and the bike picks up and goes instantly. This was when i remembered it had an autoblipper...these things are the future. It works much better than the up shifts on the quickshifter, just a touch of the pedal and it changes down, no clutch and just a slight blip of the throttle from the electronics and a very useful tool for slowing the bike a little when barreling into corners. I think for road bikes it has far use than the quickshifter. The quickshifter is good but i think i need more oractice at using one as sometimes i seemed to manage a very clean, seamless quick shift and other times the bike seemed to lurch a bit. Personally i''m not sure i would want to use one much on a bike i owned myself, they must have a detrimental effect of gearbox longevity.

I took the bike out towards Mallory and across to Market Bosworth, its turns very easily but still retains that Ducati stability and is just so much easier to use than the 1199 and much more like the 899.

I got a bit lost for a while just riding the lovely roads round there, they were for the most part deserted, and it would be a good place for a ride out one day. I eventually had to get a map out to work out the quickest way back as i also lost sight of the time.

Enjoyed the 1299 far more than the 1199 and for the last bit i put the bike in Race mode. Again very useable and there are other things to bring up on the dash - laptimer and the lean angle indicator but when i found the lean angle indicator i pulled up behind a plod van. I did stop for a few minutes so i could play without him about but unfortunately i still caught him up too quickly.

In summary, its a huge step up from the 1199. All the little niggles that bike had, seem to have been put right by Ducati and the 1299 works so much better on the road.

I'm not in a position to buy a new bike this year and have a few other things to think about currently but when new bike time arrives, its definitely on the list.

Cheers for that mate, such a pretty bike

lovely bike, but a shed load of money. easily the best looking bike out i think,

Cracking review.

I can't say I'm a massive fan of the looks, but there's no doubting it's a desireable bike.

Gorgeous bike. I'm sure I read somewhere the bike is actually quieter with the termis fitted but not sure how true. I think the 899 is louder than the 11/1299 too but can't remember where I read that either. Apparently the bike seems louder than it actually is due to the exhausts being so low down. Quite a few were failing static noise testing for track but would pass the fly by boise limit due to sound bouncing off the ground.

Great review,glad you enjoyed the ride

Beautiful machine and glad to hear the leg cooking device they called an exhaust has been sorted out.

Are any of the improvements filtering down to the 899? Now that I'd buy.

They need to do an 899s

Decent comparison here of the R1 and the base 1299.

I can't see me spending £20k on a second bike so if i did ever buy one it would almost certainly be the base 1299.

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Good review,I wouldn't want all those electronic options fitted to the r1 it would just confuse me

Why not go for a nearly new 1299s instead of a 1299 base model Duke ?

I doubt you would get even a s/h one for much less than £17-18k for a few years yet and that's if you can find a nearly new one for sale. They hold their value remarkably well.

You just have to look harder Duke In my experience there is always some one desperate, its just a case of finding them and then hammering them on price

I must admit I do fancy a Ducati Sportsbike at some point in my motorcycling career and the logical choice is a 1299s. I guess I need to hurry up though as I can already see myself leaning towards an adventure bike in a few year.

Blade wrote:You just have to look harder Duke In my experience there is always some one desperate, its just a case of finding them and then hammering them on price

Yep i guess so. I am keeping an eye out to see if the 899 gets an update this year in line with the 1299. Give the 899 an autoblipper, colour screen and a bit more torque and the decision would be made for me.

duke63 wrote:

Blade wrote:You just have to look harder Duke In my experience there is always some one desperate, its just a case of finding them and then hammering them on price

Yep i guess so. I am keeping an eye out to see if the 899 gets an update this year in line with the 1299. Give the 899 an autoblipper, colour screen and a bit more torque and the decision would be made for me.

Do you think the 899 will be updated this year then? Test riding one last year still stands out in my memory as a great day.

duke63 wrote:

Blade wrote:You just have to look harder Duke In my experience there is always some one desperate, its just a case of finding them and then hammering them on price

Yep i guess so. I am keeping an eye out to see if the 899 gets an update this year in line with the 1299. Give the 899 an autoblipper, colour screen and a bit more torque and the decision would be made for me.

I'd agree with you there. That would be well worth it.

DaytonAndy wrote:

duke63 wrote:

Blade wrote:You just have to look harder Duke In my experience there is always some one desperate, its just a case of finding them and then hammering them on price

Yep i guess so. I am keeping an eye out to see if the 899 gets an update this year in line with the 1299. Give the 899 an autoblipper, colour screen and a bit more torque and the decision would be made for me.

Do you think the 899 will be updated this year then? Test riding one last year still stands out in my memory as a great day.

I think there is a good chance. There are not many other bikes in their range due any sort of update and I would guess some of the changes made to the 1299 would logically be applied to the 899. The 1299 currently has different bodywork to the 899 and 1199 which makes no sense from a financial point of view.


But saying all that, I then go out on my 748 for an hour and a half and I have to ask my self would I have any more fun on either?

Probably not 99% of the time.