VOL. 51 ISSUE 47 NOVEMBER 25, 2014 P73
Ducati quite eager to wheelie,
which occasionally translated to
the makings of a weave exiting
the many slow turns followed by
faster stretches on the Mugello
track, and on one occasion into
an outright speed wobble. This
never threatened to get out of
hand, but it meant conscious-
ly standing on the footrests to
weight them up and counter the
pronounced extra weight trans-
fer that the faster-accelerating
R-motor delivers—either that, or
be prepared to have the clipons
moving constantly in your hands
as you gas it up hard through the
gears, even into sixth and getting
on for 180-plus mph.
Chassis-wise, the main im-
provement to the Panigale R
consists of a four-point adjust-
able swingarm pivot, the first
time this has ever been fitted to a
Ducati V-twin. It's aimed at deliv-
ering varying set-up levels of pro
or anti-squat to optimize traction
on corner exit. The setting can
be altered via two eccentric ad-
justers that offer a choice of four
pivot positions at +2mm higher,
-2mm lower and -4mm lower
than the standard default posi-
tion. Previously, the rear end of
the Panigale tended to rise under
acceleration, to the detriment
of traction and causing excess
wheelspin and thus tire wear.
The two lower settings increase
squat for better grip, while the
higher setting will make for easier
steering and faster changes of
direction. It's long been an issue
with top Ducati riders that, un-
like their four-cylinder rivals, their
desmo V-twin bikes didn't have
this feature, but now the Panigale
R does. Barni experiments quite
a bit with chassis settings.
The Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa
SP control rubber that was fitted
seemed glued to the track, aided
by the excellent DTC program.
The Panigale R gives you a fantas-
tic sense of controllability. Cou-
pled with the easy way it changes
direction, you find yourself stop-
ping incredibly hard and late
with total stability. There seems
literally no limit to how hard you
can work the massive 330mm
TK semi-floating front discs that
replace the stock Brembos on
the Barni bike as permitted under
Superstock rules. They are the
SBK-spec radial Brembo M40
Monobloc four-piston calipers,
and Barni has left just the right
amount of V-twin engine braking.
Clicking down through the
gears from sixth to second, one
right after the other, at the end of
the Mugello main straight didn't
deliver any chatter, but neither
did it produce any instability,
thanks to the well-adjusted ramp-
style slipper clutch and ideally-
mapped EBC program. The Mer-
cado Panigale felt very planted
and predictable on turn in, and
the impressive, confidence-in-
spiring stability under heavy brak-
ing means you can pick a line and
be sure the Ducati will hit it every
time. Plus it's forgiving, too, in the
way directional changes are so
quick and instant, making it easy
to adjust or correct your line even
hard on the gas.
Interestingly, Barni runs a high
2.3 bar front tire pressure but
a low 1.6 bar in the rear Pirelli,
aimed at maximizing traction.
"The Panigale's front end is
fantastic with unbelievably good
grip," says Marco Barnabò.
"You can really put your trust in
that, and especially in keeping
up turn speed. It's much better
than the old bike. But we know
we have a problem with grip at
