Ducati @ EICMA 2016: Ducati shines as the home team with five new models bowing in Milan.
That’s right folks, the BikesRepublic team are in Milan, Italy once again for the world’s biggest motorcycling show and we start appropriately with one of the home team’s members. Here’s our round up of Ducati @ EICMA 2016.
1299 Panigale Superleggera
This is excess in all areas as far as House Bologna’s special superbikes go. Meet the lightest, most powerful and most radically engineered Panigale to date dubbed as the Ducati 1299 Panigale Superleggera.
Succeeding the previous 1199 Panigale Superleggera, this special and limited edition model heavily uses carbon fibre in constructing its fairings, airbox, sub-frame, single-sided swingarm and wheels. Ducati claims weight has been shaved by 40% from the regular 1299 Panigale, with this special tipping the scale at just 156kg dry (167kg kerb figure).
Propulsion comes courtesy of a tweaked 1,285cc Superquadro L-twin mill that delivers a whopping 215hp, making this the most powerful production twin-cylinder ever built. Much of the tweaks are out of sight apart from the WSBK-styled twin exhaust of course.
Added control comes from the plethora of electronics primed on board. The list includes features like the Ducati Power Launch (launch control), cornering ABS, quick-shifter, engine brake control and wheelie control amongst others.
Supplementing the electronics are the lightweight 43mm Öhlins FL936 inverted forks up front and the Öhlins TTX36 shock absorber, with the latter featuring a titanium spring to boot. Anchors come in the form of 330mm twin Brembo front discs with M50 monobloc calipers and TT29OP1 brake pads controlled using the brake specialist MCS 19.21 radial pump unit.
Just 500 units of the Ducati 1299 Panigale Superleggera will be built. But before you sell a kidney to meet its €80,000 (approx. RM367,928.36) price tag, Ducati says all 500 units have already been sold prior to its public debut.
Multistrada 950
Moving on to something more affordable, the new 2017 Ducati Multistrada 950 also bowed in Milan with much fan fare. Essentially, this is the ‘baby’ Multistrada model for those that want a slightly smaller and much lighter version of the sport-adv.
Power comes from a Euro 4-compliant liquid-cooled 937cc Testastretta L-twin lifted from the Hypermotard series. All 113hp developed by this mill gets this baby adv and its claimed 227kg weight up speeds easily and it comes with four riding modes as well – Touring, Sport, Urban and Enduro – thanks to ride-by-wire.
It also gets a digital LCD dash displaying a rich amount of data to riders. Other standard electronics include a three-level Brembo ABS suite. This is paired with matching Brembo dual 320mm discs up front and a single 265mm disc at the rear with floating calipers.
Suspension duties are taken up by a pair of inverted 48mm forks up front with adjustable preload and compression plus a Sachs-supplied rear shock unit with the same adjustable parameters.
The new 2017 Ducati Multistrada 950 will also be offered with four optional guises – Sport, Enduro, Touring, and Urban – each packing various accessories such as panniers, knobby tyres and more.
Monster 797
Next up comes the latest addition into the Monster naked family called the Monster 797. This new entry-level model sees the current generation Monster returning to its original air-cooled form to become a more budget-friendly offering.
The Monster 797 shares the same Euro 4-compliant air-cooled 803cc L-twin as found in the Scrambler line up and develops a modest 75hp output to bring its claimed 193kg weight up and going.
The powertrain is encased in a signature steel trellis frame primed with Kayaba 43mm front forks and a Sachs adjustable rear shock. Notable standard features include a Bosch dual-channel ABS suite, full LCD dash and a USB power socket to boot as well.
This is as simple as it gets with the current generation Monster and expect this new entry-level version to sell well when it enters markets worldwide starting early next year.
Scrambler Café Racer
Ducati also expanded its Scrambler sub-brand range with two more additions and it start with the aptly-named Scrambler Café Racer variant pictured here. As expected, it retains much of the familiar chassis and air-cooled 803cc V-twin from its existing siblings.
It does benefit with new 17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in road-focused Pirelli tyres. Notable café racer traits can be seen in its low handlebar and side mirror styling, not forgetting the customary side number plate too.
With its addition, Ducati has expanded the Scrambler sub-brand’s reach even further, and the same can be said about its new retro enduro-styled sibling launched alongside it.
Scramber Desert Sled
With a name inspired by the scrambler-style street bikes that raced in events like the iconic LA-Barstow-Vegas races of yesteryear, the Scrambler Desert Sled now adds another retro enduro flavour into the Scrambler line up alongside the existing Urban Enduro variant.
Unlike the Café Racer, the Desert Sled boasts more significant changes all-round. Notable amongst which include the 19-inch spoked front wheel and 17-inch spoked rear wheel wrapped in Pirelli Scorpioni Rally STR tires.
To make this a proper off-road machine, Ducati have strengthen the steel trellis chassis and primed it with a new swingarm assembly. These allowed it to accommodate the new fully adjustable Kayaba front and rear suspension hardware that rightfully offers high amounts of travel.
Check out more images in the gallery we’ve prepared below.
Ducati @ EICMA 2016 Gallery
