Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

pick it up and get hard on the gas/' Corser says. "It doesn't bother me to steer it with the back end, but I prefer not to spin the tire because I'd rather save it, so that's why I like to keep up corner speed and get it turned quickly.". Hmmm - takes a bit of getting used to, but I'm starting to see the benefits of being able to use the rear brake when you're hanging off the right side of the bike, like in the first part of the Assen chicane. But rear wheel steering? Forget it! But then on to the Kocinski bike - and immediately you notice the difference in setup compared to the more balanced Corser machine, which felt very similar to the way King Carl had his 955 dialed in last season. Of course, precise measurements are hard to come by, but you can tell right away that Kocinski uses a much higher rear ride height and a steeper head angle - presumably the minimum 23.5-degree setting permitted by the 916 road bike chassis. But new thi year on the Ducati Superbikes is an adjustable triple damp that allows you to alter the fork offset in half-point increments between 25mm and 31mm, making the chassis truly multi-adjustable and offering an instant choice of trail without swapping triple clamps. Looking at the settings on the two bikes in pit lane the day before the test confirmed the feeling I later had when riding them: John uses more offset for reduced trail compared to Troy about 27.5mm which would equate to around 92mm of trail, emphasized by the much increased ride height he uses at the rear. Combined with a lower front end and a stiffer front suspension package that the American rider has developed together with his Kiwi suspension technician Mike Watt, the result is a twincylinder 1000cc Superbike that stops and turns like a 500cc GP bike - but only at the cost of some nervousness that takes a bit of getting used to. The ride he.ight settings help compact the mass and reduce the polar moment, making this Ducati turn quicker than any V-twin desmo I've ever ridden before. But it's not nearly as stable under braking as Troy's bike, and flirting with ultimate stopping distances sent me up the slip road at the National Curve when the back wheel started waving in the air at the point I wanted to lay the bike into the turn. You also need to be prepared to have the bars wiggling nervously in your hands (okay - they were nervous too, I admit it!) in a straight line, especially exiting the flat-out S-bend behind the pits, when some laps the front wheel was flapping so badly I chickened out and braked early for the right-hander at the end of the straight, just in case the brake pads had knocked back and I liking if you stick at it. And it's ltalian, too. As the 1996 World Superbike Championship came down to the wire, the two 996 V-twins I rode at Assen had their wo.d< cut out for them as far as retaining Ducati's four-stroke racing supremacy in the face of Honda's stiff challenge. Yet once again Ducati's engineers have achieved the nearly impossible, radically revamping their dynamic desmo to withstand the threat from Japan one more time. As the record shows, all of Ducati's hard work paid off - Troy Corser retained the Italian factory's Superbike crown. Any bets on next year? CN (Above lelt) A largevolume carbon-fiber alrbox adds chassis stiffness. (Above) Kocinski hung around for the test alter the Assen round. (Left) The use of the 996cc motor necessitated the use of a special radiator and larger air-Intake ductlng. The jumbo motor revs to 12,700 thanks to the desmo valve gear. needed 1wo bites at the lever. No, not once· but better safe than sorry.... Yet paradoxically, the Kocinski 996 was much more stable under hard acceleration out of th.e chicane, past the pits, than the Corser bike - presumably because of a combination of the taller rear ride height and a stiffer rear shock setting coping better with my extra weight - and I'm a massive 26 pounds heavier than Li'l John! But those extra pounds didn't stop John's 996 from wanting to spin the rear wheel when you get it upright and hard on the gas out of a slow turn, because of the front end weight bias his. setup delivers - and because that's the way he likes it. Must make Michelin tire choice crucial, though - and the suspension settings to make the tire last through a race when used in this way. But you can feel the front tire better on the Kocinski bike than its Promotor counterpart, thanks to the stiffer suspension settings which don't, however, sacrifice response, and this gives you more confidence to keep up corner speed. The bike turns brilliantly. lt seems to find its own way through Assen's sweeping turns. Riding a radical desmo like this is a bit like drinking' Campari and soda: it's an acquired taste you may end up Ducati 996 Superbike Specification Engine .... Liquid-cooled DOHC 90·degree V·twin four·stroke with four valves per cylinder and toothed·belt desmodromic camshaft drive x stroke _ 98 x 66mm Displacement ...................•..................... _ 996cc Output .. '.' : 161 bhp at 11.300 rpm Cat gearbox) Camp ratio 12.0: 1 Fuellignition system Weber/Marelli electronic fuel·injection and engine-management 80 system wi two injectors and separate EPROM per cylinder and (2) 54mm throttle bodies Transmission .6-speed Clutch Chassis .........•..........•.... Suspension Multiplate dry slipper C1 0 steel/9 slntered bronze) . Chrome-moly tubular steel spaceframe .46mm Ohlins inverted telescopic forks Cast magnesium swingarm pivoting in both crankcases and spaceframe. with rising-rate linkage and single Ohlins shock H_d angle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Variable between 23.5 and 24.5 degrees Wh_lba ,, , 56.2 inches Weight , ..........•..... 352 pounds without fuel tank. with oil/water Weight distribution. front/rear 51.5/48.5% (static. as designed) Front Rear Brak_ Front. . . . .. . R_r Wh /ti... Front Rear Top....... . Y_rof~ 0.- \0 0\ 0\ ,-l (f) ,.-l ~ Dual 320mm Brembo cast-iron discs with four-piston Brembo calipers Single 200mm Brembo steel disc with two-piston Brembo caliper Michelin fadial on 3.50·inch Marchesini wheel Michelin radial on 6.25-inch Marchesini wheel 188 mph (Hockenheiml ........•............................................ 1996 Ducati Motorcycles SpA. Bologna. Italy 12/61·17 18/67-17 Il) "S Il) :> o Z 15

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