TWEAKING TO PERFECTION
Dear ‘dangerous’ Bruce, Being one of your many many subscribers and also a Ducati fanatic I was delighted with the actual Ducati special that just dropped in our mailbox.
I also agree with your end score 8/10 about the Final Edition Pani. Other (cheaper) bikes are getting as good or better, that’s mainly why the blokes in Bologna are building a new model I suppose; the Pani has had its best (unless you’re riding WSB spec stuff).
Regarding the unstability, which you referred to as a typical issue with most Ducatis, I would like to ask if you also tried to add more rear preload?
Having ridden many Ducatis in the past 20 years, I still keep wondering why they keep on setting these bikes up for slow riding or light people (75kg max with full gear). I don’t know your weight but you definitely weren’t riding slow ;-).
As a consequence, when exiting the corner, you extend the rear suspension via the chain (antisquat). If you have too much static sag (because spring too soft and/or not enough preload), you’ll also experience a lot of negative travel of your rear suspension, giving an unstable feeling. The enormous torque of a Ducati only serves to amplify this effect.
And as a consequence of this effect, your geometry changes as well: rear comes up, and you lose ‘trail’ which makes the steering go from oversteer to understeer in extreme situations. Hence the unprecise steering when exiting the corner @ full throttle. Just my two cents, I must admit that setting up my 1198 already has caused me a lot of headaches but once set up well, it still is one hell of a rocket ;-)
Best regards, Filip Great to get your take on things, Filip. We worked with the Ducati guys to try and better the setup, but with limited time it proved a mission to get the bike at its best. Sounds like we could have done with you there. We’ll know for next time.