Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

D 91 6 ucati D.,s Theall-new Ducatl916 features a 916cc,90degree V-twin powerplant in a steel trellis frame. By Grant Leonard Photos by Gold & Goose hree guys named Massimo: Bordi, Tamburin i a n d Parenti are th e m en who ha ve crea ted what is, perhaps, the sexies t supersports motorcycle in histo ry, the Ducati 916. "With the 916 we're mixing the best technology with tradi tion," says Massimo Bordi , who heads Cagiva's Motorcycle Division. No d oubt he is referring to the good old tubular steel space frame with a modem and fashionable alloy single-side swingann, and th e good old 9O-degree desmo V-twin engine with an electronic fuel injection system. There's no way an Italian designer, whether his business is motorcy cles or handbags, would create a purely functional product. Style, image and fashion all playa part. The 916 is no exception, but never has form and function seemed so compatible. The two ha ve to go together, if you consider Cagiva /Ducati's terms of reference for the bike . It has to win the World Superbike Cham pi onship in 1994 and beat the new Honda RC45 and las t year's champion, the Kawasaki ZXR7SO. So it has to be a racer. On the other hand, Ducati is in business to sell road bikes to the public. World Superbike is a means . of marketing the bikes. The two objectives - selling road bikes and w inning races - are ine xtricably entwined. To these ends, th e 916 is bu ilt with great . thought arid attention to details, both practical and aes thetic. Th e 916 ha s been given a chassi s which is more than twice as rigid as that of the 888. It's been achieved, partly, by adding a third engine mounting Point, at T the bottom of the transmission, on the same axis as the swinga nn pivo t, which further stresses the en gine as a cha ssis member. The aluminium single-side swingann (used with ELF's permission) is more rigid than the fork of the 888, but the d esigners admit it's heavier too. As part of a road bike, it's a fas hio n accessory, but in racing it has one vital application quick wheel-ehanges in endurance racing. Bordi says Ducati will be fielding a full fa ctory team in the World End u ra n ce Champ ionship in 1995, including a challenge at the most prestigious event for manufacturers, the Suzuka Eight-Hour. An Italian vi cto ry at Suzuka would be the ultimate humiliation for the Japanese manufacturers . The steering hea d of the 916 is ad jus table so that rak e and trail can be altered to increase stee ring response. The ad juster (paten t pending) uses eccentric supports which allow the steerin g ang le to be alter ed by simply loose ning two p inch bolts and relocating a pin after turning the ad juster. For roaduse, th e rake/ tra il is 24.5 d egrees/4 inches, for racing it ca n be steepened to 235 degrees/3.76 inches. It can go even more radica l, too. The rear rid e height is adjustable which has the effect of steepenin g the steering angle to 23 degrees. Chief of the Cagiva Research Center, Mas simo Tamburini wouldn't allow any such adjustment to the bikes at the track lest, so I can't report the d ifference it makes. Wh eelb ase is 20mm shorter than the 56.4-inch wheelbase of the 888. For those who wan ted a faster steerin g Ducati racer, you've got it. The balance of a sports bike is crucial and Duca ti has been striving to get this righ t, even off-setting the motor to the left in the fram e by one inch in order to compensate for the large battery mounted to the right of the motor. The bike weighs 429 poundsdry, which is a considerable 33 pounds lighter than the 888. The front/ rear weight distribution is altered too, wi th the 916 tipping the sees a w backw ards s li g h tly w ith a 214/215 po und front/rear weight sp lit, as compared to the 888's 233/229-pounds d istrib utio n. The motor is tipped forward in fra me by three degrees to load u p the front more and shorten the wh eelbase, but it st ill d oesn't manage a fron t-end bia s, th e preferab le balance for a spo rts/race bike. The reason may well be that heavy, single-side sw ingann. The fully adjustable suspension (front and rear) is made in Japan by Showa, the fork being specially designed for the 916 in conjunction with the Cagiva Research Center. Project Man ager Massimo Parenti explained an interesting point regarding the fork action. The triple clamps are mad e in pairs, perfectly matched so that the fork legs are held in exact parallel. In no rmal manufacture, thi s isn' t always the case. It means the fork action is better a nd more r igid . Furth er r igidity is ga ined from spacing the top and bottom clamps well apart. Every aspect of the 916 has been reviewed by th e Cagiva Research Center. This is less true for the engine, which Cagiva is reasonably happy with, as is. The 916 motor has a longer crank, allnew for the 916 though with the same throw as the crank fitt ed to th e 900cc two-valve head motors. The desmo fourvalve cylinder head is exactly the same but the bike uses flatter pistons. It's just four horsepower (claimed ) up on the 888 at 114bhp at the crank (92bhp at the back wheel on a Dynoj et Model 100 dyno), but to rque is increased thanks to th e longer stro ke crank whi ch gives the extra 28cc capacity. This, they claim, increases midrange power. Bore and stroke is now 94 x 66mm compared to the 888's 64 x 94 m m . The e ngine is narrower too , thanks to a redesigned generator cover and water pump housing. The curved radia tor is increased in surface area (by 6%) and the 916 carries an oil cooler, as fitted to the 888SP. The exhaust, of course, is all new . It's stain les s s teel an d ru ns two-one-two, exiting with great qair and style, under the seat. It's amazingly and beau tifully n o is y for a hom ol og ated sys te m (although these were prototype bikes we were riding). We had two sessions on the bike, one in the morning and one after the pa sta. We were introduced to Parenti and Tamburini, the latter spo rting a tie -which belied his obvious fine taste and design flair. The last time I was at Misano, Kevin Schwantz s top ped the race because it started raining. -No danger of that tod ay (he wasn't in vited ). I knew the track , excep t for a new part consisting of a chicane, a horseshoe and a sq ui rt right, squ irt lef t before th e s ta rt / finish . It replaced a nasty d ecreasing radius corner that threw you onto the Armco if you overdid it. Luigi, the mechanic , poked his nose ' into my helmet and told me he'd just put new tires on the bike. Thanks. My hopes for an early la p record were dashed. After a quarter of an hour of learning the track and scru bbing -in the tires, I was into the swing. The bike took no learning whatsoever. Right from the word go you know it's well bal anced . The machine goes in the direction you steer it and it tips into com ers in a controlled, unsurprising way. It_accelerates out on line without drifting, and it's that feeling of acceleration which sets the Ducati apart from any other motorcycle in the world. The power picks up at 4000 rpm. You can drop it that low even on the track. It hauls itself up to 5000, then punches you hard in the ch est as the to rq u e y m idrange kicks in. The 916 has to be short-shifted as your instincts tell you the power is trailing. That midrange lunge is the high. You wantjt to last, but over 8000 rpm it's flattening and up to nine the revs are slowing right up. It doesn't stop you from bouncing it off the 10,000 rpm wall - it's still fun to rev it all the way - but the satisfaction of the 58000 rpm squ irt is way beyond compare. Faced with an open run down the back straight you have to take it all the way, making the absolute most of the horsepower, which seems to peak out at 9000 rpm. From thi s experience, I wouldn't expect a dramatic top speed for the bike. 111 settle for I SO mph. Entering the com ers it took me most of the first session to realize I was drop-

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