VOLUME 57 ISSUE 30 JULY 28, 2020 P77
Every one of the rider aids from
the V4 R—traction, wheelie, launch
and slide control, quick shift, en-
gine brake control, power launch
and ABS—has been tweaked
slightly to match the new chassis
and increased horsepower of the
Superleggera, and you also get
the same dash layout as Andrea
Dovizioso's GP20 called RaceGP
dash mode. This is full MotoGP-
style with no rev counter (just a
flashing light for when you need to
shift), a massive gear position in-
dicator, lap timer and lap number,
and display for traction control,
wheelie control, slide control and
engine braking control. It's uber-
cool, until you realize how slow
you're riding…
2020 DUCATI
SUPERLEGGERA
V4 ON TRACK
Right, now we've got the small
matter of what constitutes a Duca-
ti Superleggera V4 out of the way,
what's it like to ride?
I could end the test right here
by saying it's the most impressive,
fastest and downright sexiest
production superbike I've ever
ridden, but that would be doing
Ducati, and you, dear reader, a
severe disservice.
Before I got my 10 laps on this
most exquisite of Ducatis, I was
handed the key to a Panigale V4
R for a few warm-up laps. A Pani-
gale V4 R for warming up. Mental,
right? After getting my brain slight-
ly warped by the hugely impres-
sive V4 R, the Superleggera was
waiting for me in Laguna Seca's
pit lane.
The first thing you notice be-
fore you even get moving is the
slightly taller seat height. It's only
0.5 inches higher, but it angles
you much more towards the front
of the bike, your peripheral vision
consumed by angles of carbon-
fiber wings, only half of which are
on the V4 R.
The second thing you notice is
the Dovi dash. The massive gear
position indicator takes up your
view, and it's kind of odd not to see
any form of revs climbing up and
down the dash when you blip the
throttle in pitlane.
The third and most eye-opening
feature is next, after you snick first
gear and start riding up pit lane.
That's the lack of weight. There
may be 50-odd pounds missing
on the Superleggera to the V4 R,
but it feels almost twice that. Just
cruising pit lane and under the
Laguna Seca turn-one bridge, I do
a few zig-zags and am utterly blown
away by how light the Superleggera
feels. The feeling of lightness is
at odds with the overall size of the
bike, because the wings and extra-
wide bodywork tricks your brain
into thinking it should be much
heavier than it is.
That feeling gets cranked to 11
after the first few corners at La-
guna Seca. You can change lines
as quickly as the thought enters
your head on a Superleggera,
and it's so nimble it makes a V4 S
feel awkward and cumbersome
by comparison.
Poking through the
Laguna Seca trees on
Ducati's finest.
