I feel very sorry for the poor lad on his brand new 20k Tricolour? Panigale when 3 Blades left him for dust today.
Hi, I'm from Italy and I had a lot of bikez...but I have to admit that apart from nice looking shapes and exotics parts (rims, brakes etc etc...) italian bikes are a bunch of crap...used to have a 999s from 2006 in 3000kms the bike went 4 times to the dealer (3 times ECU probs, fourth time the radiator exploded at a stop...then i sold it)...MVf4 1000r from 2007, various electrical problems and the front fork replaced under warranty for continuous leakages...MVf4 from 2010, warped rotors after 3000kms, lights ECU dead after 1000kms, radiator neck cracked after 10 wheelies or so... They look gorgeous but got too much probs and chassis are too stiff, hard to ride and not friendly...
Oh Maxvis my boy. I am really leaning towards 'upgrading' my 2011 Blade for a Panigale or a F4 next spring but........ I have read one thing, be told another, read something else different again. I really don’t know what to think anymore. The report in latest Fast Bikes magazine that dropped through my letter box yesterday has great report comparison test: Blade v F4 v Panigale v R1. makes good reading and whilst the hard to ride F4 was very clear (and has put me off a bit given the roads where I live are designed for inbred farmers driving tractors and 4x4's, by someone with a warped sense definition of the word Smooth ). But the Panigale came out tops in real world road riding. At this rate I might just keep what I have for a while longer.
Hi freedom of choice...to be honest i think that one should have owned a bike to tell if it is ok or not...the magazines are very biased and often they write down stuff depending on what they earn in change...that said, i never ridden the panigale yet but i could because a friend o mine is a ducati dealer and they have a test bike for the customers... Again, i use to travel abroad to the uk and to France, i consider the french magazines to be the least biased when it comes to write reviews etc...then, on the French Superbike magazine, in the article for panigale review, they wrote about the chassis of the new bike and the fact that it is not exactly what they expected, it is not that precise as the old kid of chassis and sometimes it is wobbling...So, if in the other magazines it came out top in real world riding I think this is because Audi/Wolkswagen (actual ducati owners) spent a lot of money for the journalists during tests (i.e. nice hotels, nice bitches etc...maybe the french journalist was gay so he gave an unbiased review, hahahhhahah) Now, i don't see the point in owning a ducati if the chassis is not precise like a scalpel... for sure it is a jaw dropping designed bike, but i would not consider to buy one, at least now, i will avoid the first series...remember that many of the first batch of 1098's got very big probs at the engine and other crap. I owned an F4, normal model, from 2010, apart from the problems i had...i have to admit that the bike behaves much better from the 2007 old R model that i had...that said, the older model was kinda "savage" and got it's own "temper", dunno how to explain but the old one got some balls and it was nervous, somethin "one of its kind". The new F4 behaves a lot like an R1 from 07/08, it is very similar both on power delivery both on chassis feeling but with the problems connected to the fact that it is not as reliable as the Yamaha. Summary: Italian sportbikes are mainly made for posers (and I can understand that people loves them because they're gorgeous, i will not criticize one that buys one of them because he fall in love with it...)
my understanding from the very same article was that the standard pani was better for real world riding i.e uk roads than the S as this is a bit more focused thus making the standard better value for money if your not a track nut..... to be fair Freedom, i dont think they were comparing the pani against the blade / R1 / MV in this respect of each other, more a case of executive summary against a bunch of quality bikes that could be out of normal folks reach if it wasnt for the finance deals on offer. As for the MV, they said this was unforgiving and harsh, but if your willing to push and try your luck, then the rewards come - personally that made me think of it as a challenge to tame!
As for the original post - you think he might be scared of binning it al? or just more money than talent? tbh - i dont think my 2011 blade, 2004 r1 or a pani s would make me any faster on the road - everybody has a limit and i dont think any modern litre bike out there would be the limiting factor for a rider in terms of speed on the road - they are all bloody amazing!
Yup I read the article - subjective shite, generalisations and terms that don't actually mean anything
Subjective shite to what? - a clear comparison between a standard and S model for a given task - uk road riding - thats all they were saying?? all reviews and write ups are opinion, just have to decide if you trust the source or not and want to take the time to read what they have to say about it, but they are entitled to an opinion - you must respect some of it, you bought the mag ffs!? They didnt compare it and say it was better than your beloved blade don’t worry!! heaven forbid! Would never buy a bike on anyone else’s opinion – if I like the look of it, can afford it and it rides good (in my opinion) I’ll buy it – simples
Couldnt care less about you opinion tbh, but i'd listen to it if you made any sense - just think you missunderstood what they was saying about the bike in the first place.
So are you trying to start an argument or not then? You seem to have a strong opinion for someone who "couldn't care less". I didn't misunderstand the article at all. Coming to the conclusion that the base model is better than the S for UK roads is a subjective generalisation, which is why I said that further up this thread.
mate you'd argue with yourself for the sake of it? i couldnt care less about your opinion as you form no structure or reason to your stupid negative comments. You are correct in that it is generalisation and opinion about the bike but it's an opinion that is made in a mag which you bought (and wasted £4 it seems) and read?? Freedom said that the pani came out on top for road riding and you replied "thats shite" (most constructive) to which i pointed out that i dont think thats what they were getting at??? love to stay and "start an argument" but once again - i really couldnt give a shit.....
Perhaps he forgot to tick the balls box in the Corse accessory list. Anyway if I had a brand new Panigale I think I 'd like to get a feel for it before indulging in such antics
To be honest i think all these bikes are more than enough for most riders and probably about 98% of riders never get close to the full potential of the bike. I have a 2010 blade and it suits me perfectly, might not be the fastest or best looking to everyone but to me it's great, so you have to find the bike that suits you the best to get the best out of it in the real world, not what a bunch of semi proffessionals reckon is best!
I know a good few racers who plod around on the road just taking in the sunshine etc, prob let the mad knee down gang blast by with out a thought for it..! You know sometimes its nice just to cruze round dont mean to say the chap you pass is slower...and Ive passed a few champs on the road but I KNOW where my place is in the motorcycle food chain...and it AINT at the top....lol Anyway if any of the cafe' crew are any good they should enter the TT and show us all how fast they are.. lol
Come on boys lets all play nicely, or you will both be on the naughty step. We are all entitled to an opinion, are we not? This is hardly a reason to go to war.