Quote:
| Originally Posted by FiscusFish Ducatis issue seems to be that to remain competitive the 1000cc v-twins need to be in a higher state of tune than IL4s and that costs more in maintenance terms. |
There's a great article in Motorcycle Racer this month with Claudio Domenicali (Ducati Corse) and Paolo Ciabatti (Ducati WSB) about the development of the 1200 and the reasons behind it.
Basically the 1000cc engine cannot be developed any more without great expense. Ducati cannot reach the same levels of power as the 1000cc IL4s, so they have to look at other ways of staying competitive - traction control being one.
The consumer market dictates that Ducati have to keep with the power output of the 1000cc IL4s, so they have to go to 1200cc - they have no other choice. The Superbike bikes are supposed to be based on the consumer market, and this is why Ducati want the 1200cc limit for twins introduced. It will then match their consumer product and make the twin competitive without the great expense in tuning and need for electronic trickery.