DUCATI LEAD DEVELOPMENT RIDER ALESSANDRO VALIA
P76
Interview
Then we look at the ergonom-
ics of the bike and also on the
geometry. This is the first phase,
where we make something like
a patchwork on the vehicle and
put different components com-
ing from different projects, for
example, the seat of the Monster
and the handlebar of the Multi-
strada or something else.
Then we start working on the
position of the handlebar and the
seat and the footrests, the rider
triangle. Then we fix the position
of the engine in the chassis. For
example, in the Panigale before
but also in the Streetfighter, we
rotated back the motor 42 de-
grees in order to have more room
for the front of the motor to come
closer with the front wheel. Then
we fix all the geometry, so the
wheelbase, the chain, the offset
of the bike, and we give the char-
acter to the handling of the bike.
How many different itera-
tions would you go through,
do you think, trying to find that
ideal riding position? You must
develop the bike for a huge
array of riders, guys that are
super tall, very short, heavy,
light. How do you come up
with what you guys think is the
right position and the suspen-
sion setup?
I start working on the bike try-
ing to understand the positioning
of the bike in the market and the
mission of the bike. Then when
I find something that I like, we
have a panel of test riders that
