Ducati News Today

Ducati is set to radically overhaul their flagship Superbike for 2012. The new model will likely feature a monocoque chassis with a shorter wheelbase and a longer swing arm. An all new, but still V-twin engine with a much shorter stroke will rev higher for more power and have its cams turned by gears rather than belts.

This year has seen a dramatic change in World Superbike racing. Last year, Xerox Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga battled Ben Spies for the title taking 8 victories and 19 podiums. This year, not so much. After 20 races, Nitro Nori has won only once and stood on the podium on just 2 other occasions. Although it seems Haga’s heart isn’t in it, team mate Michel Fabrizio is hardly burning tarmac either. He has just 1 victory and 5 podiums (compare 3 and 15 last season). Whatever way you look at it, even the spirited efforts of privateer Althea Ducati’s Carlos Checa are not firing Ducati up at the front often enough this season despite two weight reductions for the Bologna twins.

Although a change in the diameter of the 50mm intake restrictor, if granted, will likely restore the horsepower balance, the writing is on the wall for the powerplant that can trace its crankcases back to the 1979 Pantah 500 and basic 4-valve architecture to 1988′s Ducati 851, despite the testastretta and testastretta evoluzione overhauls. And it is not only the engine that is beginning to look a little tired. The L-twin layout and the trellis chassis have their challenges too.

The traditional Ducati approach leads to a longer wheelbase than the multi-cylinder competition and a limit to how far forward the engine can be positioned in the frame (to avoid the front cylinder head contacting the wheel during braking). In turn for any given wheelbase, the Ducati will have a shorter swingarm length compromising traction on the one hand (shorter swingarm) and limiting agility on the other (longer overall wheelbase).

Which direction the company might take has been hinted at for some time. The solution would appear to be a radical make over as result of MotoGP competition and testing along with a design study in 2001 when Ducati seriously contemplated racing a twin in MotoGP (the concept was abandoned as it would not produce enough horsepower). The new solution is a monocoque chassis not dissimilar to that of the existing Ducati GP10 MotoGP machine but fabricated from aluminum rather than carbon fiber. The rationale is to be able to produce a Superbike racer with a shorter wheelbase and the provision for a longer swingarm length for improved handling. A shorter wheelbase allows for less lean angle for any given cornering radius, and a longer swingarm as we noted above aids in traction.

Technical expert and MotoGP commentator Neil Spalding, who has seen the MotoGP frames up close agrees there are compelling reasons to believe this may be what Ducati is planning:

“Using a cast alloy chassis like this on a road bike has a long list of advantages for Ducati. It’s a win on all levels. Not only do you get around the old Ducati bugbear of airboxes that are too small and restrict power, but the fuel tanks can then be much bigger, answering another Ducati problem….AND you can make the whole bike smaller.”

Recent patents filed by Ducati further suggest this is the way they are thinking including an application in February that describes a V-twin version of the monocoque design and references volume production.

So far we have a shorter, lighter, more compact motorcycle with a larger airbox. Into this will go the new short-stroke ‘Superquadrata’ engine. Back in March an Italian newspaper first mentioned the new development which is now thought* to be a desmo, 4-valve, V-twin of 1194cc capacity from ultra short stroke dimensions of 112 x 60.6mm. The engine will be capable of higher revs than the existing 1198 with its 67.9mm stroke and will have gear driven cams to maintain valve timing control at the elevated revs.

As to timing, such a radical change is going to take time. Our sources say the bike won’t be out till 2012 and recently the Ducati CEO, Gabriele del Torchio confirmed this.

“We knew that we were going to face a tough year in World Superbike. The new rules don’t help; someone was allowed to bend them, and our 1198 has reached its ultimate potential. In two years, we shall be ready with our new 1200cc Twin.”

link: CycleWorld

The bending the rules comment is a jab at Aprilia who has legally adopted a cam drive system of their own for the RSV4 mid-way through this season to good effect (the kit is available for purchase). New rules for 2011 will ban such cam drive train modifications.

Look for the shorter, lighter, higher revving and more powerful Ducati Superbike to debut at next year’s November 2011 EICMA show in Milan.

* Check out Motorcyclist Magazine, September 2010 page 12

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