[mike in o.c.]

New review on the 959:
https://rideapart.com/articles/2016-ducati-959-panigale-ride-review

 

[Dingo]

Glad he made a point of the "cold-start" issue - to bring light of it.

 

[ASavageFox]

Thanks for sharing... this is one of the better write-ups that I have seen. I am likewise glad that they mentioned the starting issue as well as the kick stand issue which is one that I have personally found very annoying. Even with relatively thin race boots, I have found getting the kickstand down a real struggle and have often found myself just leaning down and using my hand to flip the stand down... as mentioned, I find this basically embarrassing especially on a new and expensive premium bike.

 

[DJ Shrug]

One interesting system bundled into the 959 Panigale is the “Decompressor” engine starting aid. This system modifies cam lift during engine startup in order to keep valves slightly open, reducing combustion chamber compression. This reduces load on the starter motor and battery, in turn reducing the required size of each. This results in an impressive 7.3lbs vehicle mass savings. However, it must be noted that on one occasion, the engine flooded and took several minutes to finally fire up under a cold-start condition. The root cause of this fault was not determined, but it’s hard to ignore the possibility of this decompressor system acting as a contributing factor.

First time I've heard about this "decompressor" system, but sounds more like the culprit for the starting issue. Seeing how the 899, 1199, and 1299 (from a quick search) all have starting problems and also have the decompressor system, kinda surprised no one's suspected it yet.

Maybe manufacturing tolerances (lighter side of decomp flywheel spec) cause the decompressor system of some bikes to lower the compression ratio too much, causing difficult starting?

 

[Kruz]

Yep, good write up but I have to disagree with the lack of low end, mine seems to pull harder right off idle than any of my liter bikes. I agree the transmission is very smooth , almost Japanese like in feel and the kickstand is a pain in the butt, I just reach down and flip it with my left hand, no way will my size 13 Sidi get in there. I fiddled with my suspension clickers but ended up going back to stock settings.

 

[DarR]

About the kickstand:
While I can kick it out with the heel of my Sidi riding shoes, I can't do the same with the heel of my Sidi Vertigo boots. However, I don't have a problem taking it out with my boot's toe.