it'll be sad if they do lose the Terblanche's inflence, he's designed the 2 best, real world usuable Ducati road bikes in the 999 and multistrada and understands the balance between what customers want in performance and the function over form equation and is also responsible for what, (IMHO), is the most best Ducati ever in the Supermono. Add in the MH900E and the work he did with CRC on the 916 and his influence is part of what make's Ducati design and history so appealing.

Quite why any progressive company would want to lose designers like that is beyond me, hey ho, we'll go back 15 years to singlesided swingarms and twin cans and spend the next few years watching sales dwindle as the customer base ages then someone finally realises that its not the design that's the problem but the production and manufacturing costs, running costs and increase in competition.

Are twin cans really history??

2006 R1, ZX10, et al Sure in 1993/4 twin underseat cans were rare but they are on far more bikes now in 2006. (BMW, enduro type trailies and so on)

IMHO the 2006 R1 set up looks good.

Single sided swing are maybe a case of style over function and in some respects that is what Ducati are all about, a single sider is maybe not the ultimate techy solution but it does look good??



Ray.

i think you answered your own question there Ray, yes, they are history and Ducati as a design based company should set trends not follow them or stick with them. Its time to move on when everyone copies you, at that point you need to have something new and different,.

Everyone seems to have missed Ducati's biggest problem now, with 3 D software , rapid prototype modelling and a generation of designers who travel internationally they no longer enjoy the design advantage they had early nineties, Japan has caught up and now leads them in certain aspects of design, yes, they can do DD16RR but its the abilty to bring that into a more affordable package which will be the issue, Japan does that very succesfully. to go back to the 916 IMHO is not good for them long term, they need to evolve the concepts and function of the new bikes and add a bit more style to them. For me an underseat can, short so it doesn't go past the end of the seat and with 2 round holes a la desmosidici would be way more attractive , it might involve a cat like the multi has under the swingarm but it would look stunning, who could possibly want old style twin cans if that was available??

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!


I have blathered on enough about Ducati needing to link new bike to old in some way.

We will see if there are any cues from the old series later this year but seeing as Domencialli is a Porsche fan, who thinks evolution is the way to go over revolotion I wouldn't bet much more that a shilling against the the return of twin cans or side by side headlamps!!

Ray

oh great, just like every jap bike then :) at least it'll appeal to the faithful but hardly likely to bring in the new customers Ducati so desperately need.

Its interesting to chat to non Ducati owners, been on Hartside a few evenings of this week and keep stopping at the cafe in between runs and most people ask about the 999, the comments are almost all the same, "when it first came out i thought it was ugly but now its grown on me and the old 916 shape looks dated" most have seen the DD16RR and like that so they need the new superbike shape to be more DD than old 916 IMHO

we'll find out soon enough anyway :)

Yep,at a recent BHCN meeting at Grafham the owner of the cafe nipped out to look at all the bikes.As usual there was a selection of 996/998 Bayliss/888/ST's,....but what caught his eye,.....yup,my 999.:smug: :cool:

Gizmo and Keefy
 

... you're so old fashioned - get with the programme - you have to accept change boys, the 999 is sooooooooooooooo last year, the new model is the future, no good hankering for the past :)

:lol: :frog:

Grafham... they don't have one of those in Poland... :mad:

But I did notice when we did RTL back in June, suddenly there are more 999 shapes than 916 shape bikes, and put the two together and the old ones look dated. Don't get me wrong, mine still does it for me when I go down to the garage and uncover it, but I followed Marko's black 999S for miles down the A1 and it looks superb from every angle.

For what it's worth, I think Ducati should be moving forward, not going backwards. The 916 was and always will be a gorgeous, iconic bike, but it's had it's time, it's time to move forward (imho)

Cheers
Martin

This is good news ...
 

Really looking forward to the new bike :) The look is very important and the indications already are that it will have some clear 916 overtures as current Porches have with the 911.

Far more importnant will be the road perfomace vs the Jap 1000s - hence the larger engine - as the current bike is lacking here, plus reduced cost of ownership with longer service intervals and reduced servicing costs. I'd expect the price to be still around £11,000 here - with the usual variants coming through.

Me? I'll be looking for a really nice 999R this winter :)