Thought some of you might enjoy reading this blog entry I wrote yesterday. I know this is a busa board but what got me thinking about this is how can Ducati produce such awesome bikes and Suzuki be so absent as far as upgrading the herd?
Can The Panigale Be Great?
One look at the new Ducati 1199 Panigale and its clear this is no ordinary motorcycle. It’s maybe the most beautiful bike ever made, closer to a work of art than even the original MV F4. It is aggressive, purposefully lean, and as curvy as a Playboy centerfold. But in this case beauty goes much deeper than the surface. The new Ducati is a step ahead of anything else you can buy technologically. It belongs in the dictionary by the very definition of a superbike.
Even with all that said, I question the bike. Clearly this is a revolutionary step for Ducati. Gone is the rattle and hum of the dry clutch. Gone are the under seat Tamburini’s. Gone are the rubber cam drive belts. Even the “L†shaped 90 degree twin has given way to a lesser angle. Rumor is even the riding position is comfortable! But most obvious of all is the missing trellis frame.
And that’s where I get a little nervous. The Panigale looks to be the perfect superbike statement, except for its big glaring fault. It’s no secret that the air box frame doesn’t work, not even for a G.O.A.T. like Rossi. We mortals may never challenge the 1199 to the point where her birth defect gets between you and keeping the wheels road side down; but it’s still there.
Ducati says they started working on this bike before the 1098 even came out. Imagine the script: Rossi comes over, manages to ride the GP11 back to respectability and saves all the time and money invested in the first sport bike with a monoque chassis. I can only imagine the look on the faces at Ducati when it was clear that the air box frame was simply not going to work; and the Panigale would have to go to market with it front and center. Moreover If Rossi wins a race next year it will probably be on a GP12 with a traditional frame. The only thing more unbearable than to admit that the air box idea was a long trip down a dead end road, ending the reign of Val would be even more disgraceful for Ducati. Even the WSB people will be riding this year’s bike again and the Panigale won’t see professional level racing with factory support anytime soon.
So, can a bike with so clear a race bred lineage be considered one of the great motorcycle designs without proving itself in battle? Is all the technology and good looks enough to excuse so fundamental a flaw? I think not. The question that will always be asked is whether or not Ducati should have wrapped all of the Panigale’s talent and beauty in a trellis frame and declared a Mulligan. Maybe the new bike wouldn’t be as light or as slickly packaged but it would have worked. And it could have taken its place among the true great bikes that proved themselves on the track.
And that’s a shame. Not wanting to race the 1199 is different from it not being up to the task. It’s a great story that a little firm in Italy can beat companies that sell more bikes in a week than Ducati sells in a year. I was cheering this new bike being born in a time when the big 3 are serving yesterdays warmed over leftovers. Let’s just hope the Panigale can overcome its handicap. More importantly though, let’s hope Ducati keeps stretching the boundaries to be different, and better.
Can The Panigale Be Great?
One look at the new Ducati 1199 Panigale and its clear this is no ordinary motorcycle. It’s maybe the most beautiful bike ever made, closer to a work of art than even the original MV F4. It is aggressive, purposefully lean, and as curvy as a Playboy centerfold. But in this case beauty goes much deeper than the surface. The new Ducati is a step ahead of anything else you can buy technologically. It belongs in the dictionary by the very definition of a superbike.
Even with all that said, I question the bike. Clearly this is a revolutionary step for Ducati. Gone is the rattle and hum of the dry clutch. Gone are the under seat Tamburini’s. Gone are the rubber cam drive belts. Even the “L†shaped 90 degree twin has given way to a lesser angle. Rumor is even the riding position is comfortable! But most obvious of all is the missing trellis frame.
And that’s where I get a little nervous. The Panigale looks to be the perfect superbike statement, except for its big glaring fault. It’s no secret that the air box frame doesn’t work, not even for a G.O.A.T. like Rossi. We mortals may never challenge the 1199 to the point where her birth defect gets between you and keeping the wheels road side down; but it’s still there.
Ducati says they started working on this bike before the 1098 even came out. Imagine the script: Rossi comes over, manages to ride the GP11 back to respectability and saves all the time and money invested in the first sport bike with a monoque chassis. I can only imagine the look on the faces at Ducati when it was clear that the air box frame was simply not going to work; and the Panigale would have to go to market with it front and center. Moreover If Rossi wins a race next year it will probably be on a GP12 with a traditional frame. The only thing more unbearable than to admit that the air box idea was a long trip down a dead end road, ending the reign of Val would be even more disgraceful for Ducati. Even the WSB people will be riding this year’s bike again and the Panigale won’t see professional level racing with factory support anytime soon.
So, can a bike with so clear a race bred lineage be considered one of the great motorcycle designs without proving itself in battle? Is all the technology and good looks enough to excuse so fundamental a flaw? I think not. The question that will always be asked is whether or not Ducati should have wrapped all of the Panigale’s talent and beauty in a trellis frame and declared a Mulligan. Maybe the new bike wouldn’t be as light or as slickly packaged but it would have worked. And it could have taken its place among the true great bikes that proved themselves on the track.
And that’s a shame. Not wanting to race the 1199 is different from it not being up to the task. It’s a great story that a little firm in Italy can beat companies that sell more bikes in a week than Ducati sells in a year. I was cheering this new bike being born in a time when the big 3 are serving yesterdays warmed over leftovers. Let’s just hope the Panigale can overcome its handicap. More importantly though, let’s hope Ducati keeps stretching the boundaries to be different, and better.
. Saw a really nice looking Duc and when they fired that thing up I was headed in the opposite direction 
lease:
