Ducati’s first standard production four-cylinder motorcycle

Ducati’s “first standard production four-cylinder motorcycle” will be launched at Milan’s EICMA motorcycle show in November, with the Italian company giving a preview of the engine on the eve of the Italian GP at Misano.

The engine, based closely on the MotoGP motor, is dubbed “Desmosedici Stradale”; the new bike that will be the first to use it the Panigale V4.

Ducati did make a road-legal V4 MotoGP replica in 2007/8, but with the Desmosedici RR’s production limited to just 1,500 machines, it was more collector’s piece than street bike.

The new version sees the 90-degree V4 reworked for road manners, including a capacity increase to 1103cc to improve torque with a slightly longer stroke. The production engine measures 81mm X 53.5mm; still the biggest bore size in the four-cylinder sports-bike world.

Other attributes from racing are retained, including variable-length intake, reverse-direction crank rotation, Twin Pulse big-bang firing intervals with crank pins off-set at 70 degrees, and the engine disposition with the front cylinder 42 degrees from horizontal.

With a 14:1 compression ratio, maximum power is quoted as more than 210 at 13,000rpm; max torque at more than 120Nm between 8,750 and 12,250rpm. The (of course) desmodromic valve gear is operated by a gear-chain combination; and a six-speed gearbox is equipped with the Ducati Quick Shift (DQS) system allowing clutchless shifting in both directions.

Describing the engine as “a technological gem”, Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali added: “The engine also highlights … just how instrumental racing can be in developing the technology that is later applied to production bikes.”