I don't have a problem with skepticism Duck41, just the other things that come along with your posts. I'm sure you're very good at Scrabble, though.
Anyway everyone, it's not the messenger here that's important, it's the message. I'm not interested in talking about myself, but rather the bike. The only reason I even mentioned my role was to give you some confidence that the information I'm giving you about the SL is the truth, because there seem to be a lot of misconceptions out there. Take what I say with a grain of salt if you want, that's fine. The bikes are already in the hands of some customers, so it should be easy to verify if what I am saying is accurate or not, very shortly.
@bikenamenumber - one or two small "nice to haves," but nothing important. Every bike has some degree of constraints during its development, but I can say that there were fewer with the SL than with any other bike I've personally been involved in.
A few examples -
Some wondered why we didn't equip it with gas-charged forks or semi-active suspension. Believe me it wasn't about cost savings. The key is in the name - Superleggera. Extreme lightness and extreme power were the main goals. The custom FL916s we used, with material removed from the sides of the fork tubes and machined billet lowers, are the lightest possible solution that still works at a world-class level (see Valia's time around Mugello).
Now take a look at the engine. Notice that the clutch cover is mag, but the alternator cover is alu. Why? Did we cheap out on it? Nope. The alternator cover is subject to unique stresses, and to make it out of mag with the appropriate strength we would've had to make it thicker. In the end, this added thickness would've made it heavier than the alu cover. So, we kept it alu to save a few grams, even though we knew that mag has a more prestigious image. Even the radiator cap, of all things, is machined from billet alu to save a few grams.
Consider this - with the race kit installed the SL is 1.5Kg lighter (163.5) than the minimum weight of an actual World Superbike (165Kg). But, that's with the headlights still installed! Drop those and another kilo goes away, you now have a production motorcycle with a warranty, that is 2.5Kg lighter than an actual World Superbike.
In short, you simply don't get that kind of spec without considering every detail. So, there's not much I could improve about it.
@leftcoast32 no, the engines are quite different as the others said. Key info is described in detail on the site, check it out. 2-ring pistons with SBK crown surface, full ti valves, tungsten balanced crank, modified squish area, various ti bolts, different cams, different clutch, different gear position sensor, and a few other very small details.