We have already told you as much as this headline conveys, so apologies to our more loyal readers if this story seems redundant, but we wanted to definitively tell you that the Ducati Streetfighter V4 will debut later this month, at Pikes Peak.
The news comes fresh after a teaser that Ducati posted, which says to us that “the gloves come off at Pikes Peak” and then gives the date June 13th, which is the day of the motorcycle tire test for the historic hill climb.
“The gloves” is surely a nod to the “Streetfighter” name, though we have seen more than a few hints from Ducati and its CEO that we should expect such a model before the year’s end.
Beyond those winks, our Bothan spies tell us that the bike will share the 1,103cc displacement of the Panigale V4 S, and is expected to be a stripped down version of the superbike – as you would expect with a proper streetfighter model.
Ducati’s teaser video doesn’t show much, except perhaps a unique paint job, but spy photos from a few weeks ago show that the basic visage of the V4’s LED headlight remains, while the lines of the motorcycle look close to what we saw with the original Ducati Streetfighter 1098.
We would expect at least two trim levels of the 2020 Ducati Streetfighter V4 to debut, a base model and an “S” model, and there could be a third variant as well, a special edition “Pikes Peak” model.
The Bologna brand has traditionally made a sportier “Pikes Peak” version of its Multistrada model, in order to signal its racing prowess at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and we would be surprised to see them stop that trend with the new Streetfighter V4.
This news marks a new trend for Ducati as well, one where we see highly anticipated new models teased during the summer months, ahead of their proper unveiling in Italy in November.
Ducati has done this a few times now, with special previews at the World Ducati Week events (Scrambler Icon, Ducati SuperSport, and Ducati Diavel 1260), and now we can add Pikes Peak to the list of unveiling venues.
As such, we expect the full release to be later this year, with the Ducati Streetfighter V4 being a true 2020 model year machine. What will be interesting to see is how Ducati prices this prizefighter of a machine.
For reference, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R starts at $18,200, while the Aprilia Tuono V4 1100 RR gets things going for $15,500 (the Tuono V4 1100 Factory goes for $19,000). This makes the big-bore streetfighter segment an expensive one.
With the Panigale V4 superbike starting at $21,500, we just hope that the Streetfighter V4 stays below the $20k mark, but that might be asking a lot. We fully expected an “S” or “Pikes Peak” model to crest over $20,000 and perhaps be closer to $25,000. Yikes!
Lastly, it is perhaps worth mentioning that this news should definitively stop any misguided thoughts that Ducati will campaign a Multistrada V4 at Pikes Peak, or that we will see such a machine at the EICMA show in Milan, later this year. We’re not sure where that rumor got started, but it’s clearly not the case.
Source: Bothan spies
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