2020 DUCATI PANIGALE V2
R I D E R E V I E W
P88
On road, the performance is absolutely
as much as anyone needs for a society ob-
sessed with speed limits and their enforce-
ment. While the power won't rip your arms
clean out of their sockets, the V2 delivers
a sterling experience that brings back
memories of a great Ducati V-twin past.
If you've ridden any of the past decade's
worth of V-twin Ducatis, you'll remember
the often-torrid throttle response that
plagued the models. Not so with the V2.
It's a more sedate version of the now gone
1299, but far friendlier in application, and
if you gave me the choice of either for a
day's ride, I'm taking the V2.
One thing that's inescapable is the
heat. The rear cylinder cooks the rider in
traffic on any day above 80 degrees, but
once you're riding at speed with the wind
circulating, it's not too bad.
Chassis-wise, there are changes, but
they are not a "reinvent the wheel" deal.
I'm probably in the minority in that I quite
liked the double-sided swingarm of the
959, but a double is very un-Ducati when
it comes to its sportbikes, so it was turfed
for a single-sided unit to match its bigger
brothers.
You get slight tweaks to the front suspen-
sion damping, and the rear preload has
been increased, and with a new linkage
and a 0.3-inch taller seat at 33 inches, the
weight bias has been moved one percent
forward to 52 percent—which is something
I couldn't notice on the road if I'm honest.
The V2's chassis
talks to you when you
throw it on its side.
The nervousness and
edginess of the V4
are all but gone.
