Cycle News

Cycle News 2020 Issue 32 August 11

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/1277270

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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.

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