This 215-HP Ducati Is the Most Powerful Production Twin-Cylinder Motorcycle Ever
Sadly, only 500 will be built.
![3-03 1299 SUPERLEGGERA.jpg](https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3-03-1299-superleggera-scaled.jpg?w=788&h=444&crop=1)
![3-03 1299 SUPERLEGGERA.jpg](https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/3-03-1299-superleggera-scaled.jpg)
The “almost insane” 2017 Ducati 1299 Superleggera delivers a power-to-weight punch that “seems impossible” said Ducati Motor Holding Co. CEO Claudio Domenicali during the bike’s introduction. That’s due to its combination of 215 horsepower from the most powerful production V-twin ever and a 344-pound mass thanks to a carbon fiber frame, sub-frame, swingarm and wheels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq-1HyJdgq4
Ducati is offering only 500 examples of this bike, which is loaded with pretty much every exotic technology available. That includes Ohlins upside-down fork and rear shock, Akrapovic titanium exhaust, and Brembo brakes that Domenicali pledged are the most powerful brakes ever fitted to a two-wheeled production vehicle.
![5-01 1299 SUPERLEGGERA.jpg](https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/5-01-1299-superleggera-scaled.jpg)
There is also a raft of Bosch safety electronics to help keep all this power under control, including traction control, slide control, wheelie control, engine braking control, launch control, cornering anti-lock brakes and Ducati Quick Shift for clutchless quick gear changes.
![1-05 1299 SUPERLEGGERA.jpg](https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-05-1299-superleggera-scaled.jpg)
All of this hardware contributes to a machine that we think looks better naked, where the carbon fiber parts are on display. The frame weighs 40 percent less than the aluminum unit in the Panigale 1299.
![4-02 1299 SUPERLEGGERA.jpg](https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/4-02-1299-superleggera-scaled.jpg)
The Superleggera’s engine gains its power advantage over the Panigale through revised heads featuring larger valves and higher-lift camshaft profiles, with correspondingly revised intake and exhaust ports. The result is 10 more horsepower than the 1299 Panigale.
![2-04 1299 SUPERLEGGERA.jpg](https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2-04-1299-superleggera-scaled.jpg)