I’m not one to gush over a bike, and usually, this sort of thing doesn’t interest me: a limited-edition Italian superbike with tons of possibly pointless bling thrown at it, colorful anodized and blacker-than-black carbon everything, the slightly matte rainbow glow of titanium piping, all stuck to the bike to make it more “exclusive.”
But the Ducati Superleggera isn’t really that bike.
Many of these I’m sure will end up cocooned in heated garages, squirreled away in collections, never to turn a wheel in anger, except for an annual roll-out into the sun where they will sit, blinking dazed into the light, while they’re licked clean by owners too terrified to damage their investments and egos by putting miles on something this unforgiving. But these bikes were built to be ridden, not collected…
Normally, bikes like these are the province of Ducati-specialists NCR, who can actually improve your Desmosedici by making it both lighter and more powerful. But Ducati took a page out of NCR’s playbook book and just built their own nearly unobtainable special.
This is the superbike, perfected.
Not “perfected” like a BMW S1000RR HP4, with techno-geek sophistication and nods to everyman affordability, but with every part lightened, replaced, or improved in infinitesimal ways, cost-no-object. The frame replaced with… Well, it never had a frame to begin with, but the normally aluminum airbox/headstock is replaced with cast magnesium…
The price for the finished bike? Well the Buy-It-Now price on this one is $66,995…
From the original eBay listing: 2014 Ducati 1199 Panigale Superleggera for Sale
Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of motorcycling history!! With only 500 units being made worldwide and only 200 slated for the U.S., Ducati says once those are sold, that will be it for the Superleggera
The rest of the listing is just a reprint of specs. Which is sort of pointless, if you asked me, but what else is there to say? There’s no history for this example, with 32 miles on the clock. No mods, no customization, nothing but the window sticker, and some included “race” bits that includes an Akrapovic titanium exhaust.
Weighing in at 390lbs with a full tank of fuel, more than 70 pounds less than the aforementioned BMW, with 200 claimed horsepower at the crank, you’d have to add weight to be legal in any racing class. With no regulations to conform to, this thing is lighter than a World Superbike. In fact, it doesn’t meet the requirements for any race class. It’s pointless. It’s useless. It’s better than you are, better than you will ever be, a testament to the idea of speed.
These bikes aren’t friendly: the electronic aids aren’t there to help you go faster. They’re there to allow you to go faster, if you have the skill to exploit them.
And I’m sorry, but I think we can safely say that you don’t. Honestly, you will probably be faster on that BMW: this isn’t some smooth, refined experience. It’s an animal. A brutal, terrifiying, hairy-chested thing. You must be THIS tall to ride this ride. Under 18 not admitted without parent or guardian.
Look, I was never really a fan of the 1198. While the 999 maybe took too many stylistic chances, the 1198 didn’t take enough: basically a modernized 916, it was sleek, but bland. The Panigale, on the other hand, looks like nothing else, and is much more exciting for going its own way. The Superleggera just turns the volume up to 11, to indulge in one last cliché.
-tad
I want it! But of course I can’t afford it!
It’s useless.
It sure is. But so is a Lamborghini Miura. So is the Mona Lisa. What’s your point? A five-year-old GSX-R1000 is a better motorcycle in almost every conceivable way. Who cares? Usefulness and practicality were not part of the design brief.
It’s sort of like criticizing “Predator” by saying that the dialogue is ridiculous and there aren’t any strong female characters. That wasn’t really the point of the exercise.
love it. it’s a “beacuse f*ck you, we can build it” bike.
Alright, alright. I’ll take one . . .
I’m of the opinion that I would rather ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. Ducati knows that very few of its customers can afford to buy this bike and 99.9% percent of its customers don’t have the chops to ride this bike any where near its potential. This is a “look what we can build” exercise. This bike gets Ducati alot of press exposure which gets more people into their dealerships. The vast majority won’t buy this bike, BUT they will buy a Ducati. Marketing . . . .
Nothing wrong with that! And as for “useless,” I could find a use for it ;<)!
What a spectacular ride!
In a way, this reminds me of the story behind the Bugatti Veyron;
I read somewhere that Volkswagen designed and built it as an exercise to prove they could build the fastest “production” car in the world.
Allegedly, VW lost money on every one they made.
But I doubt Ducati will face the same problem with this.
I agree with that old bit of wisdom, and I’m ALWAYS encouraging newer riders to start small and move up as they become more experienced and skilled. Funny how they get all shifty-eyed and uncomfortable with the suggestion that they get something less impressive. But to me, there’s nothing sadder than some guy posing on a fast bike they clearly don’t know how to ride. My first bike was a Honda FT500 Ascot and it was definitely NOT a fast bike, or even a very nice one, but it was fun to beat the living hell out of, without worrying too much about getting in way over my head.
I certainly couldn’t ride the Superleggera anywhere near its limits, I’m still very glad it exists, for exactly the reason you mention: it’s a statement of intent, a demonstration of capability. It’s also very nice to look at.
but they will make an rs, an sp, an sps, and maybe a few other acronyms i cant name. and each one will be 3 lbs lighter, have 2 more hp somewhere and be 10-12k more than the other. they’re not pointless, or useless. we use them for braking markers on the track, and to prove to ourselves that you dont need much $ to be fast…we use them for bait…
Tad I have alot of good memories of the FT500! The 1st bike I road raced. It started out slow but was a good learning tool. As I got faster and less dangerous at racing the FT got modified for more speed. I became a regular customer at White Brothers and Ricky Racer. Learned alot about racing, wrenching, and set-up. By the end of the year I could lap with the RD400’s and GPZ500’s. Fun Times!!
Me-owww. Always love to laugh at the bitter people who’ve never ridden or maintained a Ducati and try to dismiss them. Enjoy those sour grapes! 🙂
had a 71 Lambo Miura “S” model…a really meat car but not all that fast 100mph in second gear!!..real mag wheels and an aluminum body…if you would like a Pan……buy it and enjoy… it take care of her and then you can sell her to the next caretaker….your memories cost is the difference in the sale prices…..really like the Aprilia V4 …think it’s better than the Panigale girls…….bikes are in my DNA…take care…enjoy
The motorcycle world is a more interesting, beautiful, and better place because of creations like this…regardless of the machine’s cost or the rider’s ability to fully use it.
This makes me think of this guy’s ride report, 20,000 miles around the country on the non-superleggera version of this bike:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=808437
he did the PNW too and is currently in Europe….
ride your dream and ride what you got!
Spot on Sixthgear. We’re in the greatest motorcycle era ever. Nothing that is this good and makes it to production is useless. These “exercises” benefit everyone. We should all champion this development and the folks with the money to allow designers and manufacturers an outlet to build them.