There's a new bike in the garage: a 2021 Ducati Panigale V2, bought to replace an Aprilia RSV4 Factory as a club race bike. We talk about the first track days on a completely bone stock V2 (slicks only), what the Showa Big Piston Fork does well on the brakes and where it falls apart mid-corner, and why racers ditch BPF internals for cartridges.
Then the good part: riding the old 955 V2 and the new 890 V2 back to back on the same track, same day. The new bike has less power, a double-sided swingarm, and a very different personality. On paper it looks like a step backward. On track and on the street, it might be the better bike for most riders.
We also get into why club racing is worth it, whether 155 hp belongs in a middleweight class, Honda's electric-supercharged V3, the unforgivable sin of Honda never building a production V5, a Discovery Channel show that led to an Air Force career in metalworking, and an update on Frunk the cat.
0:00 The new bike: 2021 Ducati Panigale V2
1:09 Why leave the Aprilia RSV4 Factory?
3:31 First track days, bone stock
6:25 Big Piston Forks: great braking, vague mid-corner
17:28 Engine, frame, and the single-sided swingarm
28:00 Old V2 vs new V2 back to back
38:48 The new V2 should have been called a SuperSport
40:53 Will he race it? A love letter to club racing
51:26 Honda's V3 and shifting a twin
59:27 Paint plans and a Discovery Channel origin story
1:04:21 Honda's missing V5, EICMA, and a Triple R wish
1:09:51 Frunk the cat
#PanigaleV2 #Ducati #CanyonChasers
