When someone offers you a spin on the hottest superbike of 2017 ? one that costs over £70k and is already sold-out ? you don?t say no. Bragging 215bhp, an extensive electronics suite, and weighing just over 150kg, Ducati?s 1299 Superleggera is an engineering masterpiece. Not to mention serious mechaphilia fodder.
We missed the über exclusive press test at Mugello a few weeks ago. Only a handful of publications went. Fear not, as Steve ?Wilf? Moore owns and runs Moto Rapido in Winchester, and was lucky enough to blag one of the first Superleggeras in the country. With just 200 miles on the clock, he kindly let us loose on his virgin steed?
In case you?ve been living under a wheelie bin for six months, the SL is the world?s first full-carbon production bike: carbon monocoque, carbon swingarm, carbon subframe and BST carbon wheels. Ducati reckons the monocoque chassis is 40% lighter than a stock Panigale, a project that was entirely in-house using the Corse family for inspiration from MotoGP. There?s also a feast of magnesium and titanium, and aerospace tekkers, plus top-shelf Öhlins FL936 forks and a TTX36 shock for an exquisite ride.
As you?ll soon fathom, the Superquadro motor is the SL?s centrepiece. It features a lighter crank, titanium rods, increased cam lift, larger valves and a reworked cylinder head, which all add to the most ballistic powerplant we?ve ever sampled. Steve, who also runs the Moto Rapido British Superbike squad with John Hopkins as pilot, reckons...