Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

Thought I'd put up a little thread about my time with the 1299s. I wasn't going to bother as I planned to sell it on quickly but I've ordered some track fairings so it looks like it's going to stick around for a little while!

Normally when I buy so much as a new toothbrush I do months and months of research. I weigh up all the options. I spend a ridiculous amount of hours reading everything I can on the subject and worrying about making the wrong decision before giving up as the decision about which toothbrush to buy is just too hard a decision to make. I'll leave it a while and then realise I actually really do need a new toothbrush so I'll start the research again, rereading everything I read before until I panic and buy the first one I looked at months ago.

My journey to the 1299 was a little bit different! Blade and Rocket were leaving for the Euro tunnel in two weeks and I didn't have an engine for my 675. I looked through the bikes I could hire and there wasn't a great deal available. I spent a week on the s1000rr last year so ruled that out. The Aprilia RSV4 wasn't available and I couldn't find a new blade. I had a little think about it and realised the only bike I really fancied trying was the 1299 but there don't seem to be any to hire. I solved this with some extremely advance man maths and decided that the £8-900 I could spend hiring a bike that would undoubtedly be on the wrong tyres and generally be a bit tired would be better spent as depreciation with the added bonus of getting to spend a month looking at a 1299. A little drunk ebaying and a couple of days later I persuaded the Mrs to take me to pick it up. 1350 miles on the clock and pretty much immaculate.

All I've done to it is stick a set of GB racing engine protectors on it (£9k engine!) and ridden it. My experiences have been mixed so far. I blasted into Wales a couple of times and enjoyed it but after the trip down to Folkstone I hated it. It does not like to cruise along! It makes lots of funny Ducati type noises and it vibrates. A lot! As a result of this I struggled to really trust it on roads I didn't know and a long way from home. It was clearly a good bike but it just seemed so hard to ride. In the past I've always just jumped on a bike and gone fast but I just couldn't click with it.
It spat it's dummy out once in heavy rain, in rain mode, the traction control light went mad, the engine management light came on and I had a nice big red engine warning message on the dash. Stopped the engine and rolled it into a carpark. It had previously dealt fine with some torrential rain but I can only assume water got in somewhere because a couple of hours later it was fine.

I got home and threw it in the garage, caked in mud and left it there a week or so till a dry day at the weekend prompted me to get it out to clean it and God it's a pretty bike! There's going to be trouble but I'm fairly sure one of these days my Mrs is going to come home and find I've moved it into the living room.

It seemed like it was too good an opportunity so I took it for a spin and it's like it was transformed. On roads that I know it was a different bike. It actually wants you to be aggressive with it. The harder you treat it the better it gets. I am starting to love it a little bit. The noise it makes is just epic and have I mentioned how pretty it is?

Somewhat against my better judgement I've decided that, screw depreciation, I just can't let it go without trying it on a track. It's what the bike was born for. I might have missed my opportunity for this year as the weather is definitely turning but at least I'm going to have something nice to look at in the living room this winter.

[video]https://youtu.be/mUIDU9v98IE[/video]

I like your thinking about hire versus depreciation.

Good write up Andy, I suspect the 1299 would be awesome on a track, and although I think I'd do the same as you, I'd be bricking it until I'd got the feel of the bike on track, it'd have to be a course I knew well too. Btw, did you ever find out if the water ingress did any lasting damage?

P.S. What's with the strobe effect lights in that vid?

Deegee wrote:Good write up Andy, I suspect the 1299 would be awesome on a track, and although I think I'd do the same as you, I'd be bricking it until I'd got the feel of the bike on track, it'd have to be a course I knew well too. Btw, did you ever find out if the water ingress did any lasting damage?

P.S. What's with the strobe effect lights in that vid?

I keep meaning to hook up the obd reader to see what it's registered but haven't got round to it yet.
I think the flickering is just to do with the frame rate of the camera and the flicker rate of the led headlight. The named eye can't see it in real life but because the camera takes a snapshot every fraction of a second it picks up on it. Something like that anyway!

Figures, I'd forgotten about the fps.

Take it on track, Andy. A nice wide track with long straights should be pretty safe.

The bike was designed as a race bike first and foremost and it's where it will be happiest.

The Ducati Panigale trackday last year rates as one of my best ever days on a bike.

Cracking write up Andy. I hope you do gell with her, as she is a very beautiful.

I love how you included the build up to getting the bike. I like hearing the thought process behind the buying! Be careful with her she clearly doesn't lile messing about in the rain and dirt so keep her clean and only for the summer dry days!!

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Nice write up Andy.

There not perfect but they do get under your skin don't they

Have I missed something. Why is it smoking?

it was just washed!!

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It just got la-...... nevermind

It had indeed just been washed and acf50'd. I used the StMarks patented leaf blower drying method (thanks StM- great idea) and just warmed it through quickly to get any water out the exhausts.
It's definitely going on track at some point but it'll have to be a nice dry day so looking like next year now. That gives me plenty of time to sort it out.
My track fairings have arrived. I've gone for the Ducati ones as although probably not the strongest, they're going to fit perfectly and come with all the blanking plugs so you won't get any error messages on the dash.
Not my bike but this is what it's going to look like. So the only question now is what colour to paint it?
I had it in mind to go for r final edition colours but I really like the race bike look too.

Think the Italian one looks WAAY better.

Unless there's some elements of red on the body panels the tank is going to look totally out of place

D41 wrote:Think the Italian one looks WAAY better.

Unless there's some elements of red on the body panels the tank is going to look totally out of place

I agree with you that of Jack's suggestions the Tricolore scheme looks by far the best.
However perhaps It wouldn't be too difficult for Andy to slap a little white vinyl on the tank at the same time as he applies the Green & Red Vinyl to his fairings.?

Yeah....was kinda thinking the same thing....to 'tie it in'. Might look a bit contrived though

D41 wrote:Yeah....was kinda thinking the same thing....to 'tie it in'. Might look a bit contrived though

No way, this is Andy we're talking about.
He'll make it look trick, not contrived.!