VOL. 51 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 19, 2014 P91
that I'd experienced the day be-
fore on the Green Meanie.
But then the row of shifter
lights would start flashing at
12,000 rpm, as the signal to
grab a higher gear at 12,400 rpm
in good time to avoid hitting the
12,700 rpm limiter and lose that
precious momentum. Okay, you
say, a 4000 rpm powerband isn't
so shabby – but not for a V-twin
that's down on outright power.
Peak torque comes at 9800
rpm, and then drops off 1000
rpm higher, so the issue is main-
taining acceleration once you get
going, which the Ducati simply
didn't do as well as the Kawasaki.
With only the street gearbox
available, very surprisingly -
meaning there's no choice of ra-
tios for each gear to maximize the
engine's available performance,
nor of primary drives – Ducati
couldn't tailor the Panigale's
gearbox to suit each circuit,
meaning inevitable compromise
in many turns.
It was also a surprise that even
with RBW fitted, there's no au-
to-blipper on the RS13 as all its
four-cylinder rivals have adopted
in the past 18 months – so you
must fan the clutch in backshift-
ing for a turn, feeling the trade-
mark click of Ducati's ramp-style
slipper clutch through the lever
as you do so.
This worked as well as always
in allowing you to shift down four
gears in swift succession while
braking at the end of the main
straight, though it was noticeable
that the shift from third to second
gear was very stiff, and it some-
times took two goes to get it in.
After riding the RS13 and find-
ing it so close in performance
to the Superstock Panigale, it's
hard not to conclude that Ducati
Corse, under its now departed
director and former BMW Super-
bike Rennführer Bernhard Gob-
meier, established a set of pri-
orities that simply didn't include
keeping up with development of
its Panigale RS13 Superbike in
2013. Instead, it seems Ducati
took its eye off the Superbike ball
big time, and focused dispropor-
tionate attention to trying (unsuc-
cessfully) to regain competitive-
ness in MotoGP.
Essentially, the Superbike
project was sacrificed to the per-
ceived greater good of Ducati's
MotoGP effort, which neverthe-
less remains missing in compari-
son to its Japanese rivals.
The author found the Panigale to
handle well, but it lacks both the
acceleration and the top speed of
its rivals in the World Superbike
Championship.
