Along with other bikes for test ride, I couldn’t move my eyes away from new-gen Panigale V4 available for ride. I inquired and Legacy guys were more than happy to oblige.
Bhpian abhi_tjet recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
I was at Ducati for annual service of my Multistrada. They confirmed to deliver my bike by 4 and I accordingly thought to stay there and continue my work from there itself.
Test Ride Observations:
I rode the bike in usual test ride route good enough for 2-3 kms approx. Sb road – Dhotre path – Nargis Dutt road – Chittaranjan Vatika and back.
- Riding position is extreme. It’s as extreme as it can get. This means more efforts for tight turns in parking/crawling speed. The ride triangle is such that one is literally pinning the handle to ground, what more can one expect.
- Seat high is tall at 850mm. It looks quite slim and small as compared to earlier generation, but once you sit, you will have to look for how far is the ground? For my modest frame, I was able to tip toe from left foot and right foot was like why I am still at first floor. Where is the ground bruv?
- However, once moving, it’s light and very intuitive to ride. Hugging the fuel tank comes naturally. Since your hand will start paining in 2 mts flat anyways.
- Ride wasn’t that harsh (surprisingly) . My street triple was harsher in default setting.
- For the mostly flowing traffic who were surprisingly considerate towards me, I only tried 1st and 2nd gear. And boy was I surprised?
It had the smoothness of higher gear and typical Ducati raw/crude growl once you let loose the throttle a bit. I can’t imagine how it will ride in 4th/5th. 210 odd bhp for 191 kg weight bike, I better shut up. - I will say this was quite easy to ride, a point which I suppose Ducati too is trying to make. Bike was in sports mode but things were very smooth. Rear brakes were progressive and were actually able to pause bike in slow moving conditions. You see , I was only able to tip toe from left, can’t afford any jerky stops.
- I tried front brakes in relatively higher speed and yes, typical progressive effortless Brembo feel.
- Heat was bearable since the signals were not too long. My multi heats more I suppose.
- I was slightly afraid when I started the test ride and so thrilled when back. It’s so easy to adapt.
- In this 2 kms ride, I got a guy who asked me to rev it Sarrr!
- However, At 38L approx on road Pune, I suppose, one needs really deep pockets to get one.
The TD bike – A V4 Panigale
The escort bike – Multi V4
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