I am going to give you guys my take on the new bike, in true forum fashion no one is asking what the 2 people on the forum who got to go see the bike think and what they may have gleamed from the WDW launch. I will post in a couple threads since there are many about this topic.
I wasn't there for the actual launch presentation thursday night as I had things to do in milan. So after an amazing dinner with friends in milan I get back to my hotel at 1230 am and pour over the launch information and images.
Before I dive into it lets set the stage for what we are looking at, in 2018 we were witnessing a entirely new platform for Ducati, no more twin big bike and the looks were bold and aggressive with the text book Italian touch. Rounded look reminiscent of early whale shaped Ducati GP bikes with the gills on the side fairings and with the R came the wings. It was perfect but the wings alone came with many salty ish comments.
So after a lovely meal in milan Thursday night ia returned to my hotel room to pour over the launch info and images, until then I had not peaked so it was the full deal. After looking at it like many of you I felt like the profile // side fairings were a little too static / sparse aesthetically. I did immediately pick up that this bike is much more racey then then the previous V4. The dip in front of the gas cap for chin, the seat/tank/tail unit, the top clamp, the dash, the wings absorbing into the fairings (everyone keeps saying BMW, BMW took this from Aprillia). To me a huge difference is not seeing the intakes under the lights, the lights now look reminiscent of 1098. The swing arm of courses a big deal and as I had observed the V21L was the first iteration - it was cast not CNC and has the same design styleing as this new v4 version. If SSSA is mandatory design language for you then we are having a different discussion other then the reality of performance evolution. No different then leaving the twin engine behind, the SSSA is not part of true performance motorcycle and is ducatis last hanging vice aesthetically. Which brings us to my roundup. This bike is tipping the scales for Ducati in terms of traditional Italian motorcycle design, it is no longer an equal balance of performance and ducati heritage design. It has shifted more towards performance obviously, if you are happy with Ducatis success in WSBK and Moto GP I think it is unfair to complain about this shift. Ducati has hung onto these fundamental aesthetics for as long as possible before finally reaching a point where the consumer facing products are now geared towards pure performance more then just an Italian motorsport aesthetic romance.
With big bikes the biggest updates that come down the pipeline are the least marketable ones because they are not visible, electronics rule this landscape and allow us mortals to ride these bikes. The 22 V4 update is a great example of something that no one is ever happy about or seems to be anything until someone rides it. I spoke with several of the riders about he new bike and the feedback was unanimous - its a big step. Its not just the swing arm but the whole package, which lets be honest is probably mostly the electronics. From all the race bikes I looked at the geometry was all the same - stock. They all said the bike turned much better and just felt better ergo wise. Pecco did a 135.8 on previous stock V4S, and 135.1 on his V4S with suspension in proper track trim - he is confident he can do a 134.5 on the new bike with suspension + track trim.
Some people are using the engineering degrees they gave to them selves to split hairs on what Ducatis team has come up with. If you do not trust in what has come out of this brand and Ducati Corse over the last 6 years thenI am not sure what to say.
