Featured Type Of Bike, Favourite Tyres.

Apart from the ‘93 Fireblade, 2011 Ducati and the 2012 ZZR at £11500 the only other bikes I remember the price of are a 1982 Z1300 at £2300 and a 1986 GPZ1000RX at £4400. In between the two I built a Harris Magnum 2 from a rolling chassis in 1984/5 which must’ve been close to £6k when finished.
From the GPZ onwards, all the new bikes I bought were new models which can be very hard to get discounts on, especially if they’ve received favourable test reviews resulting in full order books and back orders.

 

The Akrapovic Exhaust is an official Ducati Performance extra, which is why it is catalogued as an official performance extra, it is not merely "louder or annoying", not to the Ducati Factory anyway. It is a complex full system, which enhances performance both on the road and track. My son is in the fortunate position of owning his own home with no mortgage and secure employment, and this was the machine he liked. Some may think that 220 BHP is too much for a road bike, however, most sports bikes now have around 200 plus bhp, the Panigale is a really friendly machine to ride, the only downside is tyre life. It is certainly a lot cheaper to run than the Supertwin Road Race machine he had.

 

Maybe but is the system E marked and road legal in the UK? Given the stringent noise and emission regs new bikes now have to pass I’ll be surprised if it is.

Edit……when I bought the 1198, Termignoni we’re the performance exhausts recommended for the big V2.

 

I certainly agree, @Eldon, that it would not be feasible to run a demo day like I described. Just thought it would be a fun little pie-in-the-sky idea. Sounds like those Continentals worked well for you on your motorhome . I've used Continental tires on my bicycles for years now I have been well pleased.

 

Hi Pegscraper, It is pre-Euro 5, it passes the MOT every year with a clean bill of health, and a number of tracks pass it, but not all, even the new Fireblade fails the noise emission test at some tracks. Interestingly though, my Yoshimura system shows a higher decibel reading on the meter than the Akro. There are more and more noise detection fixed cameras appearing around the UK, a lot of people think they are detecting mobile phone use etc whilst driving, I haven't yet heard of a prosecution for a vehicle emitting excessive noise, but I guess it is only a matter of time. The Pre Unit T100 I restored not long back and swapped for a new 765rs had a straight-through system, original equipment in the fifties, and it was loud when the revs went up, a lot of classics and modern Harleys sound loud, but in a nice way. Ride safe all from an ageing Rocker, who loves swept backs and goldies.

 

The only bikes I bothered tuning, excluding the Harris, were the first and second Fireblades (the 893 models) which benefitted from a Dynojet kit (jet needles and mains) and replacement end can (Johnson) and nicely filled out a dip in the mid range power delivery. Good old carb days eh?.
The Johnson can did make the bike quite a bit louder and I really liked it at the time but eventually grew tired of it on longer runs.

 

@Mrs Visor yes i to like the orange.

 

I have just fitted another new set of Bridgestone S23s, just waiting for the snow to melt and some better weather to arrive, then it's a quick scrub in and more happy miles ahead.

 

I just took delivery of my new Tiger 900 GT Pro. I had the Michelin Anakee Adventures put on at the dealership. About 200 miles on them this week in all kinds of conditions. So far, I have a lot of traction confidence, especially when I am used to Pirelli Super Corsa tyres on my other bike. I am not really noticing any road noise with these tyres, and that was a major complaint on the reviews, maybe I just don't know the difference. Also, I love the bike. It can never be a replacement for a sport bike for me but for a bike designed for long distances, commuting and dirt/gravel/deteriorated roads kind of bike, it is really fantastic.i can't wait for my first trip.
Also, If anyone is interested in a set of Metzeler TouranceTM Next tyres, super cheap with 4 miles on them...give me a shout.

Front 100/90 r19
Rear 150/70 r17

 

Great to hear about someone actually using the bike for its designed purpose. I had the RP version which is a bit more off road focused but both are designed for on and off road use. It seems many do not use the bike off road at all and fit slightly different sized road tyres!!! A bit strange to me as if I wanted a road only bike then the Tiger 1050 or newer Tiger 660 are far better road bikes. The 17” wheels are much better on the roads than the 19” GT or 21” RP. To me at least putting road tyres on an adventure bike is like putting knobblies on a fireblade. Sure they’ll work but there are far better options out there.

 

I love the RP, but in the end, as much as I dream of being mostly off road, the reality is different. But having a bike ( and tyres) that can handle most things is good for me. My wife and I on our first euro trip on sport bikes was ‘sporty’! One evening crossing from Belgium to Luxembourg we got turned away due to a road closure and ended up doing about 2 miles on a single track dirt ( mud) road in heavy rain. Having to stop every few hundred meters to move the sheep away and slipping and sliding on a Ducati 848 and my wife on her ZX6R… the day we got home she started looking at touring bikes! But any chance to get the bikes off the asphalt is a true win!!