We have featured the work of Peirobon on Asphalt & Rubber before, as the boutique firm from Bologna makes some intriguing air-cooled Ducati-powered sport bikes for discerning buyers, among other things.
Pierobon is also one of the companies we are looking forward to seeing at this year’s EICMA show, as the firm has something special this year for its booth display: a trellis frame kit for the Ducati 1199 Panigale.
We all know that the chassis for the Ducati 1199 Panigale is based on Ducati Corse’s Desmosedici race bike in the MotoGP Championship. The “frameless” monocoque design bolts the headstock/airbox and rear subframe directly to the cylinder heads of the Superquadro engine, which helps allow the superbike — and now its “supermid” sibling — to drop massive amounts of weight when compared to the 1198/848 line.
However, not everyone is sold on Ducati’s new chassis design. Naysayers will rightfully question a technology that is linked to Ducati’s dismal results in MotoGP, where riders have persistently complained about a lack of front-end feel. Of course to be fair, Ducati Corse has since switch to a twin-spar aluminum frame configuration, and the team continues to struggle with its Desmosedici GP bike.
Other hardcore Ducatisti have lamented the loss of the trellis frame’s beauty, and its position as a hallmark and integral element of what makes a Ducati motorcycle. Well folks, Pierobon has an answer for you with its trellis frame kit. Debuting their work soon at EICMA, we have only a lo-res photo of the bolt-on piece, though it looks pretty intriguing.
We can’t comment on how the trellis frame changes the chassis characteristics of the Panigale, we didn’t think there was much need for improvement on the street bike though. However, visually the piece brings something to the 1199 that has been missing. Whether that is good or bad that, we will leave to you.
We’ll get some more details and photos of the trellis frame at EICMA, as A&R will make the great trek to Milan, Italian once again. It’s a tough job.
Source: Insella.it
Comments