The Bologna Beast

THE BOLOGNA BEAST

CW RIDING IMPRESSION

THE SECOND COMING OF THE DUCATI SUPERBIKE

Don Canet

For all its technical innovation and cutting-edge style, Ducati’s Panigale superbike may have been too much of a departure for many of the Ducati faithful. If a Duc without a trademark trellis frame came across as odd, a Superquadro desmo powerplant lacking robust midrange torque bordered on heresy. The new 2015 Ducati 1299 Panigale seeks redemption by righting the wrongs, perceived or

otherwise, of the past couple of years. If you think I’m being a bit melodramatic, here’s what Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali had to say: “When we first made the Panigale, we changed completely the

1299 PANIGALE S

concept of the frame, the engine, and how they work together. And we change how you build a twin, as it is not normal to have a twin with a 112mm bore.” Domenicali, who believes that a technical departure outside one’s comfort zone is required to achieve significant progress, added: “We did it so radical because...we wanted to have a tool that was for us a platform to be competitive with the fourcylinder bikes.”

The fix? An even larger 116mm piston resulting in an even more oversquare configuration displacing 1,28sec.

This, along with new rods, steel liners, and crankshaft (with precision steel balancing inserts), all fit within unaltered outer engine dimensions. Twin injectors per cylinder fuel the same elliptical 67mm equivalent throttle bodies with spent gas exiting through an all-new stainless-steel exhaust with largerdiameter tubes.

The result is an impressive 205 claimed horsepower (10 more than the 1199). Of even greater significance is the additional torque. Ducati says it’s increased across the entire range,

with a 15-percent boost between 5,000 and 8,000 rpm. The chassis gets a half-degree reduction in rake (now 24 degrees) and a 4mm lower swingarm pivot. The restyled tailsection carries a more comfortable seat, while new grippier machined footpegs and a wider fairing with a 20mm-taller screen aim to improve rider comfort.

Of course, there has been further refinement of the electronics suite, which incorporates a Bosch Inertial Measurement Unit that monitors chassis motion in three axes. This has enabled a sophisticated Ducati Wheelie Control (DWC) feature as well as Cornering ABS. Another new feature is clutchless auto-blip downshifting.

The Ducati 1299 Panigale S model is equipped with Öhlins Smart EC suspension components featuring semiactive dynamic damping adjustment. Domenicali best describes the eventbased suspension: “The funny thing about this is the system knows what you are doing. When you are braking, it’s the best suspension for braking; when you are cornering, then it’s the best

suspension for cornering. The image in my mind is that it’s like having an Öhlins guy in your backpack continuously making changes with a screwdriver while you are riding on the racetrack.”

Ducati staged a press test of the new machine at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve Circuit, which is located in sunny southern Portugal. I spent the first of our five, 15-minute riding sessions getting reacquainted with the challenging 2.9-mile, 14-turn course, which is characterized by blind crests and abundant elevation change. The Sport ride mode proved ideal for this, allowing me to quickly and safely get up to speed following an out lap scrubbing in the fresh Pirelli Supercorsa SC2 race tires.

The default settings for DTC and DWC (both at level 5 of 8) witnessed very frequent electronic intervention

DUCATI 1299 PANIGALE S

dohc V-twin

285cc

ii 32.7 in.

4.5 g~I.

CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 3E7 lb.

$24,995

indicated by a yellow light on the top center of the dash. The effect was smooth and seamless, as was my initial reserved pace in an effort to simulate a fast street ride or trackday B Group. I found throttle pickup very fluid and the engine’s electronically metered delivery linear, making this a bike many can safely experience. The chassis felt nicely composed at this pace as well, even with the Öhlins DES Smart EC settings at the Sport mode baseline, a street-oriented algorithm said to take overall ride comfort into consideration.

Prior to burning laps at a race pace in the later sessions, I explored Sport mode further by delving into the suspension menu (while parked on pit lane) and increased the fork and shock to a setting labeled “Hardest” of the five available options. I also reduced DTC and DWC to level 2 prior to entering the track. These settings greatly improved chassis feedback and unshackled the big twin, resulting in strengthened drive off apexes, even when I intentionally allowed revs to dip below 5,000 rpm midcorner. Wheelies felt uninhibited as well, the front coming up while the bike was still partially leaned over exiting an uphill second-gear right!

The hilltop that follows provided a few butt-pucker moments while I gained trust in DWC, the front pawing the sky and continuing upward as the road drops

sharply away down the backside of the hill. The experience was reminiscent of my earliest encounters with ABS and traction control systems. Soon enough, my right wrist was undeterred.

The firmed-up suspension proved more to my liking, offering a significant improvement in feedback along with added resistance to fork dive under braking, the latter particularly appreciated in the downhill braking zone at the end of the fast main straight. The DQS auto-blip function eases rider workload when charging into such corners, producing silky smooth downshifts as the ride-by-wire system matches engine revs with each toe of the shift lever.

With myriad setup possibilities and limited time to experiment, I spent the remaining track time in Race mode, which most notably provides track-based suspension algorithms and also makes use of the Superleggera-style up/down

paddle switch on the left handlebar for on-the-fly adjustment of DTC, DWC, or EBC (engine-braking control) level. The paddle only functions in race mode and is limited to controlling one pre-selected parameter. Having determined DWC 2 and EBC 2 settings to be to my liking, I left DTC assigned to the paddle.

Throughout the day I ran ABS level 2, which provides the new Cornering ABS function along with rear antilock/ anti-lift control. ABS level 1 is a track mode that disables the cornering and rear ABS features.

I didn’t get around to trying level 1 because, quite honestly, I never once felt the front brake cycle either in a straight line or while trail braking. Perhaps when we have a testbike back home I will muster the courage to explore the system’s deep lean capabilities...or convince a coworker to do it.

Just as BMW has applied performance technology first offered exclusively on the HP4 to the new 2015 S1000RR, so too has Ducati taken Superleggera bits and applied them to the 1299 Panigale.

Should Superleggera owners start weeping in their vino? No.

And they won’t be getting an apology from Ducati’s CEO, who added: “We see that the 1299 is the final refinement of this project.”

Just goes to show that blessings do come to those who wait. ETU

THE IMAGE IN MY MIND IS THAT IT’S LIKE HAVING AN ÖHLINS GUY IN YOUR BACKPACK CONTINUOUSLY MAKING CHANGES WITH A SCREWDRIVER WHILE YOU ARE RIDING ON THE RACETRACK.”