Ducati – All about car

2020 Ducati Panigale V2Handout / Ducati JEREZ, Spain You may have been under the impression that Ducati had given up on the V-twin engine layout in its supersport motorcycles. In 2018, the storied Italian motorcycle maker introduced a V-four power plant into its Panigale superbikes, breaking a tradition of using 90-degree V-twins since the early 1970s. Then, to affirm its apparent abandonment of the supersport V-twin, Ducati launched the Panigale R Final Edition in 2019, a limited-edition superbike that celebrates the twin-cylinder engine that marked the history of the Superbike World Championship.Well, if youre like me and you rather like a twin-cylinder Vees syncopated beat, narrow profile, and broad, flat torque delivery, then youll be relieved to know the V-twin is alive and well. The 2020 Ducati Panigale V2 isnt an entirely new motorcycle, but rather a rejuvenated version of the former 959 Panigale. It uses a recalibrated version of the 959 Panigales 955 cc V-twin, this time with 155 horsepower and a touch more peak torque at 77 lb.-ft.Not that long ago, a motorcycle displacing almost one litre and producing almost 160 horsepower would have been considered an open-class superbike. Ducati, however, calls the Panigale V2 a super-mid, or super middleweight, since todays open-class supersport machines produce 200 horsepower. Indeed, Ducatis own V4, for example, gulps down 1,100 cc of air with each two crankshaft revolutions and spits out 220 hp. The last iteration of the V-twin it replaces specifically, that Panigale R Final Edition I mentioned displaced 1,285 cc and boasted virtually the same output. A V-twin with 160 ponies is just mid.Despite sharing engine and chassis components with the 959, the Panigale V2 gets completely new bodywork that closer resembles its V4 brethren. It may lack the bigger bikes downforce-producing winglets and has smoother fairing sides, but it does boast the gaping front air inlets, which reduce intake pressure losses. The seat is 20 millimetres longer for easier manoeuvring on a track, and it gets a single-sided swingarm usually reserved for Ducatis premium supersport machines. The suspension has revised damping, said to improved comfort on the road, and claimed wet weight is 200 kilograms.Aside from the appearance, the biggest change is the additional electronic intervention. The Panigale V2 now benefits from lean-sensing ABS and traction control, wheelie control, anti-lift ABS, adjustable engine braking, and a quick shifter that permits clutch-less gear changes. All of these parameters except the quick shifter are individually adjustable, even within the three ride modes (Race, Sport and Street). While traction control can be turned off, European law now forbids manufacturers from completely turning off the ABS unless the bike is designed for off-road use. The ABS nonetheless has three setups; the least intrusive of which turns it off at the rear so you can slide into turns, MotoGP-style.Managing the electronics is done through a 4.3-inch TFT screen by using the turn signal switch to select the various menus, and a separate rocker switch to scroll up and down. Ducati got some help with the interface from Audi; changing settings is intuitive, taking me a couple of minutes to learn the system without guidance. Now, I dont care if you ambitiously claim MotoGP-level riding skills, but managing a 200-plus horsepower bike puts a heavy toll on your synapses and requires Olympian strength and endurance to ride at anywhere near its limit on a racetrack. Sure, riding a bike that squashes your eyeballs into your skull on acceleration is an exhilarating experience, but it also demands brain-sapping levels of concentration to ride. Unless your paycheque is signed by a MotoGP race team, just two sessions of manhandling such a boisterous beast at your local racetrack will leave we mere mortals feeling like a clammy wet rag.This is where the Panigale V2 becomes exceptionally relevant. Ducati claims the bike is designed to be more accessible and easier to ride on the road (and track) than a full-bore supersport machine. After having ridden five sessions at the physically demanding Jerez circuit in Spain and requiring no supplemental oxygen or jolt from defibrillator I can attest the Panigale V2 is indeed easier to ride than a big bike, a motorcycle on which you can twist the throttle to its stop at corner exit and not scare yourself into submission with every lap. The engine pulls hard, but a completely linear power delivery makes it relatively easy to manage without threatening to loft the front wheel over your head. And its not just the sub-160 horsepower that makes riding it easy; the advanced electronics work seamlessly in the background making sure you dont hit the ground. My only gripe with the bike is with the brakes they maintained good feedback, but exhibited some fade nearing the end of the sessions, the lever coming ever closer to the
Origin: First Ride: 2020 Ducati Panigale V2

2019 Ducati Multistrada 1260 EnduroDavid Booth / Driving BORMIO, Italy — Italians, especially those living in and around Borgo Panigale, must love big numbers. Like, really big numbers — 1260, for instance, is a preposterous number of cubic centimetres for any motorcycle that dares put Enduro in its name. Ditto for 158 horsepower, and for pistons spanning 106 millimetres across. It’s incredibly over-the-top stuff, the kind of high-performance motor that, not so long ago, that would have done any superbike proud, never mind something wearing saddlebags and kinda, sorta off-road tires. Far more impressive is how Ducati’s — they of Borgo Panigale, where I picked up this monster — Multistrada behaves when you’re not taxing those big numbers. In fact, for the first three days in normally sunny Italy, it did nothing but rain, the Modenese spring doing a fair rendition of our own (albeit with prettier countryside to gaze upon as the heavens poured down upon our slickers). In other words, for safety sake — and the fact that I had she-who-reacts-poorly-to-crossed-up-corner-entries along for the ride — I did nothing but poodle around like I was riding a Gold Wing on a poker run. So, for instance, while the big twin’s frame-twisting 94 pound-feet of torque may build up quite the head of steam at 7,500 rpm, let me nonetheless remind you that big Testastretta grunts like a good’un at a traction-maximizing 3,500. Those huge 106-millimetres may indeed harness the forces of a 158 seriously stout Shetlands, but loping along at an easy five grand in top gear, they are as civilized as a straight-six with perfect primary balance. And trundling along like the proverbial tortoise means that we stretch the Enduro’s huge 30-litre tanks — another huge number — all the way from Modena to Bormio, a ride of some 340 kilometres. And yet Multistrada’s TFT screen had the audacity to claim we had another 160 kilometres in reserve. What I am trying to say is that, yes, this latest, larger-displacement Multistrada is fast. My God, it’s a Ducati with desmodromic valves and pistons the size of manhole covers. Of course it’s bloody fast. In fact, as fast two-up and loaded with luggage as my Suzuki V-Strom 1000 XT when I am riding alone. What’s less expected, perhaps — certainly if you were around to sample the, uhm, delicacies of Ducati superbikes of yore — is that the big Duke is a good motorcycle even when it’s not going fast. For one thing, it’s comfortable. More comfortable, in fact, than Ducati’s other Multistrada bikes thanks to a revised seating position that sees your butt about 10-millimetres closer to the ground than the previous 1200-cc version of the Enduro. The handlebar is an even more substantial 30 millimetres lower as well. This last surprised me because I found the lower bars easier on my wonky back. Maybe it‘s because the revised seat also places you closer to said handlebar. Or maybe the cut of the Enduro just fit my gib. Whatever the case, I found the Enduro easier on my posterior than either the 1260 S or the 950 Multistradas I rode recently. Even the adjustable windscreen is quite effective on the long haul, its lowest position sportbike breezy while its highest more than protective enough to ward off rain showers. Ditto for the ride. Ducati’s “Skyhook” suspension offer full adjustability at the flick of a button — OK, the touch of a screen — the electronically adjustable dampers variable between Enduro — compression damping lightened to maximize wheel travel over big bumps — to Sport (compression and rebound damping both tailored for optimized wheel control). It works well, herself giving the big Duke a full princess-and-the-pea two thumbs up. I do have one request though, Ducati: Could I please get just a little more rear preload adjustment in the rear? Even your “two helmets and full suitcases” setting isn’t quite enough for the burden of carrying a month’s worth of ablution products and hair creams. The reason we could carry enough for a full month’s sojourn were the positively cavernous aluminum cargo cases optional on the Enduro. Built by Touratech, they are sturdy, keyed to the ignition lock and can hold a grand total of 83 litres of Lierac Crème Voluptueuse. Rid of expensive face creams, they’ll swallow a full-sized helmet easily. The rear topcase Ducati offers, also made by Touratech, is small by comparison, holding just 38 litres. Nonetheless, the total — 121 litres between the three of them — is impressive and you can stack extra luggage — much needed, if you’ve been following the thread — thanks to the built-in bungee hooks built into the lid of each case. And while I am on about the practicalities one might not expect from the bike, it’s worth noting Ducati has extended the valve inspection interval to a whopping 30,000 kilometres, one of the longest in the industry. Indeed, if recent rider reports are any indication, Ducatis are now more durable than the average motorcycle, an
Origin: Motorcycle Review: 2019 Ducati Multistrada 1260 Enduro