First REAL riding impression of my 999

Tryful · 01-23-2006, 10:33 AM

Well having only ridden the thing from work up until now I really did not get a good feel for what the bike was really capable of. So yesterday heading down to Palomar I got some pretty good impressions I would say.

I decided on Palomar because I am intensely familiar with the road so I figured that would be one less thing to worry about is getting used to a new bike and an unfamiliar road. So heading up to the hill there are some nice sweepers.

One thing I initially noticed is the ducati makes correct body positioning for me even easier, so as soon as I was prepping for turn entry and placed my shoulders down and counter steered i felt instantly at home! As soon as the throttle started rolling on the front end felt PLANTED, never experienced stability like that. Inspired ALOT of confidence and a big grin on my face. Corner exit was marvelous due to the power band and all the torque.

As for the tighter stuff, mind you I have not ridden a 600 in quite a while so I'm not really sure what the newer ones are capable of handling wise. But all the review articles saying the steering on the 999 is heavy I think is the product of spoiled motorcyclist journalist. I transitioned on it very quickly without much effort. And again the stability factor was immense so I was tempted to get more brazen but that is for the racetrack.

The only thing I have yet to adapt to is the power band. That will probably take just a little acclimation. It will start pulling like a freight train around 4.5-5k and go very deceptively fast until red line at 10k. So if you exit the corner around that RPM look out any liter I4 bike I'll have a drive and the horsepower won't do you any good! heheheh

Overall I would say that this machine was developed for the racetrack...no where else! The handling is very good and stability is incredible. The power is on tap if you know how to access it. In my opinion worth every penny.

S-EX636 · 01-23-2006, 01:31 PM

jealousie... pure jealousie....

Congrats on the new purchase!!! :thumbup

01-23-2006, 10:33 AM	#1
Tryful Canyon Carver Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Lakewood, Socal Posts: 515 iTrader: (0) Rep Power: 5 (10)	First REAL riding impression of my 999 Well having only ridden the thing from work up until now I really did not get a good feel for what the bike was really capable of. So yesterday heading down to Palomar I got some pretty good impressions I would say. I decided on Palomar because I am intensely familiar with the road so I figured that would be one less thing to worry about is getting used to a new bike and an unfamiliar road. So heading up to the hill there are some nice sweepers. One thing I initially noticed is the ducati makes correct body positioning for me even easier, so as soon as I was prepping for turn entry and placed my shoulders down and counter steered i felt instantly at home! As soon as the throttle started rolling on the front end felt PLANTED, never experienced stability like that. Inspired ALOT of confidence and a big grin on my face. Corner exit was marvelous due to the power band and all the torque. As for the tighter stuff, mind you I have not ridden a 600 in quite a while so I'm not really sure what the newer ones are capable of handling wise. But all the review articles saying the steering on the 999 is heavy I think is the product of spoiled motorcyclist journalist. I transitioned on it very quickly without much effort. And again the stability factor was immense so I was tempted to get more brazen but that is for the racetrack. The only thing I have yet to adapt to is the power band. That will probably take just a little acclimation. It will start pulling like a freight train around 4.5-5k and go very deceptively fast until red line at 10k. So if you exit the corner around that RPM look out any liter I4 bike I'll have a drive and the horsepower won't do you any good! heheheh Overall I would say that this machine was developed for the racetrack...no where else! The handling is very good and stability is incredible. The power is on tap if you know how to access it. In my opinion worth every penny. __________________ How do you know where you are? If you don't know where you started from? 2005 999 Duc- Black

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01-23-2006, 01:31 PM	#2
S-EX636 Know It All Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Just north of Randsburg Age: 30 Posts: 478 iTrader: (0) Rep Power: 4 (33)	jealousie... pure jealousie.... Congrats on the new purchase!!! :thumbup