This 215-HP Ducati Is the Most Powerful Production Twin-Cylinder Motorcycle Ever

Sadly, only 500 will be built.

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Photo: Ducati

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.

Photo: Ducati

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.

Photo: Ducati

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.

Photo: Ducati

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.

Photo: Ducati
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