Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

Ducati

Browsing
MotoGP

Analyzing the Ducati Aero Appeal: The Process, The Future, & Where the MSMA Goes from Here

By No Comments

Today, at 11am CET, the MotoGP Court of Appeal meets to consider the case of Ducati’s swing arm spoiler, fitted to all three Desmosedici GP19s raced at the opening MotoGP round in Qatar.

Three trained lawyers are to hear the case put by Aprilia, Honda, KTM, and Suzuki, that Ducati’s spoiler breaches the technical guidelines set out by MotoGP Technical Director Danny Aldridge.

The Court of Appeal is hearing the case after it was rejected twice on the Sunday evening of the Qatar race.

The FIM Stewards first rejected the protest submitted by the four manufacturers against Ducati, and the FIM Appeal Stewards upheld that decision when those four manufacturers appealed the FIM Stewards’ rejection.

The FIM Appeal Stewards then referred that decision to the highest court inside the FIM, the FIM MotoGP Court of Appeal.

At the heart of the appeal is the belief that Ducati’s spoiler creates an aerodynamic downforce. This is a violation of the technical guidelines issued by Danny Aldridge during preseason testing, which banned aerodynamic parts being attached to the rear swing arm unless they were being used to deflect water, protect the tire from debris, or cool the rear tire.

Keep Reading
By
Rumors

Ducati CEO Winks at Streetfighter V4 Coming Soon

By No Comments

Our confidence level was already quite high that we would be seeing a streetfighter version of the Panigale V4 later this year at the EICMA show in Milan.

Our Bothan spies have been telling us that a new Streetfighter was in the works for some time now, and then there is this very suspicious race entry by Ducati for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. But above all else, a Ducati Streetfighter V4 just makes sense on so many levels.

Now, we see that the Swiss lads at AcidMoto have had a chance to talk to Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali about the debut of a such a machine, and the Italian is a bit coy in his response. 

Naturally, Domenicali doesn’t come right out and say that a Streetfighter V4 is coming…but he doesn’t reject the thought like he has with other V4 projects (sorry, no V4 supersport machines are in the works).

Here’s an excerpt from AcidMoto’s interview with the Ducati CEO, gorilla translated from French to English by Google:

AcidMoto.ch: Okay. Let’s talk about the V4. The Panigale V4R wins all the votes, although we have not yet had the honor to test it. Can we hope that this engine is found on other motorcycles, a Streetfighter V4 for example?

Claudio Domenicali: Do you think that Ducati should produce such a motorcycle?

AcidMoto.ch: Yes, there is a big demand, it’s a question that often comes back to our readers.

Claudio Domenicali: Then she will be there as soon as possible!

Source: AcidMoto

Keep Reading
By
A&R Pro

Rev Limits & 16,350 Reasons Why the Ducati Can Sing in WorldSBK

By No Comments

“There’s no replacement for displacement” in racing but what about power? In particular what about peak power and where a bike reaches it?

For WorldSBK purposes, the peak power of an engine is defined as the rev limit on the production machine, plus 3%.

Calculating this takes a little bit more math, as it requires you to average the rev limit from both the third and fourth gears, and then once this has been established, the FIM typically add an extra 3% to that RPM figure.

The rev limits are defined at the start of the championship season, but they aren’t set in stone for the duration of the championship. They can be changed at the discretion of organisers as the year progresses.

Having been introduced to much fanfare 12 months ago, the new limits are of interest again in 2019 because we have new bikes on the grid. The most newsworthy new machine is the headline grabbing Ducati Panigale V4 R, but it should be noted that  Kawasaki, BMW and Honda also have newly homologated bikes, and thus also new rev limits.

Keep Reading
By
WSBK

Up-Close with Eugene Laverty’s Ducati Panigale V4 RS19

By No Comments

During the offseason for the WorldSBK series, I sent our man Steve English on a photo-finding mission. He came back victorious from his endeavor, bringing us our first look at the WorldSBK-spec BMW S1000RR superbike that Tom Sykes will campaign this season.

Today, we have another treasure trove of photos from that outing, as we bring you an “up-close” gallery of Eugene Laverty’s Ducati Panigale V4 RS19 race bike, which was back-to-back testing components at Portimão, ahead of this weekend’s season-opener.

A motorcycle that we have covered extensively here at Asphalt & Rubber, you might be wondering why another Panigale V4 is gracing our pages. For that, let me explain.

Keep Reading
By
Podcast

Brap Talk Podcast #8 – The One and Only

By No Comments

Episode 8 of the Brap Talk podcast is out for your two-wheeled audio pleasure, and because of our hiatus, it is a super-long show.

This two-hour long installment covers three main topics. After getting up to speed on what we have been up to, we talk about the Ducati Hypermotard 950 international press launch, and what this giant supermotard is like on the street and the track.

From the African continent we move back to our hometown of Portland, Oregon, where The One Motorcycle Show took place, and once again solidified itself as one of the most important custom shows in the United States.

Keep Reading
By
WSBK

Come See the Ducati Panigale V4 R All Dressed Up for WorldSBK

By No Comments

“We’ll be working with only one aim in mind: to win.” Those are the words of Gigi Dall’Igna while talking about Ducati Corse’s WorldSBK program, which made its public debut today.

Officially the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike team, the rider duo of Chaz Davies and Alvaro Bautista have a lot of weight on their shoulders. After all, the Italian marque made an historic switch from a v-twin to a V4 all in the name of winning the World Superbike Championship title.

Usually though, the expectations for a team with a brand new bike are reserved, as it can take a season to extract the full potential of the machine on the race track, but with Ducati, it seems that the grading curve is a bit steeper.

Keep Reading
By
Lifestyle

66 Photos of Ruben Xaus Backing It in on a Ducati Hypermotard 950

By No Comments

It was 12 years ago that Ruben Xaus became internet-famous for a photo that depicted him sliding a Ducati Hypermotard 1100 into a turn, thumb up in the air triumphantly…like a boss. It was an unbelievable sight, both figuratively and literally.

Back in the day, I would often see comments on the photo that speculated what the next shot looked like. Bike tumbling through the gravel, a yard sale of parts? The rider in a stretcher on the way to the hospital, after it all went horribly wrong?

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Up-Close with the Ducati Hypermotard 950 SP

By No Comments

The Ducati Hypermotard 950 is the third generation of this street-sized supermoto, and in its design, Ducati borrowed heavily from the previous iterations.

As you can see, the mechanics of the 950 machine don’t wander far from the 939 that came before it, and the styling is a modern homage to the lines found on the original 1100 model.

As such, consider the 950 like a greatest hits album from the Hypermotard lineup.

Keep Reading
By
Reviews

What It’s Like to Ride the Ducati Hypermotard 950, A Review

By 2 Comments

Since 2008, there has been a unique motorcycle nestled into Ducati’s lineup, and it is called the Hypermotard.

Too big and heavy to be considered a proper supermoto, too tall to be considered a true sport bike, and too on-road focused to be considered a capable adventure-tourer, the Ducati Hypermotard has resided in its own category, with few direct competitors.

Instead, the Hypermotard gets compared to a large range of motorcycle models, likely because the Italians have positioned this maxi-moto to have attributes from a large cross-section of two-wheeled fun….and having fun is what the Hypermotard is all about.

The Hypermotard is a two-wheeled hooligan machine that was born to wheelie, jump, and slide, and throughout the model’s history, one maxim has remained true: if you are not having fun a Hypermotard, then you are probably doing it wrong.

And now, 2019 sees Ducati bringing a new iteration to the lineup, the Hypermotard 950. A clean-slate machine, virtually every part of the new Hypermotard has been changed from the pervious 939 model, making this the third generation of the Hypermotard line.

That being said though, the ethos of the Hypermotard 950 is an evolution, not a revolution over the outgoing Hypermotard 939. This is because Borgo Panigale has listened to its customer base while designing the Ducati Hypermotard 950, but also wisely kept the bike close to its roots.

The design is a modern riff on the original Terblanche design for the Hypermotard 1100; the package shares many attributes first seen on the 821/939 generation; and the overall fit and feel has been brought inline with the rest of the Ducati lineup.

All-in-all, when it comes to big liquid-cooled supermotos for the road, the Ducati Hypermotard 950 is at the top of the heap. In fact, it might just be the most fun you can have on the street with two wheels. Let me explain.

Keep Reading
By
Bikes

Come Drool Over the PANTAH by XTR Pepo

By No Comments

I don’t rate the Ducati Monster 821 as a particularly strong motorcycle for the track, but after seeing the latest creation from XTR Pepo, I might rethink that opinion.

The Spanish builder calls this creation “PANTAH” which is an homage to the Ducati Pantah whose form it attempts to replicate.
a
Of course though, the styling has that obvious look that Pepo has honed over the years, especially with his Ducati builds, and the effect looks like something that would be perfectly comfortable at a weekday bike night, as it would a weekend track day.

Keep Reading
By