Seeing the 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale in the flesh for the first time was worth driving two hours through packed traffic in downtown Milan. Indeed, the 1199 is a monument to ultimate motorcycle engineering and styling. Finally, an heir to the legendary 916!
For a 1.2-liter road- and track-burner, the 1199 is very compact, very light, very sleek and very, very powerful. When the 1199 appeared on stage, the crowd of media people attending the press conference went wild; the bike really is pure beauty.
The performance claims are equally staggering: 195 horsepower, 101.8 foot-pounds of torque, 388 lb. wet-minus-fuel weight. Weight distribution is a “never seen before on a Ducati L-Twin” 52/48 static, thanks in part to a single-sided swingarm that is much longer than the one used on the 1198, to accurately centered components (see the under-belly exhaust system) and to a wheelbase stretched to 56.5 inches. The 1199 features all the best you can expect on a top-class superbike, including anti-lock brakes, traction control, selectable power delivery and an electronically assisted quick shifter.
There are three versions: 1199, 1199 S and 1199 Tricolore. The second model has the lightest, neatest-looking forged wheels one could dream of. The Y-shaped spoke design is much more elegant than that of the cast wheel fitted to the standard 1199. The S also features electronically managed Öhlins suspension. Here, the 1199 might have a slight edge in that it uses the lightest fork in production: the all-aluminum Tenneco-Marzocchi RAC 50 Light. Alleged to provide a 2-lb. reduction in unsprung mass, this new fork incorporates a sealed, pressurized cartridge, with separate fluid for damping and oil for lubrication. Exclusive to the 1199 are compact and lightweight Brembo Monobloc radial-mount front brake calipers teamed with 330mm rotors.
Ducati CEO Gabriele Del Torchio supported General Manager Claudio Domenicali all the way with massive investments in the 1199 Panigale, as he had previously done with the Multistrada 1200 and Diavel—two big successes that made Ducati sales soar to more than 42,000 units this year in the face of a declining world market.
Ducati also unveiled four more models: the Diavel AMG and Streetfighter 848, and the related Diavel Chrome and 848 EVO Corse.
