The end of Ducati as you know it.

[DesmoTull]

New Superbike by 2012.

I also saw this in my latest Cycleworld that came yesterday.

Highlights:
Gear driven cams, no more belts.
Will maintain desmodromic valve actuation.
90* V-twin, no more L.
Frameless (a la desmosedici) chassis design, no more trellis.

Ducatisti, Discuss...

[The Snowman]

And well over $20K to start, probably. *sigh* No new Ducati for me.

[DucDave]

Motorcyclist had an article and a picture too...

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

Wow Looks like being different for the sake of being different is no longer paying off for them. Im sure it will be a great bike.

Giving up quirkiness for convention has done Wonders for BMW

[Stoneman]

Wow Looks like being different for the sake of being different is no longer paying off for them. Im sure it will be a great bike.

Giving up quirkiness for convention has done Wonders for BMW

Very well said. I can't wait to see what it looks like!

[mikeb]

maybe a wet clutch to? clack clack clack

[fromario]

As long as it still says Ducati on it I am sure there will be plenty of people that will buy it, pose it, and be better than all of us for doing so

[R1]

2 things, one this bike is badass, two if you read the article you see the designer clearly states that rossi will do big things for ducati in terms of development for the desmocidici

[Kurlon]

90* V-twin, no more L.

Umm... a 90 degree V is an "L" twin. : )

[Kurlon]

Wow Looks like being different for the sake of being different is no longer paying off for them. Im sure it will be a great bike.

Giving up quirkiness for convention has done Wonders for BMW

Where are they switching to 'conventional wisdom?'

Bevel/gear drive cams? That's an old classic from the Ducati playbook.
Frameless chassis? That's a new one from Duc's MotoGP playbook.
Desmo valves, still present.

Sounds like classic Duc to me. : )

[DesmoTull]

Umm... a 90 degree V is an "L" twin. : )

OK, rotated rearward in the chassis. Kinda like a Aprilia.

[scottieducati]

I'm more concerned about the "ultra short stroke" engine that will supposedly rev past 14,500 rpm.... higher HP for sure, but lower torque. Can it be overcome with electronics? We'll see... but the current 1198 is definitely an end of an era that began over 20 years ago.

The engine being rotated backward will help bolt the front section on, while simultaneously allowing for a longer swing-arm length... something that drastically plagues current single-sided swing arm Ducatis and part of the reason why you have to set them up with the front high, and rear low... further exacerbating the feeling of "she steers like a truck."

[KawiSmurf]

Umm... a 90 degree V is an "L" twin. : )

You've got that backwards. I think this discussion took place here not too long ago...all L-twins are 90 degree V-twins, but not all 90 degree V-twins are L-twins. The difference is the orientation in the chassis. Ducatis point their front cylinder straight forward, so its considered an L twin. It's all semantics, but it's become a standard naming convention.

[DesmoTull]

As long as it still says Ducati on it I am sure there will be plenty of people that will buy it, pose it, and be better than all of us for doing so

Ducati [Du-cot-e] - noun
1. Motorcycle Brand.
2. European slang insult. i.e. "I'm better than you."

[scottieducati]

I like the fact that my ubiquitous superiority is built into my NESR handle.

[REVNH]

Ducati has to be careful as they go. They tried a far less radical departure when they put out the 999/749, and I think most would agree that experiment ended in failure. I'm not bashing the 999, it's not about that, just that most conventional Ducati owners rejected the 999. I can't see the traditional Ducati owner embracing this design. I might be wrong. However there are some of us that won't even buy a current Ducati with a wet clutch. I can see the pressure on Ducati to evolve, and if the 1198 is in fact the end of the current design evolution, they are in a tough spot.

[snowborder]

a 10 year newer RC51

[fromario]

Personally, i dont mind ducati going down this path. If every auto/moto/aero company kept doing things business as usual then we would never see any accessible innovations (i say accessible because most racing programs transfer their new tech to consumer products eventually)

To this day i think the older Ducati superbikes (8XX's, 9XX's) sound absolutely visceral and gorgeous... but does that mean i wish they kept making them like that. no.

Same thing happened when Ducati started adding wet clutches to everything

[scottieducati]

Utilizing a wet clutch doesn't seem to be hurting 848 sales, nor sales of the new Multi, nor... nor.... Just think, that new motor / frame'd SBK might just come with the adjustability that the new Multistrada has.... and would make for one hell of a game-changing bike (see ya BMW).

'Course, I will still one day own another 888, preferably an SP4 or SP4S if I can.... for an entirely different reason. The ones who claim to be "purists" because they won't buy anything with a wet clutch can do whatever they want. I have no doubts whatever the next SBK will be, it will be incredibly good, and it will sell... lots.

[fromario]

Utilizing a wet clutch doesn't seem to be hurting 848 sales, nor sales of the new Multi, nor... nor....

Ed Zachary

[SAB]

They need a change to be competitive again.

[Kurlon]

Unfortunately I think part of that required change is in riders... Haga's lost his 'drive' it seems, and Fabrizio is good in spurts but not consistent.

[breakdirt916]

haa, I'm with SAB

it's about what they can do to sell more of these things

sure performance is a big part of the ducati name, but a motorcycle company is still in the business of being a business

[SAB]

Unfortunately I think part of that required change is in riders... Haga's lost his 'drive' it seems, and Fabrizio is good in spurts but not consistent.

True...but the 4 cyl's are flat out overpowering them (how much more can they get out of the 1198 before it begins to implode on a regular basis??). Also, the fact that they lifted the weight restriction and they're still behind doesn't help.

[Kurlon]

There's tons more to get out of that powerplant, but Ducati agreed to build restrictions as part of the displacement bump. All of the tuning tweaks the other brands can do during the course of a season are blocked for Ducati because of that increase in allowed displacement. They have to homologate a production bike with the changes to run it that way on the track. I think that's part of what's holding them back now, they can't develop/tune/respond as fast as the 1000cc machines. I almost wonder if the new 2012 machine is going to be a 1000cc twin so they can go full bore on development again?