THE FIVE BIKES THAT MATTER THIS MONTH

Ducati Superleggera, WSB Blade, Mystery Ship and two more.

Shu e up the bikes in your dream garage – you need room for another one. The V4 Superleggera (Italian for superlight, English for not cheap) is a 234bhp, 159kg vision in carbon and one-upmanship. The price hasn’t actually been announced yet, but we doubt you’ll get much change from £80,000.

Though the wild aerodynamics and power figure grab the headlines, there’s some interesting tech here too. The limited edition machines – only 500 will be built – don’t just have wheels and aero trinkets made of carbon, but also a swingarm, frame and subframe. This is all very well on a race bike which will be pored over by expert mechanics looking for cracks or flaws after every outing, but on a road bike – the 224bhp version without a race can is road legal – it takes some confidence.

Ducati claim that every structural carbon component is tested using thermography, ultrasound and tomography – all techniques used by the aerospace industry. No surprise that the Superleggera is the only road bike to have all of its load-bearing components made of carbon. The weight-saving from all this comes to 6.7kg, which doesn’t seem much considering the effort involved, and demonstrates just how light the standard V4 is. With all the Superleggara’s clever bits it ends up 16kg lighter than the V4, at 159kg dry versus 175kg.

Beneath the carbon fairings is a Desmosedici Stradale R engine – the 998cc version of the V4 used to homologate Panigales in WSB. This weighs 2.8kg less than the 1103cc standard bike and with the titanium Akrapovic exhaust system puts out a claimed 234bhp. Perfect for general town and touring duties.

Because the wings and fairings don’t have to abide by any race rules, Ducati claim the Superleggera ‘matches or exceeds’ the aerodynamic e›ciency of Dovizioso’s Motogp bike. The ‘biplane’ wings give a downforce of 50kg at 170mph – 20kg more than those of the barmy V4 R.

Naturally, all this means the Superleggera is very fast indeed. Ducati say their test rider Alessandro Valia hustled one around Mugello less than two seconds off the time ex-gp man Michele Pirro did on his Italian Championship V4 R superbike. Not bad for a road bike.

SUSPENSION

Obviously it’s your top flight Öhlins, but lighter. The shock has a titanium spring and Gp-derived valves that apparently improve the damping during the initial compressionstage.

ELECTRONICS

There are three set riding modes – Race A, Race B and Sport – and five more you can set up yourself. You can also get the lap timer to record finish line and split times for five circuits. The default settings are for Laguna Seca, Mugello, Jerez, Sepang and Losail. Not Mallory, oddly.

ENGINE

It’s the 998cc lump from the V4 R (and Scott Redding’s World Superbike). In road trim it makes 224bhp. Put the Akrapovic on (included with the bike) and you get 234bhp. That gives a power/weight ratio of 1.54bhp/kg which is more than an F1 car.

CHASSIS

It’s all carbon, baby – frame, swingarm, subframe, the lot. The swingarm is longer than the V4’s to reduce wheelies and increase stability. Ducati claim the Superleg tips in faster and holds a tighter line too.

‘Desmosedici Stradale R engine puts out a claimed 234bhp. Perfect for general town and touring duties’