CW 5Q: Pierre Terblanche

Few motorcycle designers—okay, no motorcycle designers—evoke passions, pro and con, like Pierre Terblanche. Internet chat room dwellers, guys around a Sunday-morning-ride breakfast table, any gathering of Ducati owners, will debate whether this 51-year-old South African native is a forward-thinking trendsetter or the defiler of the most beautiful two-wheeled creations know to man, the Ducati 916 series of Superbikes.

In his years as a designer for Ducati, Terblanche has penned many successful and acclaimed bikes besides the distinctive-looking 999. His Supermono has inspired lust among Thumper aficionados the world over, and his SportClassic line of retro bikes signaled a whole new direction for Ducati. He also designed models for Cagiva before he started as Ducati's Director of Design in 1997.Recently, he was in the States and we invited him to our favorite bistro (what else?) near the Cycle World digs to discuss his work and the state of the world motorcycle market. Here's what he had to say.

CW: You started in automotive design, working on cars for Volkswagen. Which industry do you prefer?

PT: I’m a motorcycle enthusiast, so this is where I like to be.

CW: One of our readers wanted to know where the flat seats that standard motorcycles used to have went? Why does every new motorcycle look like it’s poking its ass in the air?

PT: The problem is that modern suspension gives you lots of wheel travel—on the new Ducati GT 1000, we have 122mm (almost 5 inches) as opposed to 85mm (3.3 in.) on an old Ducati scrambler—which means the subframe has to be taller than older designs. It’s difficult to fit flat seats and long-travel suspension. One could of course fit slightly less suspension travel and have a lower seat height. This is what one finds on some custom/cruiser bikes on the market today. It all depends on the priorities. Of course, people also like the racebike look of ass in the air...

CW: You've made a lot of Ducatisti unhappy with your 999 and some other controversial designs. Why are they so ticked off and how do you feel about that? (Here, Terblanche seemed relaxed and unapologetic, where I was expecting him to be exasperated and defensive. I'm certain he's been asked this question a lot since 2003!)

PT: I thought that the 916 series needed to move on. The original 916 was a beautiful bike, but it had a lot of issues that owners and journalists alike remarked on and complained about. These were mainly practical issues regarding using the bike on the road under real-world conditions. The 999 fixed a lot of the issues; it was a direct response to the complaints about the 916/996/998. Maybe I was too rational; maybe people liked those flaws. The intention had been to give people an exciting bike which also works well under real-world riding conditions. I now know that I went too far on the styling for the average biker, but as you well know it’s always easier to play Monday-morning quarterback. It is all so easy to discuss now but, hey, you win some and you lose some, and it’s all water under the bridge now.

CW: What’s the future for the SportClassics?

PT: Well (laughs), you don’t need to update them, do you? As they are already classic―styling-wise, that is―the changes we will be making will be to continually improve the functional side of the bikes and improve both quality and finish. The Classics are great because they are modern bikes that handle and perform really well yet have the looks that fulfill the rider’s desires. They seem to be selling quite well.

CW: Your Hypermotard 1100 is getting lots of ink, and other big-bore motards are coming. Do you see supermoto-styled bikes becoming much more popular than today, or will they always be a niche market?

PT: We will have to wait and see. The motards, especially the Singles, we have seen up to now have really not been very practical. It depends on how good the new bikes are.