Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/839188
2018 DUCATI 1299 SUPERLEGGERA FIRST TEST P112 my impressions afterwards, but the lighter carbon fiber chas- sis structure and all the other CF parts definitely make the new Ducati more nimble and responsive in changing direc- tion, especially at lower speeds, when it turns super-easily and tightly. This bike is faster steering and more agile than any other desmo V-twin I've yet ridden, and that includes the current factory superbike. Too bad the Super- leggera can't be homologated for WorldSBK—too exclusive, you see: they're not building enough of them to qualify for homologa- tion! Yet this is the chassis for- mat which defeated Valentino Rossi in his two years at Ducati in 2011-'12, leaving him claim- ing that the D16's carbon frame that was essentially identical in concept to the Superleggera's, gave him no feel from the front end. He eventually insisted on a conventional Deltabox frame format, which wasn't any bet- ter, judging by his results. This, in any case, overlooks Casey Stoner's achievements in taking the carbon-framed Ducati Des- mosedici to victory first time out at Qatar in 2009, and scoring three more race victories that season en route to fourth place in the championship. Stoner not only rode for Ducati when they switched from the steel trellis frame to the carbon one, but also tested an aluminum one, and said that the carbon fiber chassis was "a much better bike." Apparently he still believes that by the end of the 2010 sea- son, it was so well developed he could have won every race with it, if he hadn't moved to Honda by then! Okay, so I'm not Valentino but in clocking a final-third-of- the-grid Italian Superstock lap time on the Superleggera, I truly had confidence in the way the front end spoke to me, allow- ing me to keep up turn speed in Mugello's swoopy, sweeping turns. Furthermore, the way that Ducati has compacted the mass of the bike with the Superquadro engine architecture, makes for a motorcycle that is very agile and predictable in the way it changes direction, and the 1299's slightly sharper steering geometry ver- sus the 1199 is surely an element in that, too. It was rewarding to put your faith in the front Pirelli and keep up momentum in the Mugello chicanes, or sweep- ing downhill through Ravelli and uphill at Arrabiata 1, because there was good feedback from the front end even on the side of the tire, making braking deep into a turn then letting off the brakes to keep up turn speed a valid option. And thanks to the stiff yet light chassis it pays off to be quite aggressive in changing The Superleggera features Bosch Cornering ABS, plus several MotoGP-derived electronic programs for the first time on any Ducati street bike.