[seven4niner]

This thread is the same as any middleweight bike vs liter bike thread that has ever happened. All the big bike fans will come out of the wood work and tell you that the little bikes suck, and you have the experience to ride the bigger bike. Bigger is always better, more power, etc.. etc..

but is it?

Then there will be a few guys (like me) who have ridden big bikes, and middleweights during different seasons of my life. Personally, I would ride both and make up your mind if you are conflicted about it. The V2 is a fantastic bike. It’s very well reviewed, it might work out like your R6 did for you. It has plenty of power, still has that ducati twin character, handles fabulously, and IMO looks better. I have not ridden the Panigale V4, but I have ridden V4’s. If you really like V4’s, ,then maybe thats a consideration.

If you are chasing laptimes, I seriously doubt you can ride faster laps on the V4. It takes a pro level rider a lot of laps to get the big bikes to be quicker than the middleweight. You will probably never be quicker on the track with the V4 unless it’s a very big track with a lot of straight.

If you love V4’s, and you just want to get a rush from having more power, and thats your thing, get the V4. If you like wings, get the V4. If you’ve been there and done that and enjoy twins, get the V2.

FWIW, I had an 09 CBR1kRR for a few years that I bought new. That was a nice bike, and it rode more like a middleweight than any other big bike I’ve ridden, but I still didn‘t like it as much as the 600RR it replaced. I think the V4 will make that CBR seem like a kitten. I rode a BMW S1000RR on the track once, that thing was such a handful my lap times were like 5 seconds slower and I was working 10x as hard.

Just depends on what you want. I guess the point of my whole rambling, is that when you come on a super bike forum asking if you should get the big bike, 90% of the people are going to say get the big bike because you can “handle it”. 50% of them will be wrong. Only you can answer the question by being completely honest with yourself about what your intentions are and what you think you will be happier with in the long term given your requirements.

Nailed it. I recall a bike test where a very well credentialed tester was quicker on the V2 vs the V4. This isn’t rocket science: bulk hp equals rushing corners at speeds we aren’t comfortable with, equals over-braking, equals big handfuls on (slow) corner exit, rinse and repeat, equals embarrassed by a half decent pilot on a 600.

We also have the well known vid of a V4S comprehensively spanked by an “antique” GSXR1000K5, which probably days more sbout availability of performance vs outright potential

But what about road riding? A V4 makes peak torque plus 11krpm…I dunno, that just doesn’t seem like real world rpm to the average road rider.

That 150hp of a V2 seems like a real sweet spot, seems like a shame to spend more for something you really can’t use.