Biketest: Ducati Desmosedici RR
The Desmosedici RR is rather a special machine. Only
around 400 will be produced a year. To get towards the upper
reaches of the queue it helps if you already own a Ducati 999R,
that ensures you will get priority.
Why the fuss, what's so special about it? Just a few things; like, this is as near as you can get to a real MotoGP machine. In motorcycling terms this is as near as ever you will get to having a Grand Prix car in your garage.
The design and aerodynamics are pure Desmosedici GP6, which in case it escapes you is Ducati's MotoGP machine. So, too, the colour scheme, the fittings, the materials used in its construction, as well as the technical features of the powerful four-cylinder desmodromic engine built by the Borgo Panigale factory engineers.
That's not all. The engine delivers over 200bhp @ 13,500rpm. The bike weighs a mere 165kg. That means it is capable of producing the equivalent of an unbelievable 1,212bhp per tonne, heading well towards enough power to leave earth's orbit!
This is quite something. So also is the price, a mere €56,348. You might wonder if, in this small country with around 35,000 bikers, there are any willing and able to come up with that kind of money.
Well, this machine was launched at Ducati Dublin at 10am on December 2nd. By lunchtime six Desmosedici RRs had been sold, and several more sales seemed to be in the pipeline.
Take a closer look at what you too can have. The engine uses Ducati's signature desmodromic valve operation. That means that instead of the valves being pushed open by a rocker and closed by a valve spring, the rocker both opens and closes the valve. This enables much more precise valve control and eliminates the risk of sticking or bouncing valves. It is a much more logical and efficient method of valve operation.
Ducati's distinctive L cylinder layout is used for the 998cc four cylinders in an asymmetrical twin-pulse configuration with four titanium valves per cylinder. The double overhead cams are gear driven.
This means that the engine is an authentic copy of the Grand Prix engine, right down to the cassette-type six-speed transmission and hydraulically operated slipper clutch.
The fuel injection system uses four 50mm Magneti Marelli throttle bodies with 12-hole 'microjet' injectors and is managed by a Magneti Marelli 5SM electronic control unit.
The exhaust is a 4 into 2 into 1 system with a 'vertical exit' silencer hidden in the tail cover. With the optional 102dB racing silencer and CPU race kit the engine's power delivery exceeds 200bhp.
Extensive use is made of exotic race-derived materials: the end result begins to sound more like jewellery than mechanics: a sand cast aluminium crankcase and cylinder heads, titanium con rods and valves, sand-cast magnesium engine covers, Marchesini forged and machined magnesium alloy wheels and carbon fibre bodywork.
The frame is Ducati's well-known tubular trellis hybrid (ALS 450), the geometry of which is identical to the Desmosedici GP6. The rear seat support section of the frame is high temperature resin-type carbon fibre.
The extra-long swinging arm is pressed aluminium alloy with the same geometry as the GP bike; the Öhlins rear shock is attached above the swinging arm to a rocker hinged to the crankcase. The shock has rebound, low/high speed compression and hydraulic pre-load adjustment.
Front suspension is 43mm OSD Öhlins FG353 pressurised forks, fully adjustable in pre-load, rebound and compression, and with 'TiN' coated sliders. The seven-spoke magnesium alloy wheels are of the same design as the GP machine.
The whole package is as near perfection as you are ever likely to get in terms of outright - and outrageous - performance at any price.
Very few riders are likely to be able to afford or, no matter how hard they try, to justify buying such a machine. We reckon that, at most, there are fewer than a score of riders who could begin to use more than a fraction of this bike's potential. It comes complete with a number plate holder.
In our view it would be a sin to use this bike on the road, it was never meant for that. Its place is on the track. Indeed, if you decided only to use yours on the track there's no need to pay VRT and register the bike, saving just €1,348.
With the limited production run and, judging by the demand to date, despite its hefty price tag, it could be yet another of those limited production machines that ends up changing hands within the first year for more than they cost.
Could that make one as much an investment as an indulgence?
Factfile
ENGINE:L-4 cylinder, 998cc liquid-cooled, DOHC, Desmodromic, 16-valve, with four 50mm Magneti Marelli throttle bodies, producing more than 147kW (200bhp) @ 13,500rpm.
CHASSIS:Tubular steel trellis hybrid frame, carbon fibre seat support, aluminium alloy swinging arm. Öhlins FG353 PFF USD 43mm pressurised front forks with pre-load, rebound and compression adjustment.
WHEELS:Marchesini forged and machined seven-spoke magnesium alloy.
BRAKES
Front:Brembo radial monoblock callipers with four
34mm pistons and two semi-floating 320mm discs.
Rear:240mm fixed disc with two 34mm pistons.
PRICE€56,348