Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1164303
25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DUCATI 916 P88 Feature Creating the legend Massimo Tamburini is a name well known to anyone with even a shred of motorcycle design history knowledge. Dubbed "the Michelangelo of Motorcycles," Tamburini was a founding member of Bimota with Valerio Bianchi (Bi) and Giuseppe Morri (Mo), with Tamburini (Ta) finishing the acronym. The Italian was the designer of not just the 851 and 888 but also the Ducati Paso, the stunning MV Agusta F4, Cagiva Mito and Cagiva C588 and C589 500cc Grand Prix machines ridden by Randy Mamola, and was con- tracted to Cagiva at the time of their Ducati takeover in 1985. Ducati gave some very lucky teams access to factory-built 916 racers. If you can find one now, they're rarer than rocking horse poo! That year, Tamburini was the lead designer of the Cagiva-owned Roberto Gallina Suzuki TGA1 500cc Grand Prix effort, which used an avant- garde, adjustable aluminum chassis design that was scrapped ahead of the 1986 season. Even though the 851 had only reached produc- tion the year prior, in 1988, Tamburini was pre- sented the brief by Castiglioni to create what would become the 916, incorporating Bordi's new four- valve motor. It was to be a ground-up design, with the iconic styling integrated from the outset. "I feel I am a motorcycle projector, not a de- signer, but with the 916, I ended up designing the bike as no one did it right!" the late Tamburini told Urry. "I decided not to follow the same route as the Japanese at the time. They had big motors and big bikes; I wanted a classical Italian bike—little, compact, easy to ride fast, and sexy. The 916 has the form of a lady when viewed from above—this is no coincidence— when you are sitting on a bike the best way to sit on it is like being on a woman." The motorcycle with the form of a woman would retain links to Ducati's superbike past with the use of tubular steel for the frame, a material Tamburini was familiar with thanks to his chassis crafting days at Bimota. There had been the talk of using a twin-spar or even an aluminum frame, similar to what was used on the TGA1 Suzuki; however, consultation with engine designer Bordi, who want- ed the tubular design to remain a Ducati trademark, saw Tamburini stick with tradition. Indeed, tubular steel has proved the basis for every Ducati superbike chassis up to the Pani- gale of 2012, which debuted the first Ducati monocoque design for production motorcycles. On top of its links to the past, the 916's tubular steel chassis would be future-proofed from in- ception. Ducati wanted to ensure their new superbike was com- petitive well past the turn of the century and planned to gradually increase the motor's capacity in much the same way they did with the 851/888 platform, so Tambu- rini designed a chassis that could easily fit a 1000cc engine, which the Ducati would reach at 996cc in its final year of 2002.