Quick Ride

DUCATI 999R

QUICK Ride

$30,000, and worth it

THIRTY-THOUSAND-DOLLAR Ducatis are like $25,000 Harleys, right? A gross exaggeration, soon to be discredited in a Peter Egan column?

Uh, no. The Ducati 999R shown here does indeed sell for $29,995. And that’s without any extras.

Of course, as the homologation model for Ducati’s entry into the World Superbike Championship, it's got all the good stuff already. So unlike the base-model 999 and uprated 999S, whose Testastretta motors displace 998cc through a 100mm bore and 63.5mm stroke, the 999R makes good on its nomenclature through a 4mm bigger bore and 4.7mm shorter stroke. Add to that top-shelf chassis components, plus weight-saving features such as a magnesium headlight support, aluminum subframe and carbon-fiber fairing, and the numbered silver plaque that alerts onlookers to the bike’s status as a limited-edition model isn’t really necessary. (Just 800 units were produced for 2003, incidentally, all of which

sold over the Internet.)

The big news this year is that the R-model is finally streetlegal in the USA. Not that we rode ours on public roads: Following a late-night prep session by Ducati tech Mike Moran, we took our testbike directly to Buttonwillow Raceway. We brought

along our long-term 999 biposto for comparison purposes, but really, there’s no comparison. The 999R simply offers more of everything.

Consider the specs: The basemodel 999 weighs 442 pounds dry and makes 116 horsepower and 70 foot-pounds of torque at the rear wheel. Compare that to the R-model’s 422 pounds, 129 blip and 74 ft.-lbs., and you

begin to get an idea of the difference. But only an idea...

Like the standard 999, the R is eminently rideable, and notably more tractable than most four-cylinder machines that make this kind of power. Turn the throttle and it accelerates hard, building speed more like a

GSX-R1000 or YZF-R1 than the 750s to which V-Twins are typically compared. It revs up much quicker than does a standard 999-so that if you get greedy with the throttle exiting a corner it may surprise you, breaking traction at lower revs than you would expect-but you’d have to work at getting high-sided. It shifts nicely, too, though like on the base model, the rev-limiter cuts in too abruptly; the shift light ought to provide earlier warning.

As good as the engine is, though, it’s the 999R’s chassis that really garners rave reviews. It shares the same steel-trellis frame as the standard monoposto, with adjustable seat, footpegs and steering head, but everything else has been kicked up a notch. Swedish Öhlins suspension, working in conjunction with lightweight Marchesini forged wheels, offers a firmer ride than the base 999 s Showa suspenders, yet it's still plenty supple. And the radially mounted Brembo front brakes are stunning, offering such exceptional feel that you can brake hard right to the apex of corners, knee down and everything! It really is the closest thing to a World Superbike that money can buy.

So what, you say, shouldn’t you expect that sort of performance for $30,000? Yes, you should. The good news is that in the 999R’s case, you actually get it. -Brian Catterson