Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ FIRST LOOK Ducati'sSup_erm_OD_O '_'s- super sl'ngle Ducatl ~O") 0") ~trhe::i!;!~~Je~;~~1e~s~~r~i~~~~t~ ~8~?:n~~i~8~~~);~~frt~i~~~~~~ EFI, and a budget-priced unfaired version with carburetor(s) and perhaps even wire wheels for the authentic retro look. No firm prices have yet been established, obviously, but a ballpark figure for the forthcoming SoS racer is 20 million lire (approximately ($12,730) for the street versions. Start saving now, Ducati single freaks ... So for the time being the 502 racer spearheads Ducati single-cylinder development alone, fitted with Bordi's extremely ingenious method of smoothing out the vibes inherent in the The Ducati 502 Supermono features a fourvalve, singlecylinder powerplant that sits in a tubular space-frame chassis similar to that used in the Ducati 888 Superbike. The bike will also feature Weber/ Marelli electronic fuel-injection with twin injectors and a single, central spark plug. The 502cc engine will rev to 11,000 rpm and will sell for roughly $18,800 in the "racer with lights version." By Alan Cathcart .......t ere at last are the first detailed photos of the new Ducati 502 four-valve Supermono, the Italian factory's first new single-cylinder design in a quarter of a century, due to make its public debut at the IFMA Show at Cologne at the end of September. The bike shown is the second of the two prototypes built to date, and is the bike that will appear at Cologne. By then, though, it will be fitted with specially-designed bodywork and fuel· tank to replace the 851 V-twin-sourced fiberglass used so far for testing. The first 502 prototype was an unlovely hack. based on a 750SS chassis which was used just 'to run up as many road miles as possible while the proper 502 chassis shown in the pictures was built by Verlicchi to a Ducati design. This second, "proper" racing version was completed in mid-June, and since then it has been track tested at Mugello and Misano by Ducati's development rider Davide Tardozzi and works superbike ace Giancarlo Falappa - with extremely impressive results. Falappa lapped Misano in one minute, 23 seconds - a time worthy of a superbike - and the demanding Mugello circuit in two minutes, six seconds, an amazing time good enough for pole position in the Italian 125cc GP held there earlier this year, and less than a second outside the qualifying cut-off for the 500cc GP class! These times, confirmed by independent observers, underline the promise of Ducati chief engineer Massimo Bordi's latest creation, which is heavily based on his all-conquering 888 V-twin Superbike World Champion. This one is a water-cooled, fourvalve single using the horizontal cylinder off the 851/888 design, still with belt drive to the twin overhead camshafts in the desmo cylinder head, and fitted with Weber/Marelli electronic fuel-injection, with twin injectors and a single, central spark plug. However, unlike the 92 x 64mm 851 roadster, or the 94 x 64mm 888 racer and its street offshoots, the 502 single measures 95.6 x 70mm, thus is closer in internal dimensions to the 92 x 68mm longstroke two-valve Ducati motors fitted to the 900SS/907 i.e. range. However, with a safe rev ceiling of 1I..OOO rpm, the 502cc engine explores new levels of piston speed for the current generation of Ducati engines, a fact which Massimo Bordi says has made the evolution of the single extremely valuable in terms of developing the bigger V-twins. "We've learned a lot about engine technology from working on the single I hat will undoubtedly be applied to the bigger bikes in the near future," he says, "The Supermono is an ongoing exercise for us that will have important technical as well as commercial advantages - though I'm still having trouble convincing our commercial people that there's a valid market for a single-cylinder Ducati, especially one with a higher price as a motorcycle as sophisticated as the 502 will inevitably have." This lack of conviction on the part of Cagiva Commerciale has led to thedecision to launch the 502 at Cologne only in racing form for the booming ----- four-stroke single by means of an articulated balance shaft which effectively replaces the 'missing' piston from the 90-degree V-twin) and pivots around an axis within the hump atop the crankcases; a balance weight at the end of this secondary 'conrod' moves up and down in an arc to complete the elimination of vibration. This 'Doppia Bieletta' (literally, 'double conrod') system has proved very effective, according to test rider Falappa, who is also full of praise for the handling of the 502's tubular spaceframe chassis, a scaled-down version of the similar 888 Superbike design. "The engine only has a very little vibration at very high revs," says an enthusiastic Falappa, "otherwise it feels just as smooth as my V-twin. Because the engine is set up for racing, there isn't much power below 8000 rpm, but because the ratios of the sixspeed gearbox are perfectly chosen, I don't need to rev the engine above 10,500 rpm, though it will go to 11,000 safely. I never rode a four-stroke single before, only two-strokes when I used to race motocross, but I tell you this bike really surprised me. It's so much fun to ride, and the acceleration is really fantastic - probably because of H Sound of Singles (SoS) class, li~ely to become a European championship category run as a support class at World Championship Superbike Series events next season, according to a recent statement from the organizing Flammini Group. Forty replicas of the 502 racer will be built for sale to customers in time for next season, while Bordi continues development of the range of street singles ·he has on the drawing board, scheduled to be launched at the end of next year if singles fans around the world succeed in convincing the factory through their local Ducati dealers that there's a viable demand...for sudi a bike. - At the-moment, three street versions are envisaged: a 'racer-with-lights'

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