C'mon man, get off the bl**dy fence :lol:

wrong way round I'm afraid, the 916 was designed by a CRC design team consisting of Tamburini, Terblanche and Sergio Robbiano plus others. Tamburini nicked the best bits from bikes like the Honda NR750 and added Terblanche's waisted styling, tank shape etc from the supermono. That supermono look created by Terblanche took Ducati from big boxy front ends into the sleek shape most now consider to be a Ducati.

With the 999 Terblanche was allowed to do his own thing hence the more individualistic look of it.

Well perhaps he has split personalities : ) (Terblanche)

The net result to me is that the 999 is less than the sum of it's parts ...

....incoming !!

Hmmm ... most big companies put design-sub-teams on bits of projects and them put them all together later ... all the japs do for sure, and its a certain way of giving the engineer enough time to concentrate on their own problems in their own area. If you have too small a design team, or let one person rule, you get uneven quality every time, as the rose-tinted glasses, or time-pressure take over.
Too big a team and you definitely get bland-bland-bland tho.

And engineering is the art of compromise actually.
Thats why good engineering is often great art.

Ok I may be biased with me owning a 749R but myself and loads of other bikers I know think that my bike looks stunning and wherever we go there is always a crowd looking at my bike, even old couples in the small village tea rooms so it cannot be that bad.

Like every bike ever made there are parts that some people do not like but this applies to every bike even the latest japanese models.

Personnaly I thought the single sided swinging arm looked brilliant and the first 749/999 version was awful but the new versions are very nice, but even if the new model has got a single sided swinging arm could any one of us really notice any difference in rigidity ???

I think that the only reason the 749/999 has not hit it off with some people is because the 748/916 etc was such an icon which was always going to be a hard act to follow.

I hope the new model is not 'too' nice as I would be gutted to see my bike go especially when I could not afford the top of the range or R model.

The single sider worked ok on the 998 1/2 of Chili. When the 999 was not handling to well ( in wsb, bsb, and ama). Who cares if it's a compromize, if thats the argument lets talk about the problems with telescopic forks. Every manufacturer knows it is a compromize. But we all ride them how best WE can, not to the limit of the machine!

When it wasnt working well............was then when it won WSB in 2003 or when it won i 2004?

The majority if teams were having handling problems . Chili just proved that a out of date design can still compete if the power output is there. I'm sure any modern bike can still have a bit of a dice with an RC30, RC45, 916etc. Which bike holds the official record around the Nordschleife? I know someone who is blistering around there on an 05 R1. Yet he can not stay with an RC30 . So what if it's not the chosen route by the masses. Why shouldn't a manufacturer also consider the aesthetics (can anyone genuinly say the single sider didn't look good on the 916 series), isn't that why most of us buy what we want to.

Hence my quote on the limitations Terblanche worked around on the 999, same engine and basic layouts yet has to look new. Compromised but still good design.


each to their own but i prefer up to date design and i don't see the 999 as being an inferior road bike to a 916 far from it, it takes those same parts and gives a better performing bike.


A singlesider might have worked years ago but now there would be a weight penalty, horsepower and tyre grip have moved on. I'm sure moto gp teams would use an alternative to the telescopic fork if a viable alternative existed, budget isn't a consideration all that matters is performance why don't they do it ?

Better the devil they know.