2017 DUCATI SUPERSPORT AND SUPERSPORT S
FIRST TEST
P84
sportbike riding without the need
to see 180 mph on the dash.
It's a problem Ducati knows it
played a part in creating with
200-horsepower bikes like the
Panigale or even the super-quick
959 Panigale, but they're hardly
alone in that regard.
"It was the idea to use the
Hypermotard engine because
this engine has enough power
for this kind of bike," said the
SuperSport's Lead Project En-
gineer, Giuseppe Caprara. "The
right torque is very important for
this bike to have fun on the open
road. Now, with a real superbike
(like the Panigale), the power is
not useable on the open road for
the speed limit. So it was, for us,
very important to have an engine
with a great balance for the
SuperSport. This was the right
engine."
All told, the new Hyper-de-
rived desmo motor punches out
113 horsepower at 9000 rpm,
with torque peaking at 71 lb-ft at
6500 rpm—80 percent of which
is available at just 3000 rpm—but
it isn't just bolted into the new
SuperSport chassis, mind you.
The SuperSport uses a similar
style chassis to the Panigale in
that it's a monocoque with the
engine used as a stressed mem-
ber, so the Ducati engineers
had to modify the cylinder head,
crankcase, generator cover, the
external coils, use 53mm throttle
bodies versus the Hyper's 52,
and fit a new Ride-by-Wire
throttle system developed in
house with the fuel injection du-
ties moved from Magneti Marelli
to Continental.
The gearbox also came in
for a once over, considering it's
been fitted with the Ducati Quick
Shift (DQS) as standard on the S
model and an accessory on the
base SuperSport.
"The gearbox is different
because it's stronger," Capara
says. "We work on the gears
to make them stronger the for
the quick shift. Quick shift is of
course a fun device but is not
fun for the gearbox! There's a lot
of stress. So in order to have the
Part of the design brief
was for the SuperSport
to have no visible
screws or links. The
whole design looks
fluid and beautiful.
