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DUCATI 899 PANIGALE GROUP TEST
Ducati’s new 899 Panigale takes on two of the world’s most accomplished sports bikes in a bid to becomeking of the middleweight screamers
THERE’S A NEW WORLD ORDER
■ Ducati’s eagerly anticipated
‘baby’ Panigale 899 is the new
challenger in the middleweight
sports bike division – the class
that really matters to sports
bike riders in the know. We pit
it against the class-leading
GSX-R750 to see if it’s got what
it takes to be the cream of the
sports bike class. We also
introduce the hugely capable
Triumph Daytona 675R into the
mix to see if it’s a giant slayer.
WHAT’S THE STORY?
MICHAEL NEEVESSenior Road Testermichael.neeves@motorcyclenews.com
All change... again! Reg-ular readers may re-member seeing our big middleweight sports bike shoot-out just three months ago. That test was driven by the arrival
of the new MV Agusta F3 800 as we pitched the Italian beauty against the long-in-the-tooth Ducati 848 and the similarly evergreen Suzuki GSX-R750.
Surprisingly, the ageing Suzuki won the test and blew us away, despite not having changed since the mid-2000s. The raw, tortured growl and speed from its four-cylinder engine is still as in-toxicating as ever, as is its sure-footed handling and all-round friendliness.
Although it was a thing of beauty and glorious in small doses, the Ducati 848 was a bit too uncomfortable and clumsy at low speeds and so finished runner-up, while the F3 800 brought up the rear. The MV has the looks, gravelly three-cylinder soundtrack and lapped our test track the quickest, but the power delivery and throttle response was just that little bit too highly-strung to give the MV a chance of victory.
And then along comes a bike that blows the middleweight sports bike class apart: Ducati’s new 899 Panigale – or ‘Panigalina’, as the Italian factory nicknamed it through its development.
We know from our previous test the F3 800 finishes behind the Suzuki and the 848 has now gone, so this challenge is all about seeing the 899 Panigale go up against the GSX-R750. And to make things more interesting we’ve thrown in a wild card to answer a question we’ve been asking since the Triumph was launched: is the new Daytona 675R the giant-slayer we all think it is?
Quick shiftingThe 899 Panigale is something very special. It’s the best of our three mid-dleweight sports bikes on the road – in fact it’s the most together and refined Ducati sports bike to leave Bologna, big or small. It’s the best new sports bike we’ve ridden in 2013.
The first leg of our journey from Giarre to the top of Etna is through towns. Sicilians don’t do road rage – they’re not the least bit territorial in their cars. As a result there’s much tailgating and people pulling out on you. It’s a stress-free way to live your life, but you’ve got to keep your wits about you on two-wheels, especially when you’re on a £12,500 Ducati.
As well as being agile enough to dodge wayward Lancias, the 899 is lovely through town. There’s plenty of legroom for tall riders like me, the bars are widely spaced, not too low, and you can see clearly out of the mirrors.
The dash is easy to read (although it’s not in colour like the big Panigale) and the quickshifter works well at low speeds. Once you’re moving you never need to use the clutch shifting up.
SUZUKI GSX-R750 148BHP / 195KG / £9899
Despite being three years
old and as low-tech as a
sports bike can be, there’s
still no keeping the
GSX-R750 down. It has the
perfect balance of power
and weight, and it’s also the
cheapest machine here.
1120.11.2013WEDNESDAY
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DUCATI 899
PANIGALE
148BHP / 200.5KG / £12,495
Following in the footsteps of the 748, 749 and the out-going 848, the 899 has evolved to a point where it’s actually bigger than the Italian firm’s original 851/888 superbike and almost as big as the all-conquering 916. The 899 is packed with the latest electronics, a new ‘Superquadro’ engine and some of the best brakes in the business.
TRIUMPH
DAYTONA 675R ABS
126BHP / 194.5kg / £10,599
Easily winning our supersport shootout earlier in the year, it’s clear this latest Daytona 675 punches well above its weight. To give it the best possible chance of keeping up with the more powerful bikes we’ve cho-sen the R model with its Öhlins suspension, Brembo mono-blocs and quickshifter.
A trio of middle-weights of mixed merit, sharing many qualities but mostly brilliantly useable power and handling for these kind of roads
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FOCUS 899 PANIGALE GROUP TE ST12
It’s an early start with much road riding
and two tracks to take on the test
Pirelli’s test rider Alessandro Abate on
the twisting ascent up Mount Etna
It’s bike swap time, but there are no
short straws on this middleweight test
MCN’s Neeves making the most of his
time on the beautiful 899 ‘Panigalina’
Pirelli HQ after a day’s road riding as the
bikes are prepped for the track
TH
E J
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EY
www.greatmagazines.co.uk/mcn
SEE THE VIDEO
See the new Ducati 899 Panigale fght it out against
the Suzuki GSX-R750 and Triumph Daytona 675R with
MCN’s iPad edition.
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20.11.2013 WEDNESDAY 13
That new, 898cc ‘Superquadro’ en-gine is a delight. There’s no horrible clattering and lurching at low speeds, as you get on big Ducati superbikes. The V-twin rush is smooth from the off, then builds, sending you like a cartoon bullet into the horizon. And the ride-by-throttle actually works properly.
Flawless madnessThe 899 has three riding modes (Rain, Sport, Race), with varying levels of throttle response, traction and engine braking control, ABS and power. In Sport the power delivery from closed throttle is flawless. Ride-by-wire is an area lots of manufacturers struggle with, but Ducati has cracked it.
Later on we discover the 899 makes a decent long-distance motorway bike, too, but first the roads are ascending, towns are thinning-out and the go-ing is getting twisty. We’re under tree cover, where wet Tarmac and fallen leaves lurk around blind corners. In these conditions, the baby Panigale’s deliciously refined and unobtrusive traction control system and ABS load you with confidence and stop you thinking about a silly slip-off.
Accelerating out of the mountain roads’ seemingly endless stream of perfectly-surfaced second and third gear corners, the bright red Ducati surges forward in a cacophony of hard-edged, booming, V-twin madness. The locals below must be thinking old Etna is about to get feisty.
In fact the new Ducati is such a fast bike, no longer should it be thought of as living in the shadows of its bigger brother – as the preceding 748, 749 and 848 sometimes were. Those bikes always handled better than their super-bike siblings, but never had the power. Yet the 899 is the best of both worlds.
The Panaglina has Ducati trademark stability in fast corners, too, but now it’s much more agile and more flickable than both the old 848 and 1199 Pangale.
Stable the horsesBig Panigales have just that little bit too much power and torque, which can tie the chassis in knots. The 1199 needs a slow-steering 200-section tyre for grip, but the 899 has a more nimble 180 on the back, albeit with a special 60-profile for a larger footprint at full lean.
No matter how hard you twist the throttle, the 899 just accelerates with utter stability. And that rear Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa digs in so hard the traction control hardly chimes in.
The ride is on the stiff side of plush, but the suspension offers plenty of control in return. If the 1199 Panigale was this well-balanced and easy to ride, it would be the undoubted superbike class-leader.
Braking stability is second to none. It’s almost impossible to get to the limits of the monobloc Brembos, es-pecially with ABS, and you’re always left thinking you’ve sat up too early. Even the factory Ducati superbike team says braking power and stability is the Panigale’s best asset - a product, we reckon, of its stiff ‘airbox’ chassis.
Back down the mountain and the 899 shows a similarly impressive level of competence. You’re pushing the front more riding downhill, but the Ducati is still easy to turn and offers-up loads of feedback through its tyres. Anyone who thinks this ‘frameless’ chassis is flawed needs to ride the 899. And on the subject of perceptions, you just don’t care how many sides the swingarm has when the ride is this good.
Young gun versus old hatI’ll admit I’m gushing, but my fellow testers are agreeing with me, as Chad confirms: “It’s comfy, easy to ride, the engine purrs at 5000rpm on the motorway and it sounds great. The electronic modes are easy to use on the move and the dash is informative. It’s the best sports Ducati I’ve ridden.”
While Pirelli test rider, Alessandro Abate said: “It’s comfy, despite it being a supersport bike and I like the high seat, wide bars and low footpegs. But there’s not so much wind protection from the low screen and there are some vibrations on the mirrors. The engine has nice torque and power – it’s a new generation of sports bike.”
Now to the Suzuki – the bike that won our middleweight group test last sum-mer, beating the F3 800 and old 848. It doesn’t take long to remind us why it’s so good and it’s all to do with what lies between those beefy aluminium frame spars: that magnificent inline four-cylinder 798cc motor.
In short it’s a masterpiece, offering that now legendary mix of screaming revs, top end power, usable torque and a psycho exhaust note. In your right hand is the ability to glide through town, pull litre-bike-style wheelies, cruise the motorway, or scratch up and down mountain roads.
And weighing just 195kg fuelled, the Suzuki’s as light as a 600, too.
MCN team film all the action and opinions,
now available on the iPad edition
Alessandro and Pirelli’s race tyre tester
Alfio Tricomi ready for a day ‘in the office’
Alfio is understandably a very fast rider
and he isn’t afraid of some damp leaves
“And this is a pic of me at Oliver’s Mount,
and this is my cat, oh you’ll love this one...”
Roads leading up the mighty Mount Etna
are twisty, smooth ribbons of pure joy
➤
But the 899 Panigale shows up some of the Suzuki’s weaker points. The GSX-R’s throttle now seems snatchy at low speeds and its high footpegs cramp legs, although the bars aren’t as low as the Ducati or Triumph’s. And when the conditions are dodgy, you really miss traction control and ABS – it’s amazing how quickly you get used to electronic riding aids.
Alessandro says: “It’s still a good bike, but it’s like an old queen now. The engine is a little bit harsh and the riding position is very racy. It’s feel-ing its age, compared to the Ducati.”
The wild cardAnd finally our wild card: the Triumph Daytona 675R. It has a completely new engine, gearbox, chassis, suspension, wheels, brakes, styling… the lot.
It’s an incredible supersports ma-chine and the best in its class by some distance. But ridden back-to-back against the Ducati and Suzuki you feel a lack of oomph, which is hardly surprising, given its smaller engine size. You have to rev it more, keeping that new short-stroke rasping three-cylinder motor spinning to keep up.
It’s still a magnificent road machine and the engine is flexible enough not to have keep changing up and down through the gears. The 675R’s superb quickshifter works precisely, flowing gears from one cog to the next.
The riding position is roomy, but there’s a lot of weight on your wrists around town and on the motorway.
Initial pick-up from a closed throttle is velvety and what follows is an unfal-tering wave of creamy three-cylinder torque. As the speed increases, so does the noise – the airbox growl and rasping exhaust is the finest of all soundtracks.
Öhlins suspension delivers a firm, but plush ride, while steering, stability and feeling for grip are all excellent.
“The engine is really smooth and the quickshifter is nice,” says Adam. “But the mirrors aren’t as good as the Ducati’s and there’s not as much wind-protection, so I’d prefer to do big mileage on the other two.”
“The brakes are very strong and the ABS is very good over wet leaves,” says Alessandro. “It’s a well-balanced bike, but for me it’s too rigid for the road.”
The 899 Panigale offers the most in terms of friendliness, character, speed, poise and comfort – who’d have thought you’d ever hear that about a big Ducati sportsbike? The Suzuki’s engine and easy-handling make it a joy to live with, as does the price, but it’s not sharp anymore like a sports bike should be. Bringing up the rear on the road is the Triumph, purely because it doesn’t have the oomph of the bigger bikes, but ride it hard and it’s all over the others like molten hot lava.
There’s more
than one way to
skin a mountain
cat. But all start
with a purr and
end in cacopho-
nous screaming
‘Even the factory Ducati superbike team says braking power and stability is the Panigale’s best asset’MICHAEL NEEVES
Our road-riding test started at the
Pirelli test team HQ near Giarre on
the east coast of Sicily. We thread
through small towns and up to the
highest point of Mount Etna you’re
allowed to go. It’s only around half
way up, but still high enough to be
the home of ski resorts. The roads
stop here, but venture any further
and you could be in for a very hot
shower – the last you’ll ever have.
After riding the bikes up and
down the mountain roads, we went
west to the middle of the island, to
the Pergusa racetrack, via twisty
motorways and A roads, near Enna
for the first of two days of track
testing, the second at Raculmuto.
Where we went: Giarre-Mount Etna-Pergusa
D
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CATANIA
GIARRE
RACALMUTO
ENNA
GO
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FOCUS14
The new Ducati inspires you to ride
all day long. Take the 899 to a track
day and you’ll want to do every lap of
every single session.
It’s actually quite short-geared,
which hurt its lap time at the faster
Pergusa circuit where the longer-
legged Suzuki set the quickest time.
But the 899 is the daddy at the
shorter Racalmuto.
The Ducati begs you to take it by
the scruff of the neck and ride the
wheels off it. The engine loves to be
revved – it accelerates strongly off
corners and sears along straights in
a seemless wave of booming V-twin
anger, tempered by quickshift-
assisted smoothness.
Unlike the bigger Panigale, nothing
you do with the throttle upsets the
balance of the chassis. The 899
doesn’t bounce, weave or misbehave
in a straight line, or in the corners.
It still has Ducati’s famed mid-
corner poise and it loves to be railed
around a bend with big lean and
corner speed. But it’s agile through
chicanes and tight corners now,
thanks to its new chassis layout, the
leverage from the wide bars, and its
relatively narrow rear tyre.
You can now choose to ride the
Ducati in two ways around the track.
You can either flow with it, using
sweeping lines and big corner speed,
or scratch – making a point-and-
squirt ‘V’ of all the corners.
As on the road, the 899’s
braking power and stability are so
exceptional it’s impossible to out-
brake yourself, unless you simply
chicken out and go straight on.
The fantastic electronics aren’t
the reason the 899 is so good – it’s
such a well-balanced bike anyway
– but it’s the perfectly sweet cherry
on top, without a doubt. Braking
stability is helped by a slipper clutch
and adjustable electronic braking
control (which gives less engine
braking in the Race mode that we
were using) and at the other end,
the traction control is so refined you
wouldn’t know it’s there if it wasn’t
for the lights on the dash flashing
when the rear wheel is slipping.
THE TRACK TESTThe high-speed, no compromise acid test, where each bike is pushed to the limits of its performance
899 PANIGALE GROUP TE ST
Alfio says: “Everything about
the Ducati is good: the riding
position, brakes, quickshifter,
handling and overall balance. The
power delivery is impressive and you
can precisely power it out of a corner,
but around the longer Pergusa
track it lacks a bit of power.
The traction control
works really well, too.”
Ducati 899 PanigaleBest lap of Pergusa: 1:50.49 (2nd)
Best lap of Racalmuto: 1:07.23 (1st)
Testing notes: Race mode selected. Pirelli Diablo
Supercorsa SC2s fitted. Both tracks hot and sunny.1
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20.11.2013
WEDNESDAY 15
There’s still life in the old dog yet
and we were stunned, and pleased,
to see that Alfio went fastest with
the GSX-R750 on the longer track.
It was second quickest at the short
track, but still ahead of the sweeter-
handling Triumph, thanks to the
GSX-R750’s outright speed down
the fast straights.
There are few sports bikes around that are such a joy around a race track than the Triumph 675R. Giving away 22bhp to the other two bikes here might sound like a disadvantage on paper, but in relative terms, the less power you have, the less you have to worry about. So like any of the supersport crop, you can get on and enjoy the track, bounce off the kerbs and generally ride the wheels off the thing, without worrying about it getting you into trouble.
You savour everything that makes the new Daytona 675R such a leader in its class Ð the smooth ride and control of the …hlins suspension, the power of the Brembo brakes, the scream of the triple engine, the corner speed and the all-round balance of the bike. ItÕs physically smaller than the others and you have to crouch in, right under the paintwork, to get out of the wind, but that all adds to the drama of a lap.
Traction control? It doesnÕt need it, but it has a very useful ABS ÔCircuitÕ mode. It takes ABS off the rear only and lets you back it into a corner and if
Suzuki GSX-R750Best lap of Pergusa: 1:49.65 (1st)
Best lap of Racalmuto: 1:08.61 (2nd)
Testing notes: Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SC2s fitted. Both tracks hot and sunny.2
Out of the three middleweight
sports bikes, the Suzuki’s softer,
more road-focused demeanour
makes it the easiest to jump on and
ride fast, giving you confidence
immediately. It doesn’t need fancy
electronics, it simply does what
you want it to do, while giving you
a huge margin for error and ham-
fistedness. But on track, you really
miss the fast, easy gear-changing
that a quickshifter offers.
The power delivery is friendly and
the steering light and neutral. The
suspension soaks up the bumps
and the forces dished out under
acceleration and hard braking. It’s
completely stable all the time – a
far cry from the slap-happy GSX-Rs
that used to scare the life out of me
in the late 80s and early 90s.
And of course, the Suzuki is very
fast and the tall gearing equals big
top speeds. Earlier this year we
took this very bike to a true 182mph
at the Nardo speed bowl. The long
rev-range lets you hold onto gears
for longer between corners.
It’s the cheapest bike here and
you could pick a secondhand one
up for relative peanuts. With the
money you’ll save over the Ducati
and Triumph you could transform
the GSX-R750 with a racing rear
shock, shorter gearing, a lighter
exhaust and beefed-up brakes.
Then you’d have a motorcycle that
I reckon would draw level, or even
beat, the new Ducati.
Triumph Daytona 675RBest lap of Pergusa: 1:55.55 (3rd)
Best lap of Racalmuto: 1:09.26 (3rd)
Testing notes: Circuit mode ABS selected. Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SC2s fitted. Both tracks hot and sunny.3
the rear end comes round too far, the ABS cleverly chimes back in to bring everything back under control again.
Out of the three bikes here, the Triumph is the easiest, most fun and least intimidating to ride. Being the lightest and having the least torque means its kinder to the tyres, so they grip and last longer than on a bigger bike.
But in terms of pure lap times, especially at Pergusa, the 675R gets nibbled away at down every straight by the others, especially in 4th-6th gear, so itÕs ultimately slower. ThereÕs no substitute for cubes.
Ridden in isolation, you never yearn more power, but interestingly we also rode the old long-stroke Daytona 675R during this test and it was slightly gruntier, longer revving and longer-geared, letting you hang on to gears for longer between corners. ItÕs every bit as good, so if you canÕt stretch to a new 675R, youÕll have just as much fun on the old one.
Alfio says:ÒThe SuzukiÕs engine is very
strong and suits the fast track. The gearbox works perfectly. ItÕs less rigid and sporty, but itÕs well-
balanced and you can really enjoy the bike at the top of the revs. But it struggles with brake fade, you lose time with no quickshifter
and it moves about more out of slower corners.Ó
We tested each bike at two very diferent racetracks
A very fast, old-school circuit
with zero run-off and lined with
Armco. The surface is very
grippy and bumpy in places.
The layout comprises a short
infield section followed by three
top-gear straights, leading into
gnarly second-gear chicanes.
They held WSB here in the late
80s, but it’s too dangerous for
bike racing now. It’s a great track
for stretching the legs of our
middleweight sports bikes.
A tight and twisty track with
second gear corners and a
5th/6th gear front straight. It
was billiard table-smooth when
opened in 2005, but subsidence
has made it horrendously bumpy
and it’s slippery in places. It’s
a great test of handling and
confidence. Adam and I rode
each bike for seat-of the-pants
riding impressions and Alfio
Tricomi, Pirelli’s race tyre tester,
who knows the tracks inside out,
set ultimate lap times and gave
his thoughts on each bike.
The suspension settings were
left standard on each bike, to
suit the different weights and
speeds of our four testers.
Pergusa 3.1 miles
Racalmuto 1.5 miles
Alfio says:ÒThe Triumph has good
acceleration off the corners and the short gearing suits
Racalmuto better than Pergusa. ThereÕs a good balance between
stability and agility, but the suspension is a bit too stiff over
the bumps on standard settings. The brakes are
very strong.Ó
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FOCUS16
BIG THANKS TO: Pirelli. This test wouldn’t have been possible without the massive help of Salvo Pennisi, Alessandro Abate, Matteo Giusti and all of Pirelli’s motorcycle tyre test team.
The real weightsWe put each bike on calibrated
scales to measure accurate
weight with a full tank.
Unsurprisingly, the Triumph is
the lightest, even with an extra
0.4 litres of fuel, but the larger-
capacity Suzuki is only 0.5kg
heavier. The baby Panigale is
the heaviest by some margin
and a stone heavier than the
Triumph. (The 1199 Panigale R
we measured on the same scales
earlier in the year weighed 193kg.)
899 Panigale test: The facts and figures
Engine: Liquid-cooled, 749cc (70 x 48.7mm),
inline-four, 16v, 6 gears, chain drive.
Electronic rider aids: 2 power maps
Power: 148bhp @ 13,200rpm
Torque: 64ftlb @ 11,200rpm
Chassis: Twin spar aluminium frame and
double-sided aluminium swingarm
Suspension: Fully-adjustable 41mm
Showa Big Piston Forks and single Showa
rear shock.
Kerb weight: 195kg
Front brake: 2 x 310mm discs with Brembo
four-piston radial calipers.
Rear brake: 220mm disc with
single-piston caliper
Front tyre: 120/70 x 17
Rear tyre: 180/55 x 17
Fuel capacity: 17 litres
Seat height: 810mm
Contact: www.suzuki-gb.co.uk
Availability: Now
Engine: Liquid-cooled, 675cc (76 x 49.6 mm),
inline-three, 12v, 6 gears, chain drive.
Electronic rider aids: Racing ABS,
quickshifter
Power: 126bhp @ 12,500rpm
Torque: 55tlb @ 11,900rpm
Chassis: Twin spar aluminium frame and
double-sided aluminium swingarm with
adjustable pivot.
Suspension: Fully-adjustable 43mm Ohlins
NIX30 forks and single Ohlins TTX32
rear shock.
Kerb weight: 194.5kg
Front brake: 2 x 310mm discs with Brembo
four-piston monobloc radial calipers.
Switchable ABS.
Rear brake: 220mm disc with single-piston
caliper. Switchable ABS.
Front tyre: 120/70 x 17
Rear tyre: 180/55 x 17
Fuel capacity: 17.4 litres
Seat height: 830mm
Contact: www.triumphmotorcycles.uk
Availability: Now
Engine: Liquid-cooled, 898cc (100 x
57.3mm), Superquadro V-twin,
8v. 6 gears, chain drive.
Electronic rider aids: Three riding modes
(ride-by-wire
eight-stage traction control, quickshifter,
electronic engine braking system, ABS.
Power: 148bhp @ 10,700rpm
Torque: 73ftlb @ 9000rpm
Chassis: Aluminium ‘airbox’ frame and cast
aluminium double-sided swingarm
Suspension: 43mm fully-adjustable Showa
Big Piston Forks and single Sachs rear shock.
Kerb weight: 200.5kg
Front brake: 2 x 320mm discs with
four-piston Brembo radial
monobloc calipers. ABS
Rear brake: 245mm disc with twin-piston
Brembo caliper. ABS
Front tyre: 120/70 x 17
Rear tyre: 180/60 x 17
Fuel capacity: 17 litres
Seat height: 830mm
Contact: www.ducati.co.uk
Availability: Now
SUZUKI GSX-R750 £9899 TRIUMPH DAYTONA 675R ABS £10,599 DUCATI 899 PANIGALE £12,495
Ever since the big Panigale was
first shown a few years ago, we
were secretly just as excited to
see what Ducati would do with
the smaller version – after all,
the 748, 749 and 848 where
always ‘riders’ bikes, like the
GSX-R750.
It’s been worth the wait,
because the ‘baby’ 899 Panigale
is a belter and finally good
enough to knock the GSX-R750
off its perch after all these years.
The 899 is without doubt the
most complete race replica
Ducati has ever made. It has
the performance to satisfy the
hardest core of speed freaks and
hold its head up high at any track
day against any bike. And unless
you’ve got the riding talent of
a top racer, you’ll probably lap
faster on this than on a 1000.
And it’s a great road bike, too
– smooth, usable at low speeds,
comfy and comes with all the
electronic rider aids you’d expect
to find on a top-level superbike. It
sounds and looks fantastic too.
The old Suzuki still has the
perfect balance of handling and
power and is very easy to ride.
It’s also the cheapest and has the
biggest scope for improvement
with aftermarket parts, like a
rear shock, gearing and brakes.
The Daytona 675R managed
to thrash its class rivals and like
some of you, we always thought
it would be a giant killer.
It can always keep up on the
road, although you have to work
the smaller engine more. The
675R is still one of the sexiest,
best-handling, most exhilarating
sports bikes money can buy.
In fact all three of these bikes
are the ultimate when it comes to
fast riding – better than the rest
of the 600s and less brutal and
more usable than the current
crop of 1000s.
These are the ultimate sports
bikes and the Ducati is now top of
that very exclusive tree.
MICHAEL NEEVES,
SENIOR ROAD TESTER
VERDICT
‘The 899 is the
most complete
race replica’
MICHAEL NEEVES
ÔBetter than the rest of
the 600s and less
brutal and more
usable than the
current 1000sÕ
17 17 17.4
193Claimed (kg)
190Claimed (kg)
184Claimed (kg)
96.5Rear (kg)
94.5Rear (kg)
94.5Rear (kg)
104Front (kg)
100Front (kg)
100Front (kg)
200.5Total (kg)
195Total (kg)
194.5Total (kg)
Fuel tank
(litres)
Fuel tank
(litres)
Fuel tank
(litres)
Panigale 899 GSX-R750 675R
Each bike comes
with different tyres,
so we fitted control
tyres. For the road
and general track
riding we used
Pirelli Diablo Rosso
Corsa fast road
rubber and for our
timed laps, the
latest Pirelli Diablo
Supercorsa SC2.
TYRES
1st3rd2nd