The V4 superbike family gets more

With wings from the V4R, the V4 gets the bodywork from the previously top-of-the-range bike. The bodywork is also wider and, according to Ducati, this not only makes the bike more efficient at cutting through the air, but ensures that the much-needed cooling arc passes over the engine accurately. And the new bodywork is now available all across the V4 family of sportsbikes from Ducati.

The downforce is the equivalent of 30kg at 167mph, which helps with stability and keeping the front wheel down. The basic spec of the V4 motor is unchanged for this year.

Claudio Domenicali said: “We have also replaced many things, and in terms of the frame it’s milled more to be lighter with torsional stiffness better by 30%. This lets you feel even more what the front wheel is doing.

“With regards to the changes, speed is not the objective here, but we wanted the bike to be easier to ride fast. We have re-engineered the bike so the centre of gravity is higher; we have reduced the spring stiffness, which is a fundamental point. The old V4 required smooth surfaces, but now the bike is under control even if you get into a small bump. This means that the bike does move around a bit more.

“At the rear of the bike it’s higher, too. Looking at the engine, we looked at the throttle opening, ignition and all the requirements of the rider. If revs go up because you’re in the corner and the wheel is on a smaller side radius, you can’t increase the throttle so there are some areas in this 2019 bike that we changed so that this can be made easier to live with.

“We have reduced the torque for slow speeds. There’s new traction control and a new quickshifter, too.

“During testing, Michele Pirro at Vallelunga was just 3.3s slower on the road bike with road tyres than he was on his factory race bike with a race exhaust, track gearing and race tyres! That shows you just how much of the improvements can really be seen.”