It`s no secret that despite Ducati`s Superbike track record and leniant rules for twins to keep them at the top, the Japanese 4 cylinders are catching up at a rate of knots and soon their 1000cc v-twin, despite the work of art it is, will soon be obselete in World Superbike racing.
The going theory is that Ducati will bin their age old V-twin tradition in favour of a more competitive, expensive and technical V-four concept like that of their extremely fast motoGP bikes.
But I recently stumbled upon a rumor in AMCN that Ducati may, instead of giving up on their beloved two pot donks, push for a new 1200cc limit on twins in WSBK.
If you look at the math, the advantage is smaller both as a percentage and as an outright displacement in comparison to the 750cc vs 1000cc of a few years ago, but 1200cc in a racebike is big. Real big. I have no doubts that it could easily be the most powerful bike in the class, in the hands of Ducati`s race engineers. It`s also a cheap alternative to shoehorning a modified form of their GP motor into a roadbike, or building a new donk from scratch. And with a smaller firm like Ducati, money is a problem. They can`t just throw money at racing to make it happen like a certain company called Honda. They need innovation over investment, and a new engine is a big investment.
Obviously the Japanese manufacterers are opposed to any change that could see Ducati go back to the top of SBK racing again, leaving them out. But the powers that be in SBK appear to have welcomed such a change. The only thing is, Ducati have not decided whether they will push for it yet or not.
So what do you think? 1200cc Duc supers that remind you of a buell racebike?
Or 1000cc V-fours whose development costs could possibly remove the much loved Ducatis from competitive WSBK racing?
Personally I`ll go with the big twins. It`s a Ducati trademark. Besides if they wanna take a big twin SBK racing, they gotta make it road legal, which means if I save my monies one day I could buy one. And I`m all for having a big, red, shiny, 1200cc, 180hp Ducati sitting in the garage next to the ZX-RR, the Ferrari and the Learjet
The going theory is that Ducati will bin their age old V-twin tradition in favour of a more competitive, expensive and technical V-four concept like that of their extremely fast motoGP bikes.
But I recently stumbled upon a rumor in AMCN that Ducati may, instead of giving up on their beloved two pot donks, push for a new 1200cc limit on twins in WSBK.
If you look at the math, the advantage is smaller both as a percentage and as an outright displacement in comparison to the 750cc vs 1000cc of a few years ago, but 1200cc in a racebike is big. Real big. I have no doubts that it could easily be the most powerful bike in the class, in the hands of Ducati`s race engineers. It`s also a cheap alternative to shoehorning a modified form of their GP motor into a roadbike, or building a new donk from scratch. And with a smaller firm like Ducati, money is a problem. They can`t just throw money at racing to make it happen like a certain company called Honda. They need innovation over investment, and a new engine is a big investment.
Obviously the Japanese manufacterers are opposed to any change that could see Ducati go back to the top of SBK racing again, leaving them out. But the powers that be in SBK appear to have welcomed such a change. The only thing is, Ducati have not decided whether they will push for it yet or not.
So what do you think? 1200cc Duc supers that remind you of a buell racebike?
Or 1000cc V-fours whose development costs could possibly remove the much loved Ducatis from competitive WSBK racing?
Personally I`ll go with the big twins. It`s a Ducati trademark. Besides if they wanna take a big twin SBK racing, they gotta make it road legal, which means if I save my monies one day I could buy one. And I`m all for having a big, red, shiny, 1200cc, 180hp Ducati sitting in the garage next to the ZX-RR, the Ferrari and the Learjet
