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/128199
2003 Ducat; 999 This I. what the 999 looks like naked. The engineers went to great effort to centralize the bike'. mass close the bike'. roll axI. and center. about some of the 999's glitches is that the bike is so much more enjoyable on the street than ever. It is so well behaved in terms of everyday handling. Riding from stoplight to stoplight is no longer an exercise in tolerance. The weight on the rider's wrists is Ducatis of get a foot mac, too. Let's move on to what the 999 was really designed for, carving corners. The 999 wasn't made to commute; it minimal compared to the past, and the rider can down securely on the tarAs I mentioned above, it was made to ride the twisties, and that's what it does best. The 999 feels at home when things get curvy, and it doesn't disappoint. The bike handles so much better than the bike it replaces. The handling is completely different than the 998's, and as I said feels a lot roomier as well, so you don't get cramped. Riding the bike around town, in terms of mechanical performance, is very nice, once you get past the a few weeks ago with the 749, the geometry really isn't that different numberwise (it's actually more conservative). Ducati figured out how to aforementioned low rpm fuel-injection glitch. The only other thing that I noticed was that the bike poured a ton of heat onto my legs from the engine. Now, so far this hasn't been a negative issue because it's the middle make the bike turn without sacrificing stability. Stability was never an issue on the 998, but it wasn't a quick-handling machine either. The 999 has the ability to flick from side to side with amazing ease, and the feedback and confidence from the chassis is exemplary. If a tight, decreasing corner sneaks up on you, it isn't that big of a of winter, but I have a feeling that the bike is going to be on the hot side in the summer. Judging by the temp gauge, the bike seems as if it runs a little bit hotter than most bikes do in normal, around-town riding situations, which will only add to the heat. deal on the 999; just trail-brake it to the apex - something that the old chassis hated. You won't have to One more thing on that note: the rear seat on the Biposto (two seater) version of the bike gets really hot. This worry in the first place because the bike will probably make the corner with ease, and the feel from the communicative front end will allow you to trust the available traction without cause for alarm. On the racetrack the Ducati's pedigree is obvious; this bike was bred to race. Probably more so than any bike out there, the 999 is a homologation special first and a is, of course, due to the fact that the exhaust chamber resides right under that seat. The reason it gets so much hotter than the old 916-998s' underthe-seat-exhaust is that the new bike has a catalytic converter residing inside of it, and it gets exceptionally hot, and then radiates that heat out. These real-world issues shouldn't discourage buyers from purchasing the 999, they are just a couple of observa- street bike second. I had the chance tions that we felt you should be aware of in everyday riding situations. to ride the bike at two different tracks recently, Willow Springs International Raceway and Buttonwillow Raceway Park. The first thing that I noticed at both tracks was that the bike was so composed that it wasn't even break- How 'tech looking are those gauges? They've got to be the prettiest set on any motorcycle ever made. 20 FEBRURY 5, 2003' 0 U 0 • e ne"". The new frame and the new swingann are two items that really make the 999 a drastic departure from the previous generation 998. The frame is 20mm narrower than the 998's, and yet it still retains excellent torsional stiffness. The frame is made from ALS450 steel tubing and is welded and mitered together in the familiar trellis design. The steering head features an adjustable eccentric adjuster that allows the rake angle to be changed from 23.5 to 24.5 degrees and anywhere in between (as there aren't any stops). The doublesided aluminum swingann is a single-piece sand-casting and is roughly the same weight as the old single-sided version, but it's also much stiffer. It is 15mm longer than the unit it replaces and is 8 percent stiffer. It also helps eliminate a lot of the tension on the chain, while at the same time allowing the chain to be adjusted independent of the rear ride height. The front forks are fully adjustable 43mm 5howa units which feature TiN (Titanium Nitride coating) on the 999, and 43mm Ohfins units also with TiN coating on the 9995 model. The 999's 5howa rear shock is a fully progressive design that is fully adjustable, while the 9995 once again gets the upgraded ObJins unit. Rear ride height is adjustable by altering the length of the reaction rod without dJsrupting the rear preload adjustment. The latest version of Brembo's four-piston calipers features 34mm pistons with individual sintered pads for each piston. The 320mm front rotors have been moved out from the wheel in an effort to improve their cooling efficiency, which in tum has allowed the rotor thickness to be reduced from 5mm to 4.5mm for less unsprung weight. The rear rotor is a 240mm unit with a twin-piston caliper. The rad.ial master cylinder features an 18mm piston for better power and feel. A cooi detail is that the bleeder nipple sits inside of the reservoir for a cleaner look and easier maintenance. One thing that designer Pierre Terblanche tried to accomplish with the 999 was the integration of parts into assemblies, One of the most impressive assemblies is the tank/seat/tail section group, which can be removed in minutes as a unit. On the 9995, the seat is adjustable forward and aft by 20mm, but what is interesting is that the tank moves with the seat as a unit. Another assembly is the headlight/front sub-frame unit, which features the fuse box, headlights, instruments, and mirror mounts. Under the left fairing is a pile of electrical components all lumped together, including the battery, voltage regulator, engine COl, relays, starter solenoid, and additional fuses. These are just examples of areas where all of the components are linked in easy-to-work-on/easy-to-assemble units. As I said a few issues ago with the 749, if you're a fan of Apple/Mac products, you'll appreciate the simplicity of the 999's gauge cluster unit. It looks like an iPod (MP3 device) sitting in front of you. The gauges have a really cool green-backlight glow at night that automatically adjusts the Iigbt level based on the ambient light. All of the information you could ever need is available via the instrument LCD screen, analog tach, and the idiot lights across the top. A few additional features include a shift light and an onboard lap timer, which records your highest speed, rpm and lap time. One of the 999's technical innovations is the use of CAN (Controller Area Network) line electronics for the first time on a motorcycle application. This technology was borrowed from the automotive industry and greatly reduces weight and simplifies the wiring on the bike. Two nodes are connected to the CAN line for the instrument panel and the Magneti MereJlJ 5.9M ECU (Electronic Control Unit), The system is a network with only two wires that sends infonnation to the closest processing unit, which then sends the infonnation to the network and the CPUs. The information is then processed, and the relevant infonnation is used for the appropriate functions. This has greatly reduced wiring clutter and should simplify troubleshooting. The 999 has provisions for adjustment that can help to customize the bike to the rider. The footpegs can be positioned into five different locations; the seat, as we mentioned above. can also be adjusted fore and aft 20mm (9995 only), while the rake angle can be altered between 23.5 and 24.5 degrees. The biggest outward change to Ducati's flagship motorcycle is the bike's bodywork. It is truly a case of function over fonn, with aerodynamics as the key to why the bodywork looks the way it looks. The 999 was designed to reduce aerodynamic drag at high speeds and to dJstribute aerodynamic load in the most efficient way possible. The engineers were unable to make the actual cross section of the bike more aerodynamic, so they went to great lengths to make the combination of the rider and the bike more effiCient as a unit. The tank was changed to help get the riders' legs out of the wind (I'm sure the tall, leggy Ruben Xaus had something to do with this), while also aJJowing the rider to get in behind the windscreen more effectively. The vents on the front of the fairing are designed to eliminate vortices in the handlebar area. The small, fin-like conveyors that sit at the lower front of the fairings are designed to enlarge the slipstream around the bike and rider to help reduce drag. Additionally, tbe lower fairings extend right up to the edge of the swingann to improve airflow between the fairings and the rear tire.