| I agree with the fact that Ducati are in dire straits, that seems to be the fate of so many Italian motorcycle companies - boom, bust and financial rescue.
I also agree that unless they're switched on to change, the brave little Euro manufacturers will suffer the same way as the British motorcycle industry did. I remember riding the first Honda 750 Four to appear in our locality and I remember laughing with my mates afterwards about the horrible rubber frame, the horrible rubber on the japanese tyres and the way the chrome was showing signs of rust and flakiness on a 3 month old bike....Nah! I'll keep my 'bitza' A10 ta... then look what happened, the Japanese continued to improve on the design and engineering (they've never been great innovators) and the rest is history.
In reading roadtests of the time about my 888 the thing that comes across is that it destroys the Japanese competition of the day as an all round sportsbike, but times have changed. The Japanese have upped the ante, and despite the fact that nobody can really use all the power of a modern sportsbike on the road, there will always be those people who are impressed by 'willy waving' statistics and will want the latest, greatest whether they can use them properly or not. In fact, they seem to want them in droves. Simple equation for a Japanese superbike. More Power, More Speed, Handling that's on a par (if different) and two thirds the price of a 999 and you don't have to be a genius to work out what's going to appeal to the masses more.
So yes, to compete in that market, Ducati can no longer rest on their racing laurels and they're going to have to produce a bike that can compete on equal terms with the Japanese - if the stats of the new ZX10 are to be believed, the benchmark is getting up to a pretty stupid 180 bhp. They won't be able to compete on price with the Japanese, but there are enough people willing to buy into a bit of exclusivety that it shouldn't be a problem (after all, some people buy Aston's when the comparable Jag is cheaper). Under those circumstances the V4 is the only way to go to get that sort of power (after all why would you buy a Ducati if it was just another IL4) and if they could do that with their superbikes they'd be back in the game - wouldn't it be great for Ducati to make the worlds best superbike.
At the moment they just make the worlds best V-twin sportsbike and a twin is never going to make the outright power of a four.
But, here's the thing - I LOVE V-TWINS and there are a hell of a lot of people - including me, that have bought a Ducati because of their V-Twin engine, as well as their desmo valves, dry clutch and all the other characterful traits that give them soul. So sorry Henners, I don't think the V-Twin has had it's day - when I bought my 888, I might have had a fleeting split second notion to get a Honda SP2 instead, but I would never have even considered a Fireblade.  |