Ducati 1199 Panigale S Ridden

Although the Panigale has been in the global market for more than a year now, it was not only until recently that us in Malaysian Riders got the chance to play around with the bike. Our test rider was very lucky to be given this chance by his friend who is an owner of this exotic Italian motorcycle. It all starts with a discussion he says and it led into becoming a project in reality. A project for us in Malaysian Riders to film the bike although the bike was no more a factory standard.

The Panigale S was undoubtedly a very beautiful bike to look at and our test rider even say that this is probably the most beautiful bike ever made, but some might not like the design. But put aside the looks and please take a look at the specification of this impressive motorcycle. Some will think that the specification is amazing but little did they know that the Panigale is actually a super difficult bike to master and that is probably why they haven’t really shine in the World Superbike Championship.

The price tag, around RM186,000 on the road and that is nearly 100% more than any Japanese superbikes currently in the market. But when you are paying that kind of money, do you expect it to be better or worse than the far cheaper Japanese Superbikes? Naturally you would expect it to be better all around but that was not the case when our test rider took it for a test run in a few days he got to spend with the bike. The bike was so difficult to ride and it is will all over the place and never seems to like the open road too much. Yes it handles like a normal sportsbike, but there is just something missing from the bike.

The Panigale feels wobly at some places and that was probably due to the epic feather weight of the bike. The none existence of the chassis might also play a huge part in the wobbliness of the bike in turns. The tire that came with the bike was the road going supercorsa and that brings the bike to a nervous grip level and it was really uncomfortable to be ridden without the inspiration of confident to the ride. But that was not a totally huge problems and according to some little discussion with other Panigale owners, with a change to the stickier SC2 the bike felt way better than before.

The biggest issue for us with the Panigale was the fact that it doesn’t feel truly fit to live in our Malaysian weather condition. All year hot and humid might prove to be the biggest challenge for anyone who will be the owner of this exotica. The heat produce by the 195hp motor was unbearable at some point and really annoys us through out the filming. But that may not be the case for those who live somewhere else like our friends in Europe and such. But to be honest, our test rider easily forget about the heat when he really gets in tune with the Panigale and according to what he says; the bike is super special to be ridden around town.

The fuel consumption of the bike felt normal and was nothing unusual even if compared to the other superbikes out there in the market. But one must always remember that the bike will eventually run out of fuel if the rider keeps pushing it and it is easy to spot the low fuel indicator as it will starts to give out warning even at 1/3 of the fuel tank(probably). Aside from that, the bike felt fine with the dashboard is proven to be the most beautiful ever on any motorcycle ridden by us in Malaysian Riders.

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