A formula one car, at 640 kg (1,411 lbs) and about 800 horsepower, has a power-to-weight ratio around 1.25 horsepower per kilogram (2.2 lbs). The new 1199 Panigale, with 195 horsepower and 164 kg (361.5 lbs), has a ratio of 1.19 horsepower per kilogram. Granted, that figure changes significantly if you add my porky badonkadonk and a full tank to the equation ... but regardless, this roaring L-twin beast is not only the new power-to-weight champion of the production motorcycle world, it's a ground-up reinvention of the Ducati superbike that has reportedly been in development since the venerable 1098 first hit showroom floors in 2007. Even without factory support, the 1198 won this year's World Superbike championship ... and absolutely everything about the Panigale looks significantly better, including Troy Bayliss' lap times. Let's take a closer look at what is easily the most desirable supersports bike of 2012.
Ducati hasn't exactly had the best lead-up to the Panigale's debut - the pressure's really on. The Italian company dropped factory support for its World Superbike team this year to focus on its MotoGP effort, having signed the highest-wattage star in the motorcycle universe, Valentino Rossi.
Of course, things haven't gone to plan. While Carlos Checa romped to WSBK championship victory aboard the Althea Racing Ducati 1198, Rossi has very publicly struggled to get his head around the Desmosedici GP11. Rossi's miserable 7th place championship finish in 2011 was a blight on an otherwise near perfect career - his previous worst results being two third places in 2007 and 2010. Everything else has been championships and a few second places all the way back to 1997.
It was the worst advertising Ducati could have hoped for - with the man many believe to be the world's greatest racer on board, the problem wasn't the rider - it was the bike. And specifically, it was the carbon-fiber monocoque frame.
At extreme lean angles, a motorcycle's suspension system becomes more or less useless. At an elbow-dragging 60 degrees, a fork or shock's plane of compression is so far from vertical that it's just not effective at soaking up vertical bumps to keep a tire planted to the ground.
This is where frame flex comes in - most MotoGP bikes have an aluminum twin-spar or double wishbone frame that allows a certain degree of sideways flex. At full lean, the bike can twist to help it deal with bumps. But the Ducati GP11 was a different beast. In search of an edge in airflow, weight distribution and chassis tuning, Ducati ran with a monocoque design that more or less did away with the frame altogether. The headstock connected to the front engine cylinders via a small carbon fiber unit, and the swingarm and seat unit came off the back of the engine, too. Carbon fiber's incredibly light weight, strength and almost limitless flex tuning ability were expected to deliver big results.
Great in theory, but in reality the carbon-framed Ducatis proved more or less unrideable to anyone but Australia's Casey Stoner. Outside Stoner's garage, the carbon-framed bikes became a graveyard of champions, more or less ending the GP career of Marco Melandri, relegating ex-champ Nicky Hayden to the back of the pack, and completely stumping Rossi to the point where it looks like Ducati is going to try redesigning the Desmosedici around an aluminum frame just to give its big star a chance in 2012. Here's a much more in-depth look at the GP11 and its carbon frame, if you're interested.
Why is this relevant? Because Ducati had bigger plans for the monocoque "frameless" chassis design. Plans that start with the 1199 Panigale that has just debuted at EICMA. That's right: Ducati's new flagship consumer sportsbike is going to market with an aluminum version of the monocoque frame that made Valentino Rossi look like he couldn't ride.
You couldn't script a worse marketing coup - Rossi has certainly cost the factory megabucks to hire, and Ducati has thrown the kitchen sink at the GP11 and 11.1 trying to spend their way to the pointy end of the field, but instead of a cupboard full of silverware, they're left with a bike and a frame concept that's reputedly unrideable, and no doubt a great deal of regret that they didn't hang on to Stoner while they had the chance.
So, with this bit of history in mind, as well as the runaway success of the previous model - the 1198 - let's examine the new 1199 Panigale and see if it can rise above such a difficult birth.
Ducati 1199 Panigale - Superquadrata engine
The new Panigale (named for the western quarter of Bologna where the Ducati factory is located) may be impressive to look at, but its spec sheet is where the pulse really starts racing.
For starters, 195 horsepower is an incredibly impressive number for a high-revving 4-cylinder bike, let alone the big fat pistons of a V-Twin. The Superquadro engine hits this huge figure at just 9000 rpm, where by comparison the BMW S1000RR is spinning at a crazy 14,200 rpm to make its peak of 193 horses.
The 1199's power output is a stunning 25 ponies stronger than the magnificent Ducati 1198 it replaces. That's a huge jump.
Ducati hasn't exactly had the best lead-up to the Panigale's debut - the pressure's really on. The Italian company dropped factory support for its World Superbike team this year to focus on its MotoGP effort, having signed the highest-wattage star in the motorcycle universe, Valentino Rossi.
Of course, things haven't gone to plan. While Carlos Checa romped to WSBK championship victory aboard the Althea Racing Ducati 1198, Rossi has very publicly struggled to get his head around the Desmosedici GP11. Rossi's miserable 7th place championship finish in 2011 was a blight on an otherwise near perfect career - his previous worst results being two third places in 2007 and 2010. Everything else has been championships and a few second places all the way back to 1997.
It was the worst advertising Ducati could have hoped for - with the man many believe to be the world's greatest racer on board, the problem wasn't the rider - it was the bike. And specifically, it was the carbon-fiber monocoque frame.
At extreme lean angles, a motorcycle's suspension system becomes more or less useless. At an elbow-dragging 60 degrees, a fork or shock's plane of compression is so far from vertical that it's just not effective at soaking up vertical bumps to keep a tire planted to the ground.
This is where frame flex comes in - most MotoGP bikes have an aluminum twin-spar or double wishbone frame that allows a certain degree of sideways flex. At full lean, the bike can twist to help it deal with bumps. But the Ducati GP11 was a different beast. In search of an edge in airflow, weight distribution and chassis tuning, Ducati ran with a monocoque design that more or less did away with the frame altogether. The headstock connected to the front engine cylinders via a small carbon fiber unit, and the swingarm and seat unit came off the back of the engine, too. Carbon fiber's incredibly light weight, strength and almost limitless flex tuning ability were expected to deliver big results.
Great in theory, but in reality the carbon-framed Ducatis proved more or less unrideable to anyone but Australia's Casey Stoner. Outside Stoner's garage, the carbon-framed bikes became a graveyard of champions, more or less ending the GP career of Marco Melandri, relegating ex-champ Nicky Hayden to the back of the pack, and completely stumping Rossi to the point where it looks like Ducati is going to try redesigning the Desmosedici around an aluminum frame just to give its big star a chance in 2012. Here's a much more in-depth look at the GP11 and its carbon frame, if you're interested.
Why is this relevant? Because Ducati had bigger plans for the monocoque "frameless" chassis design. Plans that start with the 1199 Panigale that has just debuted at EICMA. That's right: Ducati's new flagship consumer sportsbike is going to market with an aluminum version of the monocoque frame that made Valentino Rossi look like he couldn't ride.
You couldn't script a worse marketing coup - Rossi has certainly cost the factory megabucks to hire, and Ducati has thrown the kitchen sink at the GP11 and 11.1 trying to spend their way to the pointy end of the field, but instead of a cupboard full of silverware, they're left with a bike and a frame concept that's reputedly unrideable, and no doubt a great deal of regret that they didn't hang on to Stoner while they had the chance.
So, with this bit of history in mind, as well as the runaway success of the previous model - the 1198 - let's examine the new 1199 Panigale and see if it can rise above such a difficult birth.
Ducati 1199 Panigale - Superquadrata engine
The new Panigale (named for the western quarter of Bologna where the Ducati factory is located) may be impressive to look at, but its spec sheet is where the pulse really starts racing.
For starters, 195 horsepower is an incredibly impressive number for a high-revving 4-cylinder bike, let alone the big fat pistons of a V-Twin. The Superquadro engine hits this huge figure at just 9000 rpm, where by comparison the BMW S1000RR is spinning at a crazy 14,200 rpm to make its peak of 193 horses.
The 1199's power output is a stunning 25 ponies stronger than the magnificent Ducati 1198 it replaces. That's a huge jump.
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