Reviews

CHARACTERS: Ducati 1199 Superleggera

Ultimate materials and design make for ultimate character.

April 23, 2014

Hollywood CG artists labored to draw complex shapes and textures into the Death Star. On this Ducati, they are real. The forward frame/airbox, made of magnesium and carrying the steering head, bolts to the cylinder heads. An accessory shaft occupies the cylinder vee, driving the water pump while an inordinate amount of space is consumed by the Superquadro engine's tremendous exhaust pipes.

Crowding masses together enhances agility. The rear suspension, pushed out of its traditional place by the rear cylinder’s exhaust, bolts to a bracket on the rear cylinder. The front cam cover is angled to stay clear of the front tire at full suspension compression. Shortening the exhaust valves has helped bring the engine forward a bit. This, to help the front Pirelli steer better.

A carbon-fiber seat frame bolts to the rear of the airbox, and the magnesium cam cover for the rear cylinder resides between its legs. Note how the clip-on bar attaches to the fork leg with a hinged clamp. Replacement is a single-bolt operation, without disturbing the upper crown. Racing teaches wisdom.

The character? There is nothing extra here, yet this bike (one of only 500) is so utterly different from the British twins that thrilled riders of the ’50s and ’60s. You could see right through those classics, side to side. The Ducati engine has twice the displacement, and everything is centralized in the name of quick turning. That makes the bike solid, opaque. And although the swoopy styled parts have been removed, this bike remains beautiful, urgent. Thy name: Superleggera.

THE NUMBERS
PRICE\|$65,000
DISPLACEMENT\|1198cc
WEIGHT (CLAIMED)\|342 lb. (dry)
SEAT HEIGHT\|32.7 in.
FUEL CAPACITY\|4.5 gal.
TOP SPEED\|na (but Ducati calls the bike “phenomenally” quick)
HORSEPOWER (CLAIMED)\|200-plus @ 11,500 rpm
TORQUE (CLAIMED)\|99 lb.-ft. @ 10,200 rpm
FUN FACT\|The Superleggera’s lightweight crankshaft has tungsten counterweights.

Studio front 3/4 left-side view.

Studio left-side view.

Studio right-side view.

Studio rear 3/4 right-side view.

Studio front view.

Studio rear overhead view.

Machine front fork tri-clamps.

Magnesium fairing instrumentation support.

Special hi-compression edition.

Titanium bolts everywhere.

Rear wheel in magnesium forging and special lightweight hub.

Technical details:

That deep-dish wheel is forged magnesium, machined from the great lump of material that comes out of the dies. Today?s paper-light racing wheels owe their strength and fatigue resistance to the process of forging, squeezing heated metal into shape with thousands of tons of force. You?ve seen Ducati race mechanics do up that big nut after a wheel change. Just like the prop nuts of large aircraft piston engines, it has just a wire clip to keep it tight. The Army-color coating on the mag parts is what it takes to prevent this active metal from corroding. Those bright matte-aluminum parts are also forgings. Ever try to straighten one? They fight you?hard. The black textile surfaced carbon-fiber stuff is also very stiff?that?s what we are paying for?a much higher stiffness-to-weight ratio than any metal.

Technical details:

Take in the fine detail on the top fork crown. See the U-shaped slot just ahead of the top of the steering stem? See that its edge has a tiny 45-degree bevel? When the software for machining this part was written, it was easy to write in such bevels. If you watched the machine, it would stop, the tool carousel would cycle a small end-mill into position, and it would then trace all those edges, leaving nothing sharp.

Technical details:

Once it becomes possible to make perfect things, it becomes necessary. The Egyptians made wonderful vessels of hard stone, as round as if cut on a lathe?more than 5000 years ago. That impulse to perfection comes with being human.

Technical details:

Carbon fabric arrives pre-impregnated ,with exactly the amount of uncured resin to make a full-density part. Layup elements are cut out, positioned, and remain in place by the resin?s natural ?tack.? The vacuum bag compacts everything hard against the mold, then into the steam autoclave to cure. It looks...perfect.

Technical details:

Superquadro translates to ?oversquare,? and that is what the Superleggera?s engine is, at 112.0 x 60.8mm. In 2003, Ducati had no information on combustion in such big cylinders (A Chevy big-block is only 107mm) but they did the research. Tiny stroke, huge revs.

Technical details:

Casual, graceful brush-strokes, like Japanese calligraphy. Sure, sure, we know the seatback ?lives? in separated airflow, so functionally it could just as well have the shape of a big pinecone. But this is how we want it to be.

Technical details:

Before you put your left foot on that peg, inhale what?s happening here. Passing under the forged swingarm pivot support is the shift rod. Housed in black at upper right center is the Öhlins TTX rear suspension unit, with its titanium spring. Its rear end is captured by the suspension rocker, driven by the rod and ball joint linked to the motion of the single-sided swingarm. At bottom right center is one of the springs that secure joints in the rear cylinder?s pipe. The spring is wound in a conical shape, capturing the hook. Why so complicated? Hooks bent from the spring?s light wire break. These don?t. This is knowledge, frozen into physical things.

Technical details:

As the bike accelerates off a turn, the top run of the chain forms an angle with the central plane of the swingarm. The tangent of that angle, times the terrible tension in that Regina chain, becomes a force that supports the rear of the machine against its natural tendency to squat. Everything stays in balance, so the front end is not lifted. And you can steer. Remember Valentino?s words; ?The wheelie is the enemy.?

Technical details:

Aerospace engineers tut-tut when they see colors on welded titanium. They mean that there was still some oxygen in the glove box when the work was done. But people love the strange splotchy colors. Never heat-wrap titanium pipes. It turns them into crumbling yellow dust.

Technical details:

A new aesthetic has been created by CNC tool paths. Each precise, narrow line on this fork bottom was created by a ball-end milling cutter, as it cut away everything but what was specified on the drawing. Think of the stress on this part during braking; as pad friction with the disc tries to carry the caliper with it, a torque great enough to lift the rear tire off the ground is created. Imagine grasping the bottom of that titanium-nitride-coated fork tube in one fist and twisting. Intensity of force requires excellent parts.

Technical details:

The hidden dragon revealed?two air-hungry single-injector throttle bodies. The carbon seat frame bolts to the rear of the airbox and the magnesium cam cover of the rear cylinder is between its ?legs.? Have a look at how the clip-on bar attaches to the fork leg: by a hinged clamp. If damaged, it can be replaced in a single-bolt operation, without disturbing the upper crown. Racing teaches this wisdom.

Technical details:

The essence of a Vee-Twin. It is narrow.

Technical details:

Crouching tiger, hidden dragon. Our Italian-born European Editor Bruno dePrato and other engineers most admire this machine for the solid packaging of its essential organs. The forward frame/airbox is magnesium, carries the steering-head and bolts to the cylinder heads. An accessory shaft occupies the cylinder Vee, driving the water pump. A lot of volume is consumed by this engine?s tremendous exhaust pipes, terminating in the under-engine muffler. Crowding masses together enhances agility. The rear suspension unit, pushed out of its traditional place by the rear cylinder?s exhaust, bolts to a bracket on the rear cylinder. The front cylinder head wears its ?hat? (cam cover) at a jaunty angle for good reason: The front tire on full suspension compression nearly touches that cover. Shortening the exhaust valves and angling the cover brings the engine forward a useful bit. Load forward makes the front Pirelli steer better.

Technical details:

Here is the mag cover over the drive to the accessory shaft between cylinders, and below it the black rectangle of the small oil cooler. You see nothing extra here, yet this motorcycle is so utterly different from the British twins that thrilled riders of the ?50s and ?60s. You could see right through those classics, side-to-side. This engine has twice the displacement and everything is centralized in the name of quick turning. That makes it solid, opaque. Another point: all the swoopy styled parts have been removed, but the thing remains beautiful, urgent.

Technical details:

You?ve noticed that the front cylinder?s cam drive is on the left, and the rear?s is on the right. This shot emphasizes the volume that must be given to plumbing ? big pipes, heat shields, length that used to reach past rear axles compressed for this purposeful package. Drink in complex shapes and textures. Hollywood CG artists labored to draw them into the Death Star, but these are real.