Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

tachometer hits the 6500-rpm mark. Then it builds fast and relentlessly, but still controllably, to the 10,200rpm power peak, and beyond. That 135 hp is as much as Doug Polen had at his disposition in winning two World Superb ike titles for Ducati less than a decade ago - but the progressive yet potent way the 996R delivers that power to the ground is a mark of the constant refinement that has marked the past decade of desmo dominance, now translated in full to the street. Short-shifting into third gear at around 7000 rpm as you flick the 996R from right to left to exit Valencia's slightly uphill chicane, in preparation for the long left-hander leading over into the final turn before the pit straight, underlines how excellent the spread of power and how flat the Testastretta's torque curve is. Taking time to note how notably smoother and crisper the gearshift i~ than on most previous Ducatis I've ridden presumably thanks to an increased attention to desmoquattro riding dynamics, that's also reflected in a lighter, more progressive clutch action, which doesn't graunch at a traffic light GP or as you exit pit lane - you can't help but be impressed by the strong, clean pull from low revs up to the fierce-action 10,800 rpm rev-limiter. Hitting this causes the Marelli engine management system to make the engine stutter hard rather than flutter slightly, as when you do the same thing on the SPS - strange, given the increased revs permitted by the Testastretta's shorter engine stroke, which presumably will entail thirteen-grand engine speeds in eventual Superb ike trim. However, you can forgive the 996R that, by the way the Marelli engine mapping allows it to pick up so cleanly in mid-turn roll-on, allowing you to hold third gear through large sections of the Valencia infield, playing that so-precise throttle back and forth to max out drive anywhere over a 4000 rpm maxi-power range. In fact, you do need to resist the urge to change down a gear for many of the turns, though, because the one major criticism I have of the 996R engine package in track use is that it doesn't have a slipper clutch - a fact I discovered the hard way when, much to my surprise, I changed down early for the second-gear Turn 2, in order to max out engine braking via the desmo valvegear, as any good Ducatista will always do - and found the rear wheel hopping up and down under reverse torque in a passable imitation of my Supermono racer, which is similarly not so endowed. Hmmm. Ducati says that their sportbike customers don't like the slipper clutch in street use, because there isn't as much engine braking with it as without, so that's why they left it off - though I can't say I thought the 748R fitted with this as stock, in order to conform to Supersport rules, suffers unduly from this, and surely most fortunate 996R owners will use their bike for track days, and for sure they'll need it there! Without buying the optional slipper clutch package that Ducati says is available via their Ducati Performance aftermarket catalogue (and every serious track-riding owner should unquestionably do \his) the interim solution is to hold a gear higher and play on that meaty, potent pickup - though you'd better be ready for a slightly snatchier response from a closed throttle in the middle of the turn when you do. This isn't as aggressive as, say, a Yamaha R7, but it is jerkier than old-style 996 models, presumably thanks to the adoption of the single-injector format. This may deliver improved fueling at higher revs, but as any EFI technician will confirm, the problem is that you get minute quantities of mixture gathering on top of the closed throttle butterfly, which are dumped into the inlet port as soon as you open the throttle again: running one or more lower injectors beneath the butterfly working alone at part throttle, with the external injector only coming into play at full throttle, used to resolve this. Still, clever mapping of the Marelli ECU has largely eliminated this on the 996R, so that it's unlikely to be a factor owners will notice too much in street use - only on the track. To create the 996R, Ducati has understandably focused most attention on the all-new engine, and slot- Only substantial chassis change from before is the adoption of 2mm thicker 12mm engine mounts, to create a stiffer engine/chassis package - and the result is a bike which feels very much like the existing 996SPS to ride in terms of handling, with just a little effort needed to flip it up and over in the Valencia chicane, in spite of the more compacted engine mass, and weight. But the impressive suspension package means that the 996R remains very stable under the heavy braking delivered by the all-new Brembo braking system, which, while retaining four-piston calipers at the front, now features four separate pads per caliper rather than two, for improved compensation as the pads wear, and less rollback upon release. The fact that these still grip 320mm cast stainless discs but help them give the bite and feel of the old castiron rotors, makes this a milestone in braking R&D - and that's without taking into account the 400 gram weight saving per disc (so, 1.76 pounds in all) delivered by the 0.5mm thinner brake discs used on the 996R compared to the SPS, and the reduced number of floating fasteners holding ted it into the same tubular steel spaceframe as the SPS, fitted with the fully-adjustable 43mm Ohlins race forks used on their Superbikes, with gold titanium-nitride coated stanchions to reduce stiction, and a racequality, multi-adjustable Ohlins shock. This chassis package is clad in traditional 916/996 bodywork, but made in carbon fiber to help contribute to that notable weight reduction, and with the cooling ducts cleaned up and minimized, to deliver a claimed 3.1 mph improvement in top speed on aerodynamic grounds alone. No - you can't test this at Valencia, where you don't even get a true sixth gear down the main straight... cue I e them to the Ergal aircraft alloy flanges. This is already a significant reduction in unsprung weight, inevitably benefiting the handling and suspension response - but Brembo hasn't finished there. For the Italian braking giant now owns Marchesini, and fitted to the 996R is a pair of their ultra-lightweight five-spoke race wheels exactly as fitted to the Bayliss/Bostrom/Xaus factory Superbikes, shod with 17-inch Michelin street rubber - the rear a meaty 190/50 cover astride a 5.50-inch rim. This fat rear tire doesn't impact negatively on the 996R's steering, which no doubt (partly thanks to the reduced gyroscopic weight of the 996R's front wheel) is light yet pre- (Right) Alan Cathcart sampled the new Ducati at the Valencia Circuit In Spain, the site of the opening round of the Wortd Superbike Championship. (Below) Ducati has focused all attention on the new engine, thus it sits in the same tubular steel frame as the SPS. The engine, however, gets an all-new crankcase design, known within the company as a 'coppa bassa' or 'bottom cup' design. n e _ S • APRIL 4.2001 21

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