[959 Panigale News]

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According to Carlo Baldi of Moto.it Ducati is building a V4 for their next generation of Superbikes.

Carlo claims that Ducati is looking to harmonize their MotoGP and WSBK programs, meaning the production based WSBK racer would NEED to use a V4 in serial production in order to be competition eligible.

Ducati currently runs the 1199 in WSBK, yes it's granted an extra 200cc of displacement vs the inline 4 1000's but they've choked it up with air restrictor limits. What good is displacement if you can't feed it enough air?

So could the 959 Panigale be the last V-Twin 1000cc Ducati Superbike? Not likely in all honesty. Borgo Panigale could consider using a hot V4 for special Panigale R and Corse branded machines while leaving the Superquadro Twin available on 'pedestrian' Panigales.

Logically it seems that this is where Ducati will go, they seem to of simply reached the limits of what is possible with a 90-degree V-Twin, already they're into diminishing returns, and there's simply not enough space to make the 1299's football sized pistons any larger.

Roll on the V4 screamer please and thank you...

 

[moto]

Won't be surprised, I mean they've stuck a V4 engine into a bike before. The Ducati Desmosedici RR comes to mind with it's 989cc V4 engine.

 

[BBBingo]

Won't be surprised, I mean they've stuck a V4 engine into a bike before. The Ducati Desmosedici RR comes to mind with it's 989cc V4 engine.

yea but the Desmo RR was essentially a race bike for the street. I'd be interested if Ducati could sell it to us for less then $20 grand...

 

[corsa]

Even at the mid $20k range i'd still be in for buying it, not sure what the overall ideal price would be but mid $20k might be the breaking point for some.

 

[BBBingo]

Even at the mid $20k range i'd still be in for buying it, not sure what the overall ideal price would be but mid $20k might be the breaking point for some.

It's true, but consider Kawasaki asked $25K for the H2. Now unless Ducati plans to put some real wizard tech in there I don't beleive that welding 2 superquadros together warrants a near $10K price increase. Perhaps its more stomachable if its designated an R, but still it would need cornering ABS, the best adaptive suspension money can buy and an inertial platform...

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

The H2 is around 998cc isn't it? Maybe Ducati can make something close to that and sell it for a bit less?

 

[BBBingo]

The H2 is around 998cc isn't it? Maybe Ducati can make something close to that and sell it for a bit less?

the H2 is supercharged and thats where the cost comes from...

 

[BBBingo]

Here this is relevant, Honda is building a V4 superbike with their eyes on WSBK...

This month Honda have published no fewer than five patents around aspects of a new V4, road bike, clearly showing that the bike in question is a direct relation of the RC213V-S. However, if the engine is familiar, the rest of the bike is quite new. The most notable difference is the chassis. On the RC213V-S, the hand-welded frame is fabricated by the same highly-skilled team that build MotoGP machines. Replacing it with a mass-produced chassis and swapping the expensive race-spec suspension for something off-the-shelf would slash the price, and that’s just what Honda may be planning.

Honda?s secret V4 Superbike | MCN

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

who is the cheaper RC213V-S' competition?

 

[corsa]

I have a feeling that if it wasn't for Kawasaki releasing the Ninja H2 we might not be seeing Honda make that move, it all just happens right in sync.

 

[BBBingo]

who is the cheaper RC213V-S' competition?

Depends on what they do and how they do it. If they price it at say $18-20K and its a WSBK homogation special, it could and would compete with high end Ducatis, Ducati's with V4's if they build them... no one is sure if Kawasaki will continue to sell the H2 beyond this year...

 

[moto]

Kwasaki probably won't continue to sell it. The H2 was supposed to go into production once and they've already made an exception to take orders for a second time. Not sure it there'll be a third time.

 

[BBBingo]

Kwasaki probably won't continue to sell it. The H2 was supposed to go into production once and they've already made an exception to take orders for a second time. Not sure it there'll be a third time.

Its been confirmed for model year 2016 and Kawasaki showed a 650cc supercharged concept at Tokyo this morning... they're not going away

 

[DarR]

One of the many seducing bits about Ducati is the narrow "L90 twin". If the next iteration in competitiveness for Ducati is a V4, then I have no problems with that. Aside from a couple of exceptions, it's still better for me than a wide-*** L4 which everyone else is mass-producing.