Ducati Superquadrata
 

Well all this talk about the 1198 WSB replacement is interesting.
Apparently dealers have seen the bike but had phones taken off them and had to sign non disclosure agreeents.
Looks to be an interesting upgrade to the 1198. Kind of V2 Desmosidici.

http://www.moto123.com/motorcycle-ne...y?artid=121591

Apparently a video is doing the rounds somewhere.

Any other info?

Found this.

Found This
http://forum.m4e.com/motosports-spor...superbike.html

So it's an Alan Cathcart article quoting Motosprint's Massimo Clarke as the source.

I'm not overly convinced as there are some real major changes listed:
- rotated engine by 90deg to give rear-ward facing bias?
- move to gear AND chain driven cams?
- loss of trellis for stressed engine frame?
- dual spark ignition heads?
- debut at Milan in Nov 2011?

While it all sounds great, it really will be ripping up the Ducati rule book if all these things are true!

Havnt you known about this for ages..........:lol:

You still here Andy? I thought you'd got your feet under that table with all your buddies at the ISC these days? ;)

it was there seemed to be a significant amount of publicity middle last year and then little else. However it seems that it was shown to annual dealer meeting this year.

It's interesting to compare with how the 1098 was released to the public - virtually no spy shots whatsoever and then suddenly it was all over the place; on their website, press releases and even in Bike magazine!

But similarly, the 1098 keeps a lot of the heritage of the previous line - belt driven cams, 90deg L-twin forward facing engine, trellis frame, dry clutch...

When you look at all the bikes Ducati have made in the last 10-15 years, they're all evolutions of the current design, even if they don't look like traditional Ducatis: Hypermotard, Multistrada 1200, Diavel ... all have the same recognisable Ducati traits.

I'm just a bit sceptical that there will be such radical changes in the essence of what we consider to be a modern sports Ducati.

I was at a presentation a week or two back where a member of the Ducati race team gave an overview of all this technology. He also talked about the problem witrh tyre to front head clearance.

the current GP bikes no longer use a trellis front part to the frame, and the entire seat unit is carbon fibre simply bolted to the back of the engine.
The swinging arm mounts directly to it too, so consequently the engine is a stressed member.

There is aome really clever stuff going on with these bikes. Because they now spend so much time on thier sides the suspension is also on its side, so engineers are designing swinging arm and headstocks to be flexible in one direction but rigid in the other, and with varying stiffness depending on which track your at :)

What that article is saying to me is simply some of this technology is going to make its way to the production bikes. That doesn't sound too out of the ordinary.
What is though is the obvious cost of all these bits, plus the ability for other manufacturers to have a good old look over all that they (Ducati racing) are currently doing.
Although I am not sure whether this article is correct, I would expect some of this lot to come close to production some time in the not too distant future.

Does developing a road bike from motoGP technology lead to an eventual return to WSB with a more up-to-date and competitive bike?

Surely the lessons learnt from the motoGP project have to filter through to road bike development eventually?

Martin