The object of this review is to provide useful information. What do I mean by that? Most reviews of the 1299 consist of EITHER some guy on a test-ride regurgitating googl-able statistics OR a former pro goosing it around a track and comparing it to other bikes that had a 1/10th faster or slower laptime. Not to say that either of those reviews don't have their place, but they seem to lack substance that would help potential buyers. In the end, most people are going to buy this bike to on the street AND for more than 15 minutes.
My first piece of advice is to disregard all my opinions. The question you need to ask yourself is "what bike do I want?" Deep down, you already know. It took me a while to decide on the panigale, but in the end it wasn't about "what's the best bike?" it was "what bike do I want."
I've owned this thing for two full riding seasons, and can confidently say that I've put it through enough to develop a long-term logical opinion that's worth sharing.
I'm going to take a different approach to this review, structuring it as the categories of a traditional whiskey tasting. The four main sections of which are "visual Analysis", nose, palate, and finish.
In whiskey tasting, "visual analysis" is pretty self explanitory. The color can indicate wood-type and char-level of the cask and hint at the duration the whiskey has spent in said cask. Swirling the glass will leave "legs" which can give clues to the strength and maturity of the spirit.
For the purpose of a motorcycle review, visually, it's hard to deny that this bike is one of the most beautiful pieces of machinery ever designed. From the beak to the seat cowl, I struggle to find anything displeasing. Digging a little deeper, you can tell that the attention to small details also gives clues to how much thought and effort has been put into this bike's composition. In this case, you can translate that to strength and maturity of the bike. I consider the published technical info to live here, and like I said, I'm not going to waste your time with that.
The only negative from this section would be that abomination that holds your license plate.
Back to whiskey tasting, The nose portion involves analyzing the drink's aroma. You're not getting a full taste yet, but smelling gets you damn close. One of my tricks is to use your hand to scoop up that one drip that always runs down the bottle after pouring a glass. Wipe that drip and rub both hands together to warm it up, and then cover your nose and mouth like you're about to sneeze. You can usually get a slightly different profile than dipping your nose into the glass.
As it pertains to motorcycles, this correlates to the first-ride sensations. These are things that you probably have a good idea of what to expect from the visual analysis step. Footpeg height, aggressive seating position, fantastic acceleration, brembo braking. The first sensation I experienced when I collected my 1299 was, "what have I done?" When you turn the key, you're greeted with a robotic whip from the fuel pump and light show from the TFT Display. The suspense of holding the starter button through the classic Italian start (which equals one eternity) eventually fires the 90* L-twin into a clatter and shake that reminds you how serious this bike really is. It's both impressive and intimidating, and videos don't do it justice.
The bike is super light and flickable. It'll dive in and hug corners, and stand up on the way out. The quick-shifter is fantastic. There's more power than anyone would ever need on the road And the TFT dash display is phenomenal but a little complicated. I actually made an entire video of its features.
Enjoy!!