Finally, the Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition has been launched at the WorldSBK US Round at the iconic Laguna Seca race track.
The final edition dressed elegantly in the iconic tricolore livery is essentially a watered down Superleggera but still packs a punch with 209hp.
Priced at $40,000 (around RM172,000), the last ever V-twin powered Panigale will give way to the next V-4 powered Ducati superbike which will hopefully be introduced at the end of this year.
Ducati has finally taken the covers of the highly awaited Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition. As promised, the bike made its official debut at the WorldSBK US Geico Round at the legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca which is happening this weekend. (more…)
Ducati has been making waves recently after it announced that it will be making a huge announcement coming July 7th at the Laguna Seca round of MotoGP (read what the big news is here).
There is no doubt that the time is up for the Ducati Panigale, and a replacement is right around the corner. UK based motorcycling media and all-round cool guys MCN (Motorcycle News) got their hands on these set of photos showing what could be the replacement to the Panigale.
There have been rumours flying around for awhile now that the next Ducati superbike will be powered by a V4 engine, just as the Ducati MotoGP race bike. It is no secret that the Ducati Superquaddro L-Twin has shown its limitations over the years in terms of power, efficiency and emissions. And Ducati needs to introduce something faster, gnarlier and all out better than the Panigale. A bike that does a better job at bridging the gap between race and road.
The report by MCN quoted Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali as saying, “I confirm Ducati is working on a four-cylinder engine project for a road bike,” a few months ago.
This is also huge news for the Ducati WSB team, who will also get the new V4 but not until 2019. Paulo Ciabati confirmed this, “We will race the Panigale for 2017 and 2018, so obviously we will keep developing the engine to be competitive.”
The next generation Ducati road bike will undoubtedly receive even more motorsport know how than the Panigale. Speaking about the new bike, Domenicali continued to say, “the engine development that we have made in MotoGP is exceptional – we have an engine that is very light, very reliable, and with a lot of very interesting technology. We are seriously thinking about making that available to regular customers because it is really a masterpiece of engineering – of course translated into something that can be sold at a reasonable, but premium, price – so it will not be exotic like the Desmosedici, but a more regular high-end sports bike. We would absolutely race this in WSB.”
So with that said, it is clear that the new V4 engine will be below the 1000cc mark due to WSB engine regulations, but bike makers usually create a special homologation edition. Just like the current Panigale, there could be a 1000cc V4 model carrying an R somewhere in its name. And just like the current Panigale, there will likely be two more models – a standard and probably an S model – which could be powered by a 1200cc V4 engine.
And the bike in these pictures is quite clearly a well developed test mule, and is most definitely the upcoming V4. Featuring styling that can be used both on road and on track, and quite obviously an evolution to the styling of the Panigale, and with news that the final edition Panigale is just a few days away from its global introduction, this is surely the next generation Ducati superbike.
So what is known about this bike? Well firstly it ditches the Panigale’s monocoque ‘frameless’ design for a conventional twin-spar cast frame. It is around half the size of a normal frame. Also the design of the new bike is obviously different but similar, stalkier than the Panigale but different to the Ducati race bikes, the new Ducati sports bike is a lot beefier than ever, and similar to the width of four-cylindered Japanese bikes.
The lights too are completely different and the headlamps together with the sidelights have been repositioned inside the air intake ports, apparently given away by one of the LED headlamps seen in the photo below and above. The photos also show that the rear shock has been repositioned and is now placed behind the rider’s left ankle.
We will bring you the latest on this bike as news hits the internet.
UPDATE:
Sister site to MCN, Australian based AMCN (Australian Motorcycle News) has released the rendering below of the upcoming Ducati V4 Superbike. It is not known how close it is to the real bike, but it looks pretty damn good!
July 7 is the date where the world will see what could possibly be the final final final Ducati Panigale. Ducati has sent out tease after tease (see video below) and has even let the world know that July 7 is an important date.
July 7 is also the date where the MotoGP circus heads to the legendary Laguna Seca, and that is where Ducati will drop the covers on one of the most anticipated superbikes of this year. It is also an important date because apparently the new final final final Panigale R will be the last Ducati superbike featuring a L-Twin engine. Ducati will be switching over to an all-new engine format, back in January of this year, CEO Claudio Domenicalli had confirmed that the Italian bike maker will be ditching the much loved L-Twin for a more mainstream V4 engine.
The next generation Ducati superbike will no longer feature the iconic L-Twin, and will instead revert to the aforementioned V4 format, which is favoured by Japanese bike makers like Yamaha and Honda for being rich in torque, and incredibly smooth.
But for now, what will the final final final Panigale R be like compared to the flagship Superleggera? Well, apparently a Ducati dealer had leaked some information on to the internet, and this is what we have found out:
Mark July 7 on your calendar and tune in to Bikes Republic for the latest on Ducati’s final L-Twin superbike.
According to latest reports, Harley-Davidson has been rumoured to make a bid to buy over Ducati from Volkswagen Group.
Volkwagen has been planning to liquidate some of their major assets including Ducati ever since the great emissions scandal back in 2015.
The biddings to purchase Ducati has been set at €1.5 billion (around RM7.2 billion) in which VW will start accepting bids from potential owners starting July.
According to a recent report made by Reuters, the latest high profile name that has been thrown in to bid over as the new owner of Ducati is none other than Harley-Davidson. Ever since Volkswagen Group has been slapped in the face with the emissions cheating drama, they’ve been looking into liquidating some of their assets and Ducati falls in that very list for sale. (more…)
Ducati has introduced the latest 2017 Ducati Multistrada Enduro Pro which has been geared to be more tough and adventure-ready.
The Pro features a new Sand-themed colourway, two-toned seat, Ducati Performance bull bar, Termignoni titanium exhaust and many more.
The Enduro Pro will be available in the UK market soon with a price tag of £18,995 (around RM102,797 after direct conversion).
Ducati has unveiled yet another great variant to the Multistrada 1200 Enduro especially for those adventure riders who are eager to get some off-road fun that is the Pro Edition. What’s already a great package to begin with has been garnished with a few extra bits to make it more awesome when going on those off-road adventures. (more…)
Ducati has released a video teaser entitled “When the End Tells the Whole Story” shows what probably looks like the FInal Ducati Panigale evolution ever.
There’s also the date of 7 July 2017 stated in the video which signifies the next WorldSBK round in Laguna Seca where most probably the final Panigale will be introduced.
There move also coincides with further developments of their V4-powered superbike that has been planned to go into production as well compete in the WorldSBK in the beginning of the 2018 season.
The end of the Ducati Panigale is getting closer and closer to reality with the giant Italian manufacturer getting ready to unveil one of their biggest paradigm shifts ever to the highly anticipated V4-powered superbike. While we’re not sure if this is true or not, Ducati has revealed a teaser video highlighting the Panigale with the tagline “When the End Tells the Whole Story”. (more…)
During the first race of the WorldSBK Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round in Misano, the intense race concluded with Tom Sykes, Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea crossing the finish line.
During the final lap, Chaz Davies, Jonathan Rea and Marco Melandri who were leading the race before Melandri crashed out halfway through the lap.
Davies suffered the same front tyre wash out but Rea wasn’t able to avoid him and ran over the 30 year old Brit with his Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
During the WorldSBK Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round which ran its course at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, it was a weekend filled with drama and action for the race series that’s probably one the climatic points in the Superbike World Championship races. (more…)
The second WorldSBK race in Misano saw an amazing first race victory for Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) since 2014 in front of his home crowd.
Starting from tenth, Melandri picked up his pace to cross the finish line first ahead of Kawasaki riders, Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes.
Chaz Davies was deemed unfit to compete in Race 2 due to extensive injuries sustained in the unfortunate Race 1 incident between him and Rea while fighting for the win.
It was a fairytale comeback for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider Marco Melandri as he snatched his first ever WorldSBK victory since 2014. The victory was sweeter due to the fact that it was Melandri’s home race in front of his home fans at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” for the second race of the WorldSBK Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round yesterday. (more…)
The first race of the WorldSBK Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round held at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” saw Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) crossing the line in first place in the final lap drama.
All three front runners who are Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Marco Melandri crashed out in the final lap of the race.
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) secured second followed by Rea who managed to salvage the final podium spot after the huge collision with Davies.
It was an epic win for Kawasaki Racing Team rider Tom Sykes who miraculously crossed the finished line in first place during the first race of the Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round held at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. It was an amazing win considering that he was in fourth at the beginning of the final lap with a significant gap between Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), Chaz Davies and his Aruba.it Racing Ducati team mate, Marco Melandri. (more…)
Ducati just introduced a brand new 2017 Ducati Scrambler Mach 2.0 at the Wheels and Waves event over at Biarritz, France.
The bike made a two-day road trip from Borgo Panigale, Italy where the Mach 2.0 travelled together with an updated Ducati Scrambler Full Throttle with new graphics.
The Mach 2.0 was designed by Roland Sands which was inspired by the Bell Cross Idol helmet included in the Ducati Scrambler 2017 apparel collection.
Ducati has just launched their latest addition the Scrambler family that is the 2017 Ducati Scrambler Mach 2.0. The new Scrambler was unveiled during the Wheels and Waves event held in Biarritz, France. The famous French event goes on from 14 to 18 June 2017 and the Mach 2.0 was ridden from Borgo Panigale all the way to Biarritz. (more…)
Video: Ducati XDiavel vs KTM 1290 Super Duke GT – Both are expensive bikes, but are they worth the money?
Before building Ducati’s most successful cruiser ever, engineers and designers from the Italian bike builder spend many months living in the United States. They mingled with bikers, hung out with custom bike builders, lived the American motorcycle dream to understand what it is that gave cruisers their soul.
But when the Diavel was first introduced back in 2011, it was still very much a sports bike with a laid back riding position, rather than a cruiser. Ducati called it the ‘powercruiser’, they weren’t wrong but the Diavel could have been better. A better cruiser that it.
Fast forward five years, and Ducati tried again with the XDiavel by giving it a longer wheelbase, moving the foot pegs up front to give it the cruiser feel and some aesthetic touches. They also called it the ‘technocruiser’ in honor of the futuristic touches and the modern retro people who are likely to buy such a bike.
But though it has all the cruiserly touches like the wide rear tyre, belt drive, forward controls, low seat height, a long 30-degree rake, and the long wheelbase, the XDiavel still feels like a proper sports bike. You can ride this thing in complete anger and it will behave the way a proper super bike does with light predictable handling and loads of power on the upper end of the rev band, yes the engine is a complete screamer, just as you would expect from a Ducati.
The XDiavel may have the grand looks and a sophisticated design, but it is the engine that is the real jewel in Ducati’s crown. The 1262cc Testastretta DVT engine has the proper character of a sports bike, with 156hp and 129Nm of torque between 5,000 – 9,500rpm which means you really need to rev this engine to the heavens to truly enjoy all of its power.
The test bike we rode came with the optional Termignoni exhausts that protrude out from the bottom of the bike. This exhaust brings out the raw character of the bike – loud, powerful and brutal. In fact if you are going to buy the XDiavel, make sure to opt for the Termignoni’s. The only problem with them is that they can be a bit loud when riding on the highway.
However, I noticed something about the exhaust and the electronic riding modes. The XDiavel offers three different riding models – Sports, Urban and Touring – and each mode offers different throttle control, power delivery and such. But on our test ride to Mersing, we noticed that even the exhaust note changes with the mode. Riding it in Sports mode on the highway can be tiring as the exhaust is too loud and it tends to drone after a while even with a high-spec Shark Race-R Pro helmet. But in Touring and Urban mode, the sound mellows down dramatically and, dare I say it, is a lot more pleasant.
So though the XDiavel is more of a sports bike than a cruiser, taking it on a long distance ride to Johor and back was surprisingly fulfilling. The forward controls meant that my long legs could stretch for comfort, the big fuel tank gave over 300 kilometers on a full tank of petrol which is impressive, and the steel/aluminium fuel tank allowed me to clip on my magnetic tank bag which made the XDiavel perfect for distance touring.
However, the XDiavel is all about style, and on that note, this futuristic Ducati is the rockstar of the power cruiser segment. it is not always that you come across a bike with huge presence and gargantuan power and yet is still able to be gentle and docile when ridden. If you are not convinced about its sporting pedigree then know this, the XDiavel even has a feature called the Ducati Power Launch which gives it the most amount of grip and manages wheelie when you want to get off a line quickly – during traffic light drag battle perhaps?
There are two variants of the XDiavel available, one is the standard XDiavel and another is the XDiavel S, which we tested. The latter has even more exclusive touches like dedicated rims, polished black paint on the tank, Daytime Running Light, unique front forks, and Brembo M50 mono block calipers for the front brakes. Other features that are unique to the XDiavel S are billeted rear view mirrors, frame plates and forged, machine-finished foot pegs. The seats too are made of bi-material upholstery, and there is a Bluetooth module that lets you connect your phone to it and shows all your incoming text messages, and also shows you who’s calling.
The XDiavel is of course more suited to urban environments than long distance cruising or tackling corners. But fact of the matter is, the XDiavel can do almost anything you ask of it, and that is what we call talent. So has Ducati finally managed to make a proper power cruiser? Yes they have, and they have managed to add in a lot of style to it as well. But at little under RM150,000, the XDiavel is certainly not cheap, but who cares about that when you have this much style and power.
Danilo Petrucci (OCTO Pramac Racing) was given the chance to pilot the latest Desmosedici GP17 but at the same time help develop a new Ducati MotoGP engine.
No specific details were given on the new engine but Petrucci stated that the engine will be given back to the factory team once they’re done with all of the tests.
Petrucci also commented that the engine has roughly the same power as the current GP17 engine except for a few parts; most probably throttle body, exhaust, etc.
OCTO Pramac Racing MotoGP rider Danilo Petrucci is currently developing a brand new engine to be used on the Ducati Desmosedici GP17. The OCTO Pramac racing team was given the latest Ducati MotoGP machinery with the condition of assisting in developing and testing new parts before handing the information back over to the factory team. (more…)
