For years people have been gossiping about a possible Ducati V4 motorcycle, and why shouldn’t they? It is well known that Ducati’s V4 engine is the most powerful engine in MotoGP, however, the V-twin roots of the big red factory has kept all its production motorcycles powered by two cylinders. Well, that’s about to change!
Ducati is Finally Giving Us a Production V4
A few weeks ago, we told you that the Ducati Panigale was in its final model year. At the time, Claudio Domenicali had assured the public that 2017 would be the last production year of the Panigale, but he didn’t confirm what would replace it. This allowed speculation and rumor to swell, and everyone turned back to the same old rumor—that Ducati was going to finally release a production V4. Well, the rumors were true.
During the San Marino GP weekend, Ducati revealed the engine to its latest motorcycle. The big red factory has named the engine the Desmosedici Stradale. It has 4 cylinders arranged in the classic 90˚ V arrangement. The engine’s compression ratio is a blistering 14:1, and it weighs 143 pounds. It also has an 1103cc displacement, which disqualifies the motorcycle for competition in most racing championships!
This shocking revelation was later explained by Domenicali. The new engine has a 53.5mm stroke, which adds an extra 103cc to the bike’s displacement. To compensate for this, a special R version of the new bike will be released with the standard 1000cc displacement. That homologation special and the new standard bike will be called Panigale V4.
Are you excited for Ducati’s new Panigale V4? What will the new bike be like, and will it fair well in competition? The motorcycling attorneys at Metier Law Firm want to know the answers to these questions too, so we’ll keep an eye on this new motorcycle’s development.