VOL. 52 ISSUE 30 JULY 28, 2015 P81
throttle response which is frankly
fierce and snatchy in nature—it's
arm-wrenchingly vivid, yet still
manageable. But it's so radi-
cally different from what a Ducati
Superbike has always been until
now, that I can't help wonder if it
was this abrupt throttle response
which caught out living legend
Troy Bayliss when he crashed
the bike at Phillip Island, having
just stepped aboard Giugliano's
F15 as a last minute stand-in
after Davide got injured. With no
prior testing, it would have been
a hard ask to get right on the
pace in qualifying on such a radi-
cally different V-twin Ducati than
anything Troy had ever ridden
before. However, once straight-
ened up and flying right the
Ducati motor still has a smooth
and linear build of power, as in
the past, except that everything
happens so much faster.
So whereas previous Panigale
Superbikes weren't very flexible
or easy to ride out of a turn with
the engine running as low as
5000 rpm, now the Davies F15
has a much stronger midrange
pull, though you still need to get
the engine revving quite hard
before there's serious power
on tap. However, you still need
to work the gearbox more than
on a traditional V-twin to keep
the Panigale revving, which the
S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
ENGINE: .................. Water-cooled, DOHC,
90-degree V-twin four-stroke with four
valves per cylinder and toothed belt
desmodromic camshaft drive
DISPLACEMENT: .............................1198cc
BORE X STROKE: ...............112 x 60.8mm
HORSEPOWER: ........223hp @ 11,700 rpm
TORQUE: .....................................Not given
COMPRESSION RATIO: ..................... 13.4:1
TRANSMISSION: ........................Six-speed
CHASSIS: ..................Tubular steel bridge
FRONT SUSPENSION: ....42mm pressurised
Öhlins RSP25 inverted telescopic fork
REAR SUSPENSION: .....Single-sided cast
aluminium swingarm pivoting in engine
crankcases and chassis, with single
Öhlins RSP40 shock and progressive
rate linkage
FRONT BRAKE: .................... Twin 336mm
Brembo floating steel discs with
radially-mounted four-piston four-pad
differential-piston Brembo aluminium
Monoblock calipers
REAR BRAKE: ....................Single 230mm
Brembo steel disc with two-piston
radially-mounted caliper
FRONT TIRE: ........................ 120/70 ZR17
REAR TIRE: .......................... 200/60 ZR17
RAKE: .....................................................24°
TRAIL: ...............................................4.0 in.
WHEELBASE: ................................. 60.2 in.
SEAT HEIGHT: ............................Not given
OVERALL HEIGHT: ......................Not given
OVERALL WIDTH: .......................Not given
OVERALL LENGTH: .....................Not given
FUEL CAPACITY: ............................ 6.3 gal
WEIGHT: ......370 lbs (semi-wet, no fuel).
MSRP: ................... You can't buy it. Ever.
Ernesto Marinelli is the man
behind the Superbike project and
the individual largely responsible
for ensuring the Panigale starts
hitting its targets.
"Alan,
make
sure
they
don't
put
any
anchovies
on
the
pizza!
Seriously
if
there's
anchovies,
no
ride
for
you!"
Chaz
reminds
Alan
of
his
place.
