Ducati 959 vs V2 Panigales
Is the new bike enough to tempt owner John?
JOHN JESS, 49
John covers 25,000 miles a year on either his Panigale or Honda CBR500R. Having passed his test in 2017, he bought the CBR as a daily rider and an MT-09 for fun before swapping the Yamaha for the Ducati in December 2018.
DUCATI’S MIDDLEWEIGHT SPORTSBIKE is, unfairly, looked down upon by some riders due to the fact it isn’t the rangetopping V4 model. In the world of the Ducatisti where image is too often as important as the bike itself, being seen on a machine that isn’t the latest and greatest just doesn’t cut it
However, take a step back and while it is true the 959 Panigale and its successor the Panigale V2 use a 955cc V-twin motor that ‘only’ makes around 150bhp, it wasn’t that long ago that 150bhp was considered a lot of power and the desmo V-twin was dominating WSB. Even RIDE reader John Jess overlooked it to start with.
“When I decided I wanted to buy a Ducati, I took a test ride on the 1299 Panigale and the V4,” he remembers, “but they were just too much for road riding. You felt like you were behind what the bike was doing, which was intimidating, and as a result they weren’t fun to ride. I decided to buy a Supersport instead as I wanted to ride on the road as well as do trackdays and it seemed a good compromise – which is when the sales person suggested I try out the 959 Panigale. I hadn’t considered the 959 but as soon as I rode it I just loved it.” Since that point John has racked up over 12,000 miles on his Panigale, using it for ‘sunny weekend treat’ riding as well as trackdays while he lived in Spain. A huge fan of the middleweight sportsbike, will the new Panigale V2 with its updated electronics and a modern look tempt him to upgrade?
Initial impressions
“I didn’t think it would be possible for Ducati to build worse mirrors than those on my Panigale but with the V2 they have,” remarks John after his first few miles on
‘The V4 was just too much for the road’
the updated model. “They are dreadful and wobble so badly you have no idea what is behind you aside from a blur.
“That said, the new switchgear is miles better than on my bike. Ducati doubles-up the indicator as the ‘mode’ button and that means that when you tap them to check you have cancelled the indicator, you often end up swapping power modes, which is really irritating. The new bike seems to require a longer push to activate it and the switchgear is chunkier and easier to locate.
I’m a bit disappointed by the TFT dash, which looks good and is fairly clear but just seems very small and the DRL light is annoying as it is green and that makes me think it is the neutral warning. However the seat is lovely and has far more padding and a grippier surface than mine.”
The ride
After a spirited road ride, John is certainly warming to the V2, in more ways than one. “The seat gets really hot on the V2, which must be to do with a cat right under the seat,” he says. “I don’t remember my bike doing that with its stock system fitted so it must be a Euro5 addition. I’m not that impressed by the V2’s throttle response either; it has loads of free play in the twistgrip and then is quite snatchy at low revs with a dead spot. Mine was like this before I fitted the fuelling module but not as bad, you’d have to sort this out.”
Having actually considered fitting a single sided swingarm to his bike (you can make an 1199/1299 Panigale’s fit), does John notice any difference in the ride quality compared to his bike?
“The V2 certainly feels more stable than mine, which can get a bit twitchy over bumps,” he says. Despite having the same geometry as the 959, the V2 has a 5mm longer wheelbase, which is probably the cause. And its suspension is different too.
“The V2 feels more composed and taller than the 959,” says John. “I really like the way it feels as it gives you lots of confidence, even more than mine. One of
‘Part of the 959’s joy is its lovely balance’
the best points about the 959 is its lovely front-end feel, which the V2 also has but it now matches it with an even more refined rear feeling with better damping control. It’s like the rough edges have been
smoothed off and this also applies to the way the engine feels in the chassis. The 959 has lots of vibrations through its bars which are more damped out on the V2.”
Assessing the effectiveness of the new angle-sensitive safety assists is (thankfully) something we didn’t do on our road ride. However, are the updated electronics a selling point to John?
“Part of the joy of the 959 is that it has such a lovely balance of power and handling, you very seldom find the electronics interfering,” reckons John.
“This gives it the feeling of being quite ‘analogue’ and a ‘rider’s bike’ rather than one that you are relying on the electronics to save you all the time and control the bike, like the V4. Because of this I’m not really that fussed about if they are angle-sensitive or not, so it’s not a huge draw for me. However, I have to say I like the fact the V2’s brake light is way bigger than the 959’s, which is a good safety enhancement for road riders.”