Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 999 / 749 > continued 999 speculation in MCN

[Rod]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

i don't think this is MCN's fault, its Ducati's inability to accept that the way they market product and released info to the press has not adapted to reflect the changes the internet has brought and the need for printed magazines to beat the websites with stories. |The new bike must be past the concept stage , taking a critical path back from a November launch in Milan means that given a "normal"lead time of 60 -90 days for components, time to run a small preproduction batch, manufacturing moulds for fairings and other unique parts and testing it all works, the design has to be somewhere near final now. Compare the route Ducati take to a succesful European brand like Triumph which is increasing sales , they allow limited press publication of the prototyping and testing of new models in the likes of MCN, it doesn't harm sales as the dealers and customers then know what is coming not speculating on it. I don't understand why Ducati don't releave visuals on concepts onto their own website to stop the speculation other than thinking they'll lose the impact from its launch, not much use if you've lost 5 month sales and upset dealers and customers in the process.

I'm with you on that one. The new 1198/S/R bike must be close to or nearing completion in terms of the design. November is not that far away and as you say, tooling up, even for preproduction is a time consuming process, so we have to conclude that the bike is, bar a few last minute changes due to test results and costs, almost complete. I was not entirely convinced by the spy shots in the Italian "MotoSprint" magazine of the bike circling Mugello, as even with the black gaffa tape all over the fairing panels, it was at best a test mule for the mechanical components and if you can "let your guard down" quite that publically, it smacks of nothing short of a red herring visually to keep the press guessing. I like the idea of Ducati issuing some pre production concept sketches though. They would do well to get the feedback before they launch the new bike (as with the HyperMotard) before they commit commercial suicide and unveil the unthinkable (a rehashed 999). Let's hope thats not the case and that Alan Jenkins or the like has a hand in it's design as the Demosedici he penned is just gorgeous and leagues ahead of Terblanches recent abominations. If you disagree with that, then the post 999 introduction era which heralded poor sales figures, ought to back up my last statement.

[sbwells]

Originally Posted by Rod

I'm with you on that one. The new 1198/S/R bike must be close to or nearing completion in terms of the design. November is not that far away and as you say, tooling up, even for preproduction is a time consuming process, so we have to conclude that the bike is, bar a few last minute changes due to test results and costs, almost complete. I was not entirely convinced by the spy shots in the Italian "MotoSprint" magazine of the bike circling Mugello, as even with the black gaffa tape all over the fairing panels, it was at best a test mule for the mechanical components and if you can "let your guard down" quite that publically, it smacks of nothing short of a red herring visually to keep the press guessing. I like the idea of Ducati issuing some pre production concept sketches though. They would do well to get the feedback before they launch the new bike (as with the HyperMotard) before they commit commercial suicide and unveil the unthinkable (a rehashed 999). Let's hope thats not the case and that Alan Jenkins or the like has a hand in it's design as the Demosedici he penned is just gorgeous and leagues ahead of Terblanches recent abominations. If you disagree with that, then the post 999 introduction era which heralded poor sales figures, ought to back up my last statement.

Yeap......Like your thinking mate

[phil_h]

Personally, I think anyone would give them a better design than any of Terblanche's efforts for them.
They do seem to oscillate between great visual designs and complete dogs tho ... think back to the 860-series-dogs sandwiched between the bevel-SS and the Darmah, the F1 series then the Paso-dogs followed by the carby-belt-SS designs.
Here's hoping !

[Gizmo]

Originally Posted by phil_h

Personally, I think anyone would give them a better design than any of Terblanche's efforts for them.

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.

[chillo]

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
I didnt pay £20k for a bike with a motor that is 'built' in under an hour!
(eg. Cam timing 8deg out? wtf? )
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!

[keefer]

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

[Foxy]

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 !

[UKRR]

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).