The D16RR is an iconic bike in its own right. It's a shame they didn't try to produce a V4 in similar clothing as opposed to wrapping the DesmoStradale engine in Panigale-esque styling, but the technology has moved on since the Desmosedici first hit the showroom floor, so progress has to some extent, dictated the direction the factory has gone in as well as the sales figures the xx99 series of bikes realised for them.
Great video and thanks for posting! What Alastair was saying about big twins is spot on and has been echoed for some time now by the greatest V-twin racers including Neil Hodgson - mainly that they have so much torque that it actually slows you down as you are constantly trying to manage the tyre-breaking wave of grunt. That's one of the principle reasons they Panigale was designed the way it was with less low down torque and more top end HP. It's also what many of us miss when comparing to the earlier 1x98 twins. It's also what many will dislike about the new V4. Can't have our cake and eat it I'm afraid
That FE made my eyes hurt. As the final farewell it's amazing it got signed off, looks like something out of Max Power circa 1995.
I bet you'd forget about all that pretty quickly the first time you let it rip, agreed though it is a bit lary!
D16 will always be top dog in Ducati's history. iirc there's never been anything like that kind of release from any manufacturer. Regardless of what gets released by any manufacturer in the future - Ducati did it first with the D16.
Did you see the engine build dyno on rapido facebook yesterday? Rarely load up charts, but serious engine work (pistons and rev limit remain as is) and about £8k gets you 208rwhp and 110 (iirc) torque. Compare to standard 1299 being c180-185 rear wheel. Bet its impossible to ride LOL
Sounds about right mate, I bet you have to rebuild the sucker every weekend too, V4 is gonna stomp it out of the box, with a warranty
Nice little video that, enjoyed watching it as I do most of the 44t stuff. The Desmo is and always will be the Daddy for me...
