And they may well do. Not sure how much based it will be on the pani though. The motor is the hard bit. The new 821 can't act/ do the same chassis job that the 1199 lump does. I have had this explained to me, but don't remember enough or have the in depth technical knowledge to put it into words. If it is happening they are keeping it very quiet, and as for having it at the 10k mark, forget it. 13k at least would be more realistic.
I'm sure that the 848 has a life span and there will be a replacement model in development. All I said was that large corporations (and some not so large) follow a route to get products to market. And I would hardly think that giving gossip to a dealer is the way that Ducati (and let's not forget about their owners, Audi) would do things.
If they leave it too long to announce the replacement I can only see MV F3 sales increasing. I have to say I am very tempted.
Ducati (factory) do it all the time. The dealers know about this stuff before anyone else as they are usually involved in early stages, focus groups, etc, mainly because the dealers are bound by enforceable confidentiality clauses.
Not likely, from what I understand. The Panigale is built on the SuperQuadro engine. To switch it out for a non-SQ engine would be like putting a 2v engine in a 1098 frame and selling it as an 848 ... the ethos of it is all wrong. More explanation here: http://ducatiforum.co.uk/f2/mini-panigalle-8541/index2.html#post123311
It will have been planned years ago, when they were beginning the Panigale development. They don't just do things by chance, on the spur of the moment....Oh, lets see what motor will suit this little Panigale? Not likely. The whole range would have been considered right at the beginning of the process. And the order in which they release those models conforms to a tight strategy to maximise sales. So don't worry, it's not something that's suddenly 'popped' into the heads of Ducati management. It'll have been on the cards since they released the 1098. That's when they start planning for the next model. And, yes, the Panigale replacement will already be a year into the design and development cycle.
I dont see why they wouldnt have a "mini" panigale..although it probably wont be called a panigale anyway. With that new hyperstrada engine, Ducati could use the current 848 running gear & frame with the panigale bodywork encorporating a slighly different config of the new hyperstrada engine...simples :biggrin: I'd say an 848 refinement bike rather than replacement is on the way.
Of course we will. I don't doubt that there is something currently in planning. I'd be amazed if there wasn't, particularly with Audi at the helm now. However I would find it hard to believe that they would give exact details of what was going to happen, and when, unless NDA's were in place as Antonye said.
It's like waiting for the powers that be to tell us there's life on Mars We already know but need the official announcement just incase we're wrong :-/
You'd be surprised how much the dealers know! They go off on preview days to the factory to see bikes before the public/press do as they need to know things about the bike from Day 1 to be able to sell them - nothing worse for customer relations than phoning up a dealer to ask about the new bike that's just been launched and streamed live on the internet but the dealer hasn't got a clue! The bikes get to a stage where they are an "open secret" at the factory as they will be tested on the road (albeit mostly camoflauged) and they even do production runs in the factory to refine the build process - we once did a trip to the factory and were not allowed to take the usual route through as they were building the Diavel at the time, even though it had not officially been announced! Didn't stop us getting a sneak peek though! However, I think a lot of people are missing the point about a smaller Panigale - the Panigale IS the Superquadro engine so it WILL NOT have anything but a similar over-square bore/stroke in it which discounts any other engine that Ducati produces at this point in time. There are limits to what this would be, and as I've said before you only have to look at the (very limited) range of dimensions that Ducati would be able to use to keep the over-square characteristics of the engine but fall within a suitable CC range. You also have to make the CC gap between it and 1199 to justify the difference. Remember that the Panigale also uses the engine as a stressed member, and there is no frame, so it wouldn't be a case of "bolting in an 848/821 motor" as that just won't work either, nor would the horizontally mounted shock! But then I could be wrong...
Hmmmn, good words Antonye. So maybe a shortened stroke (even higher revs) and reduced bore superquadro motor. Maybe us tinkerer's will b have crank and piston swap heaven again on the new generation of Ducati superbikes.
