EICMA 2017

The coolest thing about the V4 is the 'developed on the Isle Mann' lineage. The Ducati, (although well engineered) is another track developed bike.

Think the Norton V4 might be a bit heavier wet plus 20 horses down? I guess none of those figures really matter to road going mortals like us.

I’d wager that most folk who buy the new Duke could disconnect two spark plugs and still have more power than they need.

I do find it amazing how they continue to extract more and more from motorcycle engines though, 226bhp for a 1200 is just freakin’ awsome.

So I find myself torn between being awestruck from an engineering perspective, but just not quite ‘getting it’ from a riders perspective !

But then again, it seems that the older I get, the lower the collective bhp output of my stable gets !!

In the superbike category you always have to offer more performance than the competition.
That's what the Ducati V4 is all about.
Also, with FIM Superbike regulations the Ducati Twins have been at a disadvantage.
There have been rumors of a V4 for a while now to make Ducati more competitive in the championship series.
Well, here it is.

I do agree from a rider's perspective, 226HP is insane for a street bike, but these V4's will probably become track bikes for their owners.
I love these machines from a strictly technological point of view.

Ain't that the truth. I would love to have one in my Garage just for the "braggin" rights and I'm sure many of them are purchased just for that reason! How much power did the Desmosidichi produce?

The Desmosedici RR was rated at 200HP.
It was 989cc and had a 14000 rpm redline. It was a screamer with not much torque below 4500RPM.
It was really a street version of Ducati's MotoGP bike, and had a real kick at 10,000 and above.
I remember hearing one at a shop in Smithtown Long Island with a Termignoni performance exhaust. Made my ears bleed.
I wonder if the new V4 has better low/mid RPM power and is better suited for street/road use.

The other thing I remember from my dealer who was authorized to service the Desmosedici RR was:
the 12,000 mile service involved a complete topend tear down, both front and rear cylinders blocks to inspect the rod play.
The cams and followers were replaced at 12,000 miles, and if the rods were within tolerance and did not need replacement, the service was $20,000.
If the rods required replacement that was additional. Oh yeah, the rods were titanium. (scream here).

In the Ducati advert they state that they took what they learned from the Desmosedici RR, and built the V4 Panigale.
I wonder if the new V4 has better low/mid RPM power and is better suited for street/road use than the Desmosedici was?

BritTwit said:

Quite a few reports on Youtube about the bikes at the 2017 EICMA show, but nothing about the new 650 Nortons.

Ducati dropped a new V4 Panigale on the show. 440 lbs wet, and 226 HP.
I guess they needed some new heat to compete with Norton's V4 1200.

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And the Aprilia RSV4 for 16.5 grand.