Ducati 916

DUCATI 916

'94 PREVIEW

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE

WHEN DUCATI’S 851 MADE ITS debut at the 1986 running of the Bol d’Or endurance race, nobody could have guessed that this unheralded machine from a company so recently at the financial brink would recast the way enthusiasts thi about big-bore sportbikes. The liquid cooled, eight-valve Ducati has gone o. to win three World Superbike championships, and has a virtual lock on this year’s U.S. Superbike title.

The men who operate Ducati obviously are reluctant to abandon a game-plan they know works. This year’s Bol d’Or will mark the debut of the not-quite all-new Ducati 916, the machine slated eventually to replace the current 851-derived 888, and also to carry the company’s Superbike and endurance-racing banners for the next five years, where it will undoubtedly do battle with Honda’s new RC45.

The 916, seen here in what we believe to be a very accurate representation of its final form, uses an all-new frame and swingarm to make the bike shorter, lighter and narrower. The new design, by former Bimota principal Massimo Tamburini, is aimed at solving the 888’s biggest problem-its heaviness in quick side-to-side transi tions. Shortening the bike’s wheelbas-. was not easy, since the 851/888’; 56.3-inch wheelbase was dictated by the need to provide minimum clearance between the back of the front tire and the head of the V-Twin engine’s forward cylinder. Tamburini called for a new cylinder head with an angled top, which meant the fork angle could be pulled in tighter. And he tilted the 916’s engine back a few degrees, which meant the fork angle could be pulled in tighter still. The bike’s final specifications-including its wheelbase and steering geometry-have not been made public.

What is known, however, is that the bike’s single-sided swingarm pivots not only in the engine cases, but also in swingarm pickup points within the tubular frame, an approach chosen to increase chassis stiffness while still using the 888-derived engine cases. Ducati’s management is said to believe that just three of the singlesided swingarm patents held by ELF and licensed to Flonda are valid. Ducati’s swingarm is designed to circumvent those patents.

Showa suspension apparently will be used on the bike, and at the rear the linkage between the shock and the swingarm is all-new, with no resemblance to current 888 practice. Instead, it is said to be similar to Suzuki’s “Full Floater” design.

The 916’s engine-said to produce 130 horsepower-is based on that of the current 888 SP5, with a bore and

stroke of 94mm x 66mm for a 916cc displacement. The 66mm stroke is seen by Ducati engineers as the optimal figure for this engine-tuner Reno Leoni used this stroke for the late Jimmy Adamo’s BoTT racebikes as far back as 1989. Bumping the bore to 96mm-the figure used by current Ducati Superbikes-would deliver 950cc, which might be the next step in the model’s development.

The 916 uses an all-new frame and swingarm to make the bike shorter, lighter and narrower.

A derivation of the current WeberMarelli fuel-injection system feeds the engine, but with one, and perhaps two, important differences. The first is that because the rear cylinder of Ducati V-Twins runs hotter than the front cylinder, it will be treated to different fuel-injection mapping. Such a system was used on Ducati World Superbikes this year, and is said to deliver markedly improved throttle response. The second difference, at presstime no more than a possibility, is a two-position handlebar switch that would allow the rider to toggle between a “Town” setting for the fuel injection system, and a “Country” setting. The first would deliver more midrange, the second, more high-rpm horsepower.

So far, the bike looks full of promise. Aboard a 916 test mule, former World Superbike pilot Davide Tardozzi recently lapped the Mugello GP circuit in just under two minutes-the Superbike lap record is 1:58; 500cc grand prix bikes lap Mugello in the :54s.

The bike’s hardware profile may sound adventuresome and its early performance is cause for optimism, but the factory’s plans for it nevertheless are cautious. Current schedules call for a 1994 production run of 2000 units, along with a two-year phase-out of the current 888. Price of the new bike so far is undecided.

Jon F. Thompson