Cycle News

Cycle News Issue 24 June 20, 2017

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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2018 DUCATI 1299 SUPERLEGGERA FIRST TEST P108 markers and picking your turn- in for a given bend. However, you don't have to work the gear lever very hard on the 1299 Superleggera, and that's because of the massive extra midrange punch from this ultimate version of the Superquadro motor. It's no longer critical to choose the right gear for each section of track in order to keep up mo- mentum, as it is with the much less torquey 1199 Panigale—in fact, it's better to use one gear higher in many places than you might otherwise think of doing, and hold that gear from way low to way high. I found I could lap the entire 3.259-mile Mugello circuit from the end of the 0.6-mile-long main straight back to the start of it with just three gear changes, in spite of the quartet of chicanes and the steep climb up to Arrab- biata one and two turns. I'd use second gear for San Donato at the end of the straight, short- shift into third climbing uphill to the Luco chicane, and then I could hold third gear all the way round the rest of the track to the short straight after the Biondetti chicane, when I'd grab fourth briefly before back- shifting to third for the long, long Bucine downhill sweeper on to the main straight. To convince myself I wasn't being lazy, I checked the onboard lap timer in the DDA (Ducati Data Analyzer) that's included in the race kit and was fitted for my ride, which you set with the flash button as you cross the startline, then leave the GPS mounted at the front of the bike to trigger each lap. A compari- son with using the gears and revving the bike hard told me I was going faster the lazy way, which let me focus more on choosing a line and maximizing turn speed via the surprisingly flexible motor. The 1299 Superleggera starts to pick up engine speed a bit faster just above 5000 rpm, and from there to its torque peak at 9000 rpm, there's a delicious wave of grunt that you look forward to surfing each time you catch it. But even after that peak has been reached the midrange A huge array of carbon fiber, magnesium and titanium components justify steep cost of this exquisitely produced motorcycle, the last in the line of desmo V-twin ultra-bikes.

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