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Court
| | Posted on Monday, November 05, 2007 - 04:41 pm: | 
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quote:Robb's design antecedents are those of American automotive and product design.
Duh. . .
quote:Having designed vehicle interiors and exteriors during his early days at BMW, along with stints at Audi and Chrysler, Robb says being on the motorcycle side of the business is altogether different
I think I recall being told he was also part of the Corvette Sting-Ray team . . .but at my age . . I can't even remember tomorrow. |
Kenneth
| | Posted on Monday, November 05, 2007 - 09:39 pm: |
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Buells regularly win in supertwins...where plenty of fast ducatis race |
Zac4mac
| | Posted on Monday, November 05, 2007 - 11:29 pm: |
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End result can be the same even though the route taken is different.
Ducati builds a bike to be as fast as it can be. Comfort is an afterthought.
Buell builds a bike that is a true joy to ride...fast.
Z |
Blake
| | Posted on Monday, November 05, 2007 - 11:43 pm: |
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Ignore the troll. |
Trojan
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 04:42 am: |
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It's not a race bike, it'd pretty much require all the stuff Matt mentioned just like everything else.
For the £20,000 price (US$40,000) the bike comes with everything necessary to put it on the track, so it is almost track ready from the crate. It has been built specifically to win back the WSB crown, so road riding was never in the design brief. People will buy them for the street just to pose on, but that is not Ducatis intended purchaser and is a completely different market to the 1125.
Buells regularly win in supertwins...where plenty of fast ducatis race
Yes they do. But please don't lump all Ducatis together. Ducati has been extremely successful in their marketing strategy in that everyone hears the name and assumes they must be the top spec versions racing. We have raced (and beaten) Ducati 916 and Ducati 998 bikes with our almost stock XB12, but it was never a faster bike (we just had a better rider)and the Ducatis were not the top spec bikes that everyone thinks they are. They just look the same. Ducati release a confusing number of versions of their models, all looking the same, and the only ones that are worth noting in race terms are the homologation specials and R models. |
Warbler
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 10:39 am: |
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I understand Aprilia is currently testing a new very narrow, V-4, one liter motor for street production. In it's highest state of tune, it's making 220 HP. Talk about moving the goal posts to a whole 'nother State!
http://jalopnik.com/cars/notag/oh-my-aprilia-v4-pr oduces-220-horsepower-308089.php |
Bob_thompson
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 12:26 pm: |
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Just a thought here fellows. I have only done a little racing over the years both cars and bikes and I truely believe there is a great difference between street vehicles and "competitive" race vehicles. Yes you can race anything on a track but never be really competitive until the car or bike is set up specifically for racing hence the race only versions of many manufacturers. Many of these bikes are the ones given to test magazines for testing; unfair I think. Even the great Yamaha R1's are only slightly competitive on the track unless set up for racing only. I think if you want to have a highly competitive race bike pay the money to get one, and for the rest of us who want a really "competitive" street bike almost any of the current superbikes will do nicely and where the 1125R fills the bill nicely. Maybe the absolute best compromise for the street. I would not want to ride a Ducati 996,998, or maybe the 1098S more then 50 miles after sitting on a 996 of one of my friends who ride with us occasionally. And I think the 1125R will do nicely in club racing events as we have here at Millers motorsports park. Just my take guys and all opinions will be accepted gracefully. |
Warbler
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 12:38 pm: |
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I agree Bob, but you can take anything out on the track, even riding lawn mowers, and it's a pretty good way & place to determine which machine is better at most performance related parameters.
Especially when comparing stock, production items.
(Message edited by warbler on November 12, 2007) |
Slaughter
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 06:08 pm: |
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Bob is EXACTLY correct on his characterization of racing motorcycles.
Jeremy Toye was famous for putting a "stock" R1 on the podium at Fontana... HOWEVER if you read his monthly reports in Road Racing World - on what it took to REALLY make the R1 competitive - suspension, overheating, fuels/tuning - you name it - they tallied up the costs and by the end of the season they had nearly $60K invested into the "stock" R1. |
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