Weapons-Grade: 2014 Ducati Superleggera for Sale

Unless you have access to one of NCR’s Desmosedici-based bikes, there is quite literally nothing on the road like the Ducati Superleggera. The idea is simple: take the Panigale 1199R and take a cost-no-object approach to making it perform better. Basically one-off every mass-produced component, un-cut every corner.

I wonder if there’s even any steel left on this bike: literally everything possible has been replaced with magnesium, aluminum, titanium, or carbon-fiber to pare down weight to the absolute minimum: even that little vestigial bit of frame that forms the airbox/headstock and attaches to the front cylinder [with titanium bolts, naturally] is made from magnesium. And the engine saw the same sort of internal changes, with Pankl rods, titanium valves, and even a crankshaft with tungsten counterweights that allow a massive 12,500rpm redline for the huge v-twin.

And it obviously worked. With a full tank of gas and all necessary lubricants, the Superleggera weighs in under 400lbs, including lights and mirrors, supposedly 30lbs less than the R, while producing almost 190hp at the rear wheel.

With a factory warranty.

From the original eBay listing: 2014 Ducati Superleggera for Sale

 The most technically advanced 200 horsepower motorcycle ever featuring an 1198cc L-twin with 4 valves per cylinder, magnesium semi-monocoque frame, adjustable Ohlins suspension, magnesium ally wheels mounted on Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP tires, selectable power and rider modes and weighing in at 341 pounds dry this is an incredible street legal race bike

I get annoyed by this kind of pointless hyperbole, mixed in with some random features chosen at random and used incorrectly. I mean, Ducati superbikes have had 4-valves per cylinder since the 851, and who cares about what tires you’ve got fitted? If you’re trying to sell a $60,000 motorcycle, this is the kind of stuff to get right. Look guys, if you don’t know that much about this stuff, just keep it simple and sexy:

This Superleggera is one seriously exclusive Ducati: just 500 made worldwide, and only 200 came to the US. It features the very best of everything and combines the most powerful, technically advanced v-twin engine ever with the lightest weight of any production superbike. Literally dripping with carbon fiber, magnesium, and titanium parts, this is the most exotic production motorcycle ever built. Throw your Rizoma catalog in the trash: you won’t need it for this bike.

There, fixed it for you.

On the upside, the listing does include a bunch of very drool-worthy pictures and, since you’ve all probably read multiple articles on these anyway, that’s probably what you really wanted anyway. This one has just 5 miles on the clock, but at least someone out there is riding these: walking home from the grocery store last week in Los Angeles, I got buzzed by one that was blasting down Santa Monica Boulevard. And if you were wondering, that red isn’t really red, exactly. It’s fluorescent red, like Dainese uses on some of their race suits. It’s like half-way between regular Ducati red and the fluorescent orange you’d expect on a traffic worker’s safety vest.

It’s very striking, to say the least. It glows…

-tad