Famed psychologist Dr. Burrhus Skinner proved that intermittent reward is powerful. Ducati has used his technique, dribbling out tidbits of information on the soon-to-be-revealed, 195-horsepower “Panigale” V-Twin Superbike.
It’s working: Ducati has our full attention! The info packet includes a choppy video, engine photos and descriptive text.
The new liquid-cooled, 1198cc engine finally carries out the intended program of the original “Ottovalvole” designer, Massimo Bordi, by having its cylinders a structural part of the crankcases (hard-coated liners are separate), and by having rugged, long-lasting plain main bearings. It also explores territory once considered by Ducati for a possible MotoGP Twin: a very large, 112.0mm (4.41-inch) bore. Just as important is the big step to a 15,000-mile service interval, something Duc owners have yearned for.
The cylinders have been rotated 6 additional degrees to the rear, lifting the front cylinder 21 degrees above horizontal and allowing the engine to move 32mm (1.26 in.) farther forward. The purpose of the change is to place more load on the front tire (to keep it steering during hard acceleration) and to make possible use of a longer swingarm. The gearbox is tucked neatly under the rear cylinder.
Years ago, the shaking of a British parallel-Twin at 7000 rpm made us see double, but the self-balancing 90-degree cylinder angle of Ducati Twins allows this giant to make its peak output of 195 hp at 10,750 rpm smoothly. The new crankshaft is beefy but gracefully shaped, and the pistons and crank counterweights are shaped to neatly miss each other at BDC. When you see the crank photo, the rods look short—until you learn that the stroke is only 60.8mm (2.39 in.).
To provide positive drive to throw open and then close pairs of 46.8mm titanium intake and 38.2mm titanium exhaust valves, Panigale’s desmodromic cam drive is by roller chain from each end of the crank up to a single sprocket in each head, where the cams are driven by gears. The opening and closing levers take the form of the stiff webbed beams used on Ducati’s MotoGP bikes.
The rising and falling of such big pistons pushes air back-and-forth from cylinder to cylinder in the crankcase, and at higher revs, this air pumping can consume significant power. Formula 1 and MotoGP engines have vacuum pumps to pull much of the crankcase air out, cutting this loss; the Panigale engine uses a large-volume Gerotor pump to do this same job. A deep, racing-style “spike” oil sump keeps oil around the pickup during rapid maneuvering.
Doesn’t it take a Buick starter to turn such a giant? No, because an automatic decompression device on each exhaust cam lifts the valves enough to allow a tiny starter and light battery to do the job, saving 7 pounds of weight in the process. Once the engine spins, the decompressors are retracted.
This engine’s castings are produced by the Ritter Vacural vacuum die-casting process, eliminating porosity and producing lighter, stronger aluminum parts. Outer covers are magnesium. Those who are permanently in love with cooling fins may be disappointed by Panigale’s many-webbed die castings, but the eye soon begins to find all the familiar parts. What’s not so familiar are the throttle-by-wire control motors, whose housings are integrated into the main throttle-body castings. There are once more two injectors per cylinder—one below the throttle butterfly and one in the high-rpm “showerhead” position, hovering above the intake bellmouth. The area of the oval throttle bodies is equivalent to a 67.5mm (2 5⁄8-in.) round hole.
Peak torque is nearly 100 foot-pounds at 9000 rpm, passing through a self-servo wet slipper clutch to an upgraded gearbox with larger-diameter gears.
That’s our reward for today. More later.
