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The SportClassic family, which has met with great success since its first appearance, replicates the styling of the motorcycles built in Ducati’s workshops in the 1970s, characterised by a minimalist, sporting look, with an exposed frame and bodyparts in soft, rounded shapes.
To emphasis the unique style of these bikes, Ducati has used top-level original components and finishes, featuring chrome and brightwork that provide the final touch, personalise the range and evoke the lines of the bikes from which they’re inspired.
The whole SportClassic family mates retro style with modern technology and mounts the brilliant Desmo 1000 DS engine: delivering impressive torque, this air-cooled 90° “L” twin-cylinder is the ideal engine for these new sports models.
The cylinders, with their traditional cooling fins and classic L-configuration, harken to the original design by Taglioni. The 1000 DS engine is equipped with the Desmo twin-valve system, fuel injection and an electronic engine control to guarantee power, reliability, thrilling performance and ease of use.
As of 2007, the Sport 1000 will be available in two new versions: as well as the traditional single-seater, the Sport 1000 will be produced in an updated two-seater version for the new season, with a comfortable seat for both rider and pillion, complete with removable seat-cover so as to leave that perfect Café Racer style undiminished.
Ducati 1199 Panigale – The World’s Most Powerful Twin-Cylinder Engine
The 2012 Ducati 1199 Piangale is more of an off-the-lot racer. This new model packs 20 more horses and weighs 20 pounds less than the current 1198 model. The combination of a 360lb. curb weight and 195 horsepower translates to speed that will peel your face off. Surprisingly, the anti-lock braking system is optional. Hold on tight.
Ducati 1199 Panigale, released November 2011, is a sport bike based on previous Ducati 1198 and named after the small manufacturing Italian town of Borgo Panigale. Its engine, the new Superquadro, is claimed to be the most powerful production twin-cylinder—generating 195 horsepower at 10,750 rpm and 98.1 lb-ft torque at 9000 rpm.
With its dry weight of 361 lbs, Ducati 1199 holds another record: it has the highest power-to-weight and torque-to-weight ratios in the world among production motorcycles. The bike is also one of the first production sport bikes with electronically adjustable suspension and the lightest production sport bike and Superbike motorcycle on the market.
The Current MSRP is US$17,995.
Cabin motorcycles, the nomenclature for fully enclosed 2 wheelers, are an interesting vehicle concept that, no matter their function or rationale, have to overcome a lot of resistance from both drivers and motorcyclists.
The Monotracer is the newer, redesigned and updated version and has BMW K1200 power with 130 hp, 14 gallons of fuel on board, tops out at 155 mph and at a steady 75 mph gets 47 mpg. All of the expected climate control features, heating and A/C are included.
The body is a composite-monocoque made from glass, kevlar and carbon weave bonded with epoxy-resin and reinforced with aluminum crash and roll bars.
These enclosed 2 wheelers have stabilizing wheels deployed at low speeds, while stopped and when in reverse. They extend or retract in about a half second and are "computer supervised." When retracted, the stabilizing wheels are still exposed and touchdown when leaned over at 52 degrees, a pretty impressive angle for some high speed maneuvering.
Motorcycle handlebars control the steering, throttle and such and when strapped into your seat, the videos give you the impression of being in a tandem seat airplane cockpit. It actually looks like a lot of fun and performance appears to be really good, more than enough to dust off any cars you're likely to encounter and easily able to keep up with most bikes.
The Monotracer body style looks very aerodynamic though it is not what I would consider beautiful, functionally appealing would be more accurate, though it doesn't look bad by any means. Once you took a high speed ride swooping through the turns, I bet it would begin to look a lot better, too. Also, it seems to be a considerable improvement over the original Ecomobile.
The new Monotracer is priced at 52,000 Euros, (US$73,500), so it's out of reach of a lot of buyers but, exclusivity can be a strong attraction.