Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ducati MH900e So why call it a Hailwocd, given that any connection with Mike the Bike is tenuous in the extreme, and in fact, thanks to the Ducati management's oversight in not even asking his widow Pauline's permission to do so, has apparently given offense to her in so doing? "Well, Ducati did build a Mike Hailwood Replica 20 years ago, so it's a name that's already associated with one of the more famous classic-era V-twin road bikes, and this was much more well-known than the NCR bike, even though that's what it really was derived from. Anyway, my reference point was the MHR900 streetbike - hence the MH900e tag, with 'e' standing for 'evoluzione.' That was a bike I dreamed of owning when I bought my first Ducati 20 years ago in South Africa, but could never afford to buy - all my finances would run to was a humble valve-spring 750GT, so not even a desmo, though it ' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' still already had the brio of being a Ducati. I For 44-year-Old Ducati design chief Pierre Terblanche, the dreamed of turning it into a motorcycle like this that incorpoMH900e is only the second Ducati model to reach production rates the essential spirit of Ducati's sporting tradition, but that's his and his alone, next to his acclaimed (and effective) does so in a forward-looking way. So, this is actually my Supermono racer which first appeared back in 1992. Since hobby bike, the sort of thing that people scratch out on the joining the by-then-American-owned company in 1997 as back of cigarette packets and envelopes, which I've dreamed their head of design, in order to create the in-house Ducati of building all these years - and now someone's paid me to Design Center, Terblanche has been mainly occupied in do so. Doesn't happen often - but it's pretty neat that, this revamping existing models, either quite drastically like the time, it has." 90055 launched three years ago or in more subtle detail, like Still, Ducati will want to avoid over-pitching the Hailwood the recently refreshed Monster range. But while concentratconnection, viewed by some as essentially disrespectful by ing on the big phure - none bigger than the 996 replaceseeking to cash in on the name of a famous man who is ment he's been working on for the past two years - sadly no longer with us. Especially when the Ducati press Terblanche has found time to pursue a smaller-scale project release announcing the MH900e walk the razor edge of bad that's very close to his heart, by building the MH900e. taste by ending with the words that "Somewhere Mike HailHow did it come about - and what design path did he folwood is smiling ... and shifting his Ducati into sixth gear." iow in creating it? Well, that would be nice - except that Hailwood never "I was asked to produce a showbike for the company,even rode a V-twin Ducati with a six-speed gearbox. he recalls, "only they didn't leave me much time to do It - I Given the short time span available for the design, got asked just 12 weeks before the Munich Show, two years Terblanche decamped to Britain to use the facilities of one of ago. I decided to do the project j'd been dreaming about for the several design houses servicing the local motor industry, AKA Design, to get his MH900e concept translated into 15 years, which I'd been drawing sketches of for a long metal - just as he'd used the services of another such comtime, so I had it all planned out in my head already. The reference was Mike Hailwood's 1978 Isle of Man TT winner, pany, Futura Design, to revamp the 90055 in double-quick time_ But as I can attest from having seen him hard at work which is now on loan to the factory museum here in Borgo on the prototype some time before its launch, sanding down Panigale - but not many people realize this is io fact an NCR body parts himself to get just the right shape, this is the Bike endurance racer which was supplied by them in their red That Pierre Built - one that comes straight from the heart as a and silver race colors to Hailwood's entrant Steve Wynne. He painted it in what many people liked to think was the direct product of the Terblanche talent. It's surprising that Italian 'trleolore' colors, but which was in fact the livery of Ducati hasn't asked him to personally autograph each his main sponsors, Castrol, who funded the whole Hailwood MH900e before it's shipped out, just as an artist's signature venture. But I don't actually like that color scheme, so I appears on a painting. But is the finished product the way he intended it to be, never considered painting my bike that way. The silver and without any compromises? red was chosen because it looks good, same as the period "Early in the bike's development we used twin-shock susDucati graphics which place the bike in a given time frame pension, much more classic-looking and much more rigid, and even though people think these are MV Agusta colors, in fact the works Ducati endurance racers always raced in just like the original - but then I got to a certain point and thought, what the hell, let's just go all out and build it wild them, and we have one of those in the museum which proand wacky. The whole idea has always been that it's not supvided a lot of inspiration." ing and metalwork, incorporating the direct-action PaioH monoshock. The MH900e's Marchesini wheels are unique to the bike, and are the same as fitted to the Intermot show tiona I pair of mirrors sourced from the 996 parts bin and are equally useless you can't see anything except your arms, and after one of them fell off the test bike and I inadvertently removed the other, the bike ended up looking far sleeker and more eager-looking. model, albeit with twin 320mm Brembo front discs now fitted to the 17- Since they're so completely pointless, inch wheels instead of the avantgarde single disc of the prototype, whose silesium construction can't yet I'll bet a lot of the customers will end up removing them, same as they'll surely fit an aftermarket exhaust to be homologated for the street. Other differences with the prototype are relatively minor: the rear turn sig- deliver a more traditional-sounding exhaust note than the rather flatsounding noise issuing from the pro- nals have been moved from within the rear exhaust silencer exits to a separate position below them, there's a larger single headlight (again for homologation reasons), a conventional ignition key instead of the proto- duction MH900e's exhaust collector under the seat, which looks a lot better than it sounds. It's more blat than boom, at any speed. But the single white-faced Vegliastyle tachometer of the show bike, type's swipe card, no special halfcover exposing the dry clutch (once again to meet European road traffic which incorporates a digital speedometer located beneath it restrictions), and finally the rear light has been moved to the tail of the seat, replacing the TV camera which moni- (reading in mph or km/h at the punch of a button, and also incorporating a clock), has been retained, and so too tored the area behind the rider. This, in turn, has been replaced by a conven- has the single tucked-away suicistand which you can only operate safely n e _ s e 28 FEBRUARY 7, 2001 • cue I posed to be a. m6dern replica of the origInal, but a new motorcycle with period styling clues derived from the period bike - done in a new way that's in the spirit of the old. I was keen to ensure it wasn't too designery - it had to look like a motorcycle that a good race mechanic or frame specialist could have done in his workshop - and the greatest difficulty was trying to keep the bike simple and very rational. I never ever considered this purely as a design exercise for a showbike - it was always thought of as a production model from day one, even if for a while I was the only one that knew that! The fact that the bike changed so little going from showbike prototype to production-ready roadblke underlines that - the essentIals were all feasible, so the only things that got lost were spicy stuff I'd put on just to add an even more exotic flavor and get people talking about them - things like the TV c'amera replacing the mirrors, or the indicators in the exhaust, or the siJesium disc brake. But I'd already prepared Plan B for the production version, so it was no trouble removing them - and in fact parts I've borrowed from other models, like the 916 mirrors, for example, have ended up looking better on the Hailwood than on the donor bike they were made fori" For Pierre Terblanche, therefore, the MH900evoluzione not only represents his own firSt-ever all-new design for the Ducatl Design Center, but also a look into the future while acknowledging the heritage of the past. "Using the concept of the Mike Hallwood Replicas of the early '80s, we've created this bike to stand on its own in terms of design and function, but to recapture the essential spirit of Ducati's V-twin product heritage in doing so. We've achieved this by reducing the motorcycle to its bare essentials, and making everything as clean and pure as possible, In search of simplicity. You don't see any cables or tubes, everything is hidden away to focus on the lines - it's a desmo V-twin refined to the ultimate degree, with one seat, two wheels and a frame to hold It together, plus the engine completely exposed as the key element in the design. When I built the prototype, it represented the essence of the ideal bike I'd like to own myself and ride in the mountains around Bologna. The aim was to design the feel of a one-off special created by craftsmen, but using all the advantages of modern technology and production techniques to do so. I hope we've succeeded, and that ducatisti the world over will appreciate and approve of our intentions in creating this bike." Mission accomplished with the MH900e, whose sell-out success shows that the Terblanche touch is appreciated and admired by 'ducatist!' around the world. But for those of rather more mature desmodromic tendancies, for whom the only true Ducati bevel-drive V-twin is a silver-and-green one such as the 75055 which Paul Smart raced to victory aboard in the 1972 Imola 200, what chance is there that Terblanche may add a second chapter to his portfolio of evoJutionary designs based on Ducati's glorious heritage, and create a PS750e, perhaps for the 30th anniversary of Smart's Imola success, in 2002? "Oh, that's no problem - it's already been designed! I'm just hoping they'll let me build it." once dismounted from the bike (which you'll also always want to leave in gear when parked up!), retained in keeping with the MH900e's theme of the past catching up with the future, even though Ducati has at last jettisoned this from all its volume production models. In spite of having no linkage, this gives excellent grip and is surprisingly supple: in fact, on first acquaintance I rate the handling of the MH as superior to Ducati's own 90055, both in terms of chassis geometry and suspension response. It turns quicker and steers very well at higher speeds, with the 24.5-degree head angle and But once you've clambered aboard 'Ia Hailwood', it just feels right, with your knees snuggling into the cutouts on the fuel 'tank' just as they do on 98.5mm of trail delivering good stability around fast turns, even those with a bump in the middle which the the real Mike Hailwood NCR-derived TT-winner. At first acquaintance, relatively heavy bike by air-cooled Vtwin standards (409 pounds - dry) while riding slowly trying to get some heat into the Michelin Pilots, the MH seems ungainly and awkward, with a propensity for the front wheel to try to tuck in going around a slower turn. But then as it all starts to come together, you realize that this is a just shrugs off. It's just a pity it's so tall, because this does make it appear quite unwieldy at low speeds, especially in town - though ground clearance appears to be limitless thanks also to the bike's narrow build, even if on such a cold day I can't say I well-developed piece of hardware, explored the outer enveJope of poten- with unexpectedly good suspension compliance and ride quality from the non-adjustable 43mm upside-down Marzocchi forks, and especially from tial turn speeds. There's good bite from the Brembo brake package, in spite of what appears to be a relatively humble the offset Paioli cantilever rear shock. design of four-pot caliper, and even a

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