2014 Ducati 899 Panigale Superbike

August 1st, 2013 - Supermid perfection - the new 899 Panigale: The introduction of the highly-anticipated Ducati 899 Panigale provides a new way to access the exclusive world of Ducati Superbikes with a “Supermid” version designed to provide the thrill of the new generation flagship model with the refined character of an everyday streetbike.

The brand new Superquadro engine features a revised bore and stroke for a broad power delivery, producing 148hp (109kW) with a torque of 73lb-ft (10.1kgm). The super-smooth power unit continues to be a fully stressed member of the innovative Panigale monocoque construction, achieving both an outstanding power-to-weight ratio and ride-enhancing agility with a dry weight of 169kg (372.5lb). An 1199 silhouette underlines the family DNA, while the Ducati Quick Shift (DQS) and the fully integrated Riding Mode technologies of Ride-by-Wire, triple stage ABS, Ducati Traction Control (DTC) and Engine Brake Control (EBC) continue the benchmark ingenuity introduced with the award-winning Panigale.

Ducati’s constant pursuit of perfection now offers all-round performance for connoisseurs with an authentic and stylish way to enter the world of high performance. The 899 Panigale is available in traditional Ducati red with black wheels or a stunning arctic white silk with red wheels at $14,995 US.

Expect to see added to the 899 family in the very near future, an ungraded 899S model with full Ohlins electronic suspenion like its big brother 1199S, and a smaller displacement 848cc engine necessary to homologate thsmaller V-Twin for the 600cc Supersport Class. Because of the required production numbers for Superstock, just offering an 848S model could also negate the need for an 848R model. Tradidionally with Ducati, the R model gets Titanium engine rods and valves to allow it to turn higher about 500 more RPMs for more peak horsepower.

The best of both worlds
Ducati is passionately committed to further development of the Panigale concept both on the track and on the street and the 899 represents a “Supermid” version, intended to be a method of entry into the world of premium performance. With carefully designed, rider-friendly features, like increased seat cushioning and shorter final drive gearing for enhanced mid-range rideability, the new model achieves a successful mix of authentic Italian performance with everyday usability, offering the very best of both worlds in absolute style.

The innovative “monocoque” frame solution and the new 899 “Superquadro” L-twin engine uses race- derived electronics to continue the “bred for the track and trained for the road” mentality. This initiative further demonstrates how innovative Ducati World Championship level technology has a direct contribution to ride improvement and safety enhancement.

With the click of a button, Ducati’s Riding Mode concept delivers performance with enhanced rider confidence by combining a number of class-leading technologies. The latest-generation sports ABS system, Ducati Traction Control (DTC), Ducati Quick-Shift (DQS), Ducati’s race-derived Engine Brake Control (EBC) and Ride-by-Wire (RbW) are now all programmed into seamless, electronic rider assistance.

Pronounced “Pan-ee-gah-lee”, the model represented a change in Ducati Superbike tradition, adding a name to its engine capacity designation and making a significant association to its historic roots in the Borgo Panigale area of Bologna. In an Italian territory known as “Motor Valley” and where high performance and racing runs through the veins of its passionate people, Ducati have underlined their pride in being world ambassadors for the “Made in Italy” title by immortalizing their birthplace in the name of the new generation Superbike.

Unmistakably Ducati
Every detail of the Panigale pays tribute to the rich heritage of racing on which Ducati is built. Components that are not only functionally efficient, but also minimalist, essential and beautifully engineered into pieces of automotive art.

Climb aboard the Panigale and take hold of the bars and the feeling of pure racing is everywhere. The finely formed top-clamp with weight-saving hollows and recesses immediately communicates Italian engineering at its very best. Radial brake and clutch pumps, Ducati’s precise switchgear and full Ride-by-Wire twistgrip give a race-driven sense of minimalism further enhanced with the monocoque-integral steering head flowing into the front sub-frame and minimalist instrumentation.

The twin headlamps, with LED positioning lights, are integrated with the frontal intake ducts, while the twin rear lights are moulded perfectly around the recessed seat air ducts and illuminate with an attractive light- guide surround effect, enhanced with LED brake lights. Front LED indicators are integrated into the mirror bodies and rear indicators, which are also LED*, are styled with clear lenses.

The majority of the frontal air ducts feed the main airbox, while a small splitter diverts air also into the fairing bodywork to ensure efficient cooling for the onboard electronics. The carefully executed shape at the rear of the fairing enables a highly efficient exit from the radiator area, protecting the Superquadro’s power output and further reducing aerodynamic resistance. The sleek shape of the seat and tail-piece is accentuated by the under-engine location of the exhaust system, further enhancing the aggressive stance of a true Ducati Superbike. *Country specific

Engine
The 899 Superquadro
Ducati’s latest power-plant, the 899 Superquadro, represents another major step forward in twin-cylinder design and technology, generating superb Ducati performance with super smooth power delivery. Providing 148hp (109kW) @ 10,750rpm and 10kgm (73lb-ft) @ 9,000rpm, the new engine achieves a perfect balance of drive and fluidity using a bore and stroke of 100mm x 57.2mm (3.93in x 2.25in). The Desmodromic, 90° L- twin inherits the 1199’s structural design to enable full integration with the monocoque chassis while boasting an ownership-friendly 24,000km (15,000 miles) between major services.
Engine architecture

Mirroring the innovative 1199, the 899 engine is a fully stressed member of the chassis, with its architecture calculated to provide the best possible vehicle construction for layout, weight distribution and strength. The cylinders, which remain at 90° to each other, are rotated backwards around the crankcases, positioning the front cylinder at 21° from horizontal and enabling the engine to be positioned further forwards for optimum front / rear weight distribution and perfectly positioning the cylinder head attachment points for the Panigale’s monocoque frame.

The crankcases, which are vacuum die-cast using Vacural® technology to ensure optimal weight saving, consistent wall thickness and increased strength, also incorporate the outer water-jacket of the “cylinder”, eliminating the jointing face that used to exist at the base of the cylinders. Instead, the Superquadro has separate nikasil-coated “wet-liners” inserted into the tops of the crankcase apertures. This design enables secure fixing of the cylinder head directly to the crankcase, improved sealing and enhanced heat dissipation from the thin cylinder-liners directly into the surrounding coolant. The clutch casing, sump and cam covers are all cast in aluminium.

The 899 Superquadro crankcases use shell main bearings for the crankshaft, enabling an increase in diameter of the crank journals for enhanced rigidity and an increase in the crankcase section around the main bearing area for improved strength. The shell bearings are force-fed oil from internal drillings within the main bearing pillars to keep the new crankshaft well lubricated and the oil is quickly scavenged back into the sump with a highly efficient GP-style vacuum pump. The pump is driven by the main oil pump shaft and effectively maintains constant vacuum in the crankcase area below the pistons, reducing atmospheric resistance during the down-stroke of the piston and controlling the internal “breathing” of the engine.
Supermid precision

In calculating the optimum configuration for a “Supermid” 899 version of the Superquadro, Ducati engineers selected a bore and stroke of 100mm x 57.2mm (3.93in x 2.25in). The combination of power and ridability resulted in an impressive output of 148hp (109kW) @ 10,750rpm and 73 lb-ft (10.1kgm) @ 9,000rpm.

The bore and stroke ratio achieves an attractive balance of torque while allowing sufficient area for the highly efficient valve diameters of 41.8mm (1.64in) inlet and 34mm (1.33in) exhaust. The valves are actuated by 'super-finished' and diamond-like carbon (DLC) coated rocker arms for reduced friction and fatigue.

The 899’s volumetric efficiency is achieved with the help of oval throttle bodies measuring an equivalent diameter of 62mm (2.44in) that feed air across a single injector per cylinder positioned below the Ride-by- Wire controlled butterfly. The new engine also inherits the 1199’s secondary air system, maintaining performance-optimised fuel mapping for smoother cycle-to-cycle engine operation, without compromising emissions.

Desmodromic valve control
Ducati’s Desmo system actuates valve closure mechanically with the same method and accuracy as it opens, enabling steep cam profiles, radical cam timings, large valves and high operating speeds. This system is used in every Ducati engine and constantly proven on Ducati Corse’s World Superbike and Desmosedici GP motorcycles.

The Desmodromic assembly is driven by a combined chain and gear-drive arrangement with a conventional bush-type chain running from the crankshaft to the cylinder head, where a single sprocket positioned between inlet and exhaust camshafts is attached back-to-back to a gear wheel mounted on its own short, dedicated shaft. The attached gear meshes directly with gears on the ends of both the inlet and exhaust camshafts, which are also designed with +/- position adjustment for ultra-precise cam-calibration. The cam chain provides a highly efficient point-to-point drive route and, tensioned automatically, provides continuous reliability, further reducing the cost of routine maintenance.

On the end of each exhaust cam drive gear is a centrifugal flyweight which retracts at speeds below tick- over to rotate a “protrusion” from the concentric section of the cam, thus creating sufficient valve lift to act as a de-compressor. This ingenious device enables the Superquadro engine to be started easily without using a larger battery and starter motor, which has further helped the reduction of overall vehicle weight. When the engine starts and the camshafts begin to rotate at tick-over speed, the centrifugal flyweight flicks out, retracting the “protrusion” back into the cam and allowing complete valve closure for full compression. This innovative feature further underlines the lengths to which designers and engineers have worked together in the single-minded pursuit of weight-saving.

Transmission
The 899 Superquadro engine adopts the same gearbox as the 1199, capitalising on the extensive work carried out in increasing dimensions between the centres of the six-speed gearbox shafts to enable larger diameter, stronger gears to transmit the enhanced power output.

Chassis
Monocoque technology
The 899 Panigale’s chassis continues Ducati’s innovative and courageous step forward in motorcycle design, merging multiple parts into one compact and lightweight component, while re-evaluating rider posture with a revised ergonomic triangle. The extremely compact monocoque construction integrates the airbox to become one of the key elements in reducing the overall dry weight to an impressive of 169kg (372.5lb).

Using the Superquadro engine as a stressed member of the chassis, the short and strong aluminium monocoque is die-cast in aluminium and attaches to the cylinder heads protruding forward to house the steering head bearings and forming the airbox. Continuing the concept of component minimisation, the airbox is capped-off and sealed by the underside of the 17 litre (4.5 US gallon) steel fuel tank.

While the cylinders remain true to Ducati’s signature 90° L-twin configuration, the Superquadro engine has effectively rotated the top-end backwards around the crankshaft to enable engineers to position the engine perfectly for optimum front/rear weight bias. With a front-end geometry of 24° of rake and 96mm (3.78in) of trail, a brand new, fully die-cast aluminium, double-sided swingarm provides the wheelbase of 1,426mm (56.14in) setting the weight distribution of the 899 Panigale at 52% front and 48% rear.
With the exhaust system located below the engine, the steel tubular rear sub-frame maintains a clean line and attaches directly to the Superquadro engine, while the lightweight, aluminium front sub-frame attaches directly to the monocoque frame, providing secure support for the headlamp, instrumentation and fairing. This centralisation of mass substantially contributes to overall vehicle agility.

Suspension
The 899 Panigale is eqiuipped with 43mm Showa BPF usd forks, fully adjustable in spring pre-load and compression and rebound damping. The bodies are finished in titanium grey and the sliders in chrome and feature forged radial calliper mountings on the fork feet. The Showa Big Piston Fork (BPF) enhances damping control at low suspension speeds by flowing more oil at lower pressures and reducing the range over which the damping fluid has to flow during compression and extension. This innovative solution improves performance, while achieving a weight reduction compared to traditional forks. A steering damper completes the overall specification.

A fully adjustable Sachs rear suspension unit features a stylish and practical side-mounting, enabling increased space for the rear cylinder head. The unique positioning renders the suspension unit totally accessible for spring pre-load and compression and rebound damping and is designed with a progressive linkage operating through a double-sided swingarm.
Bosch Brembo Braking system with 3-level ABS

Included as an integral part of the Ducati Safety Pack (DSP), the 899 Panigale is equipped with the Bosch ABS 9MP controlled Brembo braking system, an impressive combination of state-of-the-art security and proven performance. Shorter stopping distances with enhanced stability is further enhanced with full Riding Mode integration taking the 899’s braking to the next level of rider feeling.

From the 3-level programmed system, level-1 enables front only ABS, intended for the track-oriented “Race“ Riding Mode, while level-2 delivers high braking performances with reduced rear lift-up prevention for sport- oriented road use in “Sport“ Riding Mode. Level-3, used in the “Wet“ Riding Mode, delivers the most braking stability with maximum lift-up prevention. An option to disable the ABS in each individual Riding Mode is available via the instrumentation, and the system allows the setting to be saved and memorised at the next ignition-on.

The front brakes use twin radially-mounted Brembo, four piston, Monobloc M4-32 callipers actuated by a high performance radial master cylinder. The fronts grip 320mm discs, while a single 245mm disc on the rear is gripped by a single Brembo calliper.
Wheels and tyres

The 899 Panigale rolls on lightweight 10-spoke wheels in 3.5in front rim width and 5.50in rear, enabling a fast change of direction and enhanced acceleration and braking performances. They are fitted with Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa tyres with a 120/70 ZR17, on the front and an agility-enhancing 180/60 ZR17 on the rear.

Designed as a high performance tyre for the road and excellent for track sessions, the Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa profile and structure make it a perfect choice for the 899 Panigale with optimum support ensured during vehicle inclination and rapid realignment on corner exit. Developed with Pirelli’s latest Enhanced Patch Technology from World Superbike, the tyre uses a multi-compound composition with three zones on the rear that optimise the area of contact, ensuring maximum grip on road and track.