We haven’t really talked about the Ducati brand for a very long time; be it on our written platform or via our Youtube films. The last bike that made an appearance to our platform was the 898 Panigale and gosh that was a long time ago; it has now been replaced with a new 959 Panigale. Well, it’s all now just past news for you as there is a new piece of machinery that might be coming to the market as soon as 2018. Ducati has been seen testing a new V4 sports bike as being reported by MCN.
Wait a minute? A V4 Ducati Sports bike? Well you shall be missed Ducati Twin Engine, oh hello there MotoGP derived Ducati sports bike. It has been a while since the rumors on Ducati to adopt the V4 technology to their road going sports bike but it’s not until recently that they are seen to test the bike. What’s interesting about it was, how beefed up it looks compared to the Panigale series and we love it. From the development prototype, it still retains the face of the Panigale only that it looks wider and the rear end was not given any back seat; closely resembling the racing machine used in the MotoGP known as the GP17.
Whats interesting about the move will be how their racing team in World Superbike Championship will turn out as they use the new V4 superbike. The capacity of the machine will change due to the competition regulation and that means no more 1299cc Ducati. But that is all remain to be seen as they might make a one off lineup just to fit the requirement for the competition and continue with their ways of producing a big sized engine. Nevertheless, it’s all down to the acceptance of the market for it and for sure the price wont be cheap in any way.
With Harley Davidson are said to have an interest to the Italian manufacturer, things are looking to be interesting with the future outcomes of the firm. But how all these are going to affect Ducati here in Malaysia? Our guess is, not much different anyway. Based on our opinion, Ducati here in Malaysia stands probably third or fourth in terms of on the road presence in the big bike category behind some of the leading Japanese brands. The local branch of Ducati here are taking some interesting steps in promoting their brand and they seems to mix it up with some local activities for bikers and promotional stuff; although it has been quite tough for us to catch up with their team for news and test rides.
All in all, when the time comes for the V4 superbike by Ducati to be unveiled; which is only a matter of “when” and no longer a question of “if”, they will not be hitting our shore as soon as it was available. That has been the norm for Ducati Malaysia ever since we got into this industry. Well, it’s not too bad as the market aren’t really keen to jump from model to model when it involves a RM100,000 investment per bike. Thus, making the brand as not too accessible for many compared to the likes of Kawasaki or Yamaha. Still, it’ll be interesting to see how the Ducati V4 turns out in the future.
Malaysian Riders 