But he designed the supermono, influenced the 916 and has created the best real world road bikes Ducati have made in the 999 and multistrada and ST3/4 plus did the sport classics. he changed the way we think about bikes making them smaller, thinner and more shaped. And all those projects retained the same basic engine/chassis configuration he was stuck with given the limits that must be imposed on real development. An amazing job in my book.

I've said this before but he is as influential as Jonathon Ives is at Apple and Ducati won't find a successor easily.

Something ducati need to do is actually move away from mass produced bikes thrown together like a meccano kit!
The 999 is actually a very good bike, not everyone likes change tho:rolleyes:
I didnt pay £20k for a bike with a motor that is 'built' in under an hour!:o
(eg. Cam timing 8deg out? wtf?:mad: )
I want a bike that has been built properly and would be happy to pay for that.
Unfortunately after also getting shafted with the depreciation on my 999r i am not confident in going forward with a Sedici! (its £10k too much IMHO) Even if it looks like its being built like an R should be!

its going to be single sided.
other than that I don't mind what they do.
I think the price depreciation chillo is talking about has happened because there is no difficulty in getting hold of the 999R model.
but as he said if its going to be expensive it has to be built well.
all I hope is that it looks good and goes better.
I think the back end may resemble the Guzzi prototype that was floating around a while back.
Still not long to wait now ?
but it will be single sided ;)

I would be interested to know if they put any of there concepts in front of the people who buy Ducati's.

Tim - if you're reading perhaps you could comment ?

IMO the latest 999r looks pretty good, the swingarm is better proportioned than the original design and the high spec components keep you attention away from some of the awkward areas of the design.

When I first saw the original 999 I couldn't believe it escaped from the factory with some of the design irregularities.

I am planning to buy a bike next year, if the new Duke is not my cup of tea I'll buy an RS250 Honda for a track bike and wait another 5 years .....

I am really looking forward to see what is delivered !

Thats a shame.....single sided is a compromise from an engineering and racing standpoint...just a sop to the people who thought the 999 was ugly.
Single sided swinging arms were great for RVF racers looking to win the TT or Suzuka 8 hours where seconds saved in the pits could mean the difference between winning and losing. Ducati's don't tend to do well in longer distance races so the advantage of a single sider is limited.
Ducati always say that Racing defines their design....in this case it will not (assuming that the arm is single sided of course).

hmmm
not sure its the major limiting factor in wining a championship that some make out.
rigidity is not always the solution. take the Roberts bike that has had bits taken out of its chassis to make it more flexible. its not doing bad.
and they have moved there shock mounting back to something from 500 days.
it only got beat by one factory Honda at the weekend.
but nether the less going single sided is to appease the masses who just think it looks the nuts. which it does :rolleyes:

What do you mean by this mate? Not questioning you,just not sure what you mean?

:)

Honda ditched the single sider in WSB on RC45 as it was of no benefit....they are heavier than normal swinging arm and distort in a way which does not help handling....flex is one thing.....having your rear wheel out of line is another

No problem, I just felt that certain items, like the fuel tank look slightly small in relation to other parts of the bike. Another example was the original swingarm, which although fit for purpose looked a little lightweight and out of place.
It may sound like I'm being over critical, but for a premium product and the most recognisable brand in motorcycling it does look like different people designed different parts of the 999.

Kind of "form coming from function".

I'm really looking forward to the next model, I can't help feeling it might be a compromise.

[quote=Foxy]No problem, I just felt that certain items, like the fuel tank look slightly small in relation to other parts of the bike. Another example was the original swingarm, which although fit for purpose looked a little lightweight and out of place.
It may sound like I'm being over critical, but for a premium product and the most recognisable brand in motorcycling it does look like different people designed different parts of the 999.
QUOTE]

It looks like it was "designed" by a council committee. The 748/916 looks like it was designed by someone who loves bikes.