Ducati has finally confirmed that it will produce a naked version of the Panigale V4, called the Streetfighter V4, from March 2020.
The company made the announcement over night as it unveiled its Streetfighter V4 prototype to race the famous Pikes Peak International Hillclimb on 30 June 2019.
Ducati says that “as part of the development process of the new model, the ‘Race to the Clouds’ has been identified as an ideal proving ground for testing the high performance of the Streetfighter V4”.
The company has won the Colorado hillclimb three times in 2011 and 2011 with the Multistrada 1200 and last year with the Multistrada 1260.
They celebrated with Pikes Peak versions of these models.
Ducati Multistrada 1200 Pikes Peak
In its official release, Ducati says the Streetfighter V4 “derives directly from the sporty Panigale V4 stripped of its fairings, and fitted with high and wide handlebars”.
One of the prerequisites for motorcycles in the hillclimb is that they do not have clip-on handlebars.
Streetfighter V4
It’s been no secret that Ducati has been working on a Streetfighter V4, but they still have some secrets.
While Ducati has not released any tech specs on the prototype, the race-trim engine is expected to have more power than the Panigale V4’s 213 horsepower (158kW).
“The high performance of the 1100cm³ Desmosedici Stradale is kept in hand by aerodynamic profiles specifically designed for this model,” Ducati says.
However, the street production version may be a little tamer, although probably still more than the Aprilia Tuono’s 173hp (129kW).
Panigale V4 R
“The prototype will race with a ‘pixelated’ livery, designed by the Centro Stile Ducati; unlike the normal practice with prototypes, the livery does not hide the lines, but exalts them by deliberately revealing how the bike will finally look, “Ducati says.
There is not a lot of difference to the Panigale V4.
Gone is the windscreen and full fairing, although there is still a fair amount of aero bodywork for a naked bike. The rear of the bike looks very similar.
The biggest difference is in the short nose cone with very discrete “eyes” as LED headlights.
Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali confirms that the Streetfighter V4 will be “one of the stars of the Ducati World Premiere 2020”.
“Streetfighter V4 is the Panigale for road riding; so there was no better stage than the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for what will be the highest performance Streetfighter ever put into production,” he says.
The bike will be presented to the public at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan in November and will be available in Ducati dealerships from mid-March 2020.
Ducati Australia has recalled 263 Panigale V4, V4 S and V4 S Speciale bikes over a possible engine oil to leak from one of the hydraulic tensioners on each of the cylinder heads.
The official notice issued through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says the engine oil “may leak on to the engine sump and on to the tyre, increasing the risk of a crash”.
“This may cause serious injury to riders and other road users,” it says.
The vehicle identification numbers of affected bikes are listed at the end of this article.
Ducati Australia say they will contact owners of recalled bikes by mail.
They will be requested to contact their nearest authorised Ducati Dealer to arrange an appointment.
Apparently it is easily fixed by dealers tightening the two hydraulic tensioners to specification, free of charge.
Recalled again
Ducati’s new Panigale V4 has been recalled four times in its first year of production. However, only recalls two have affected bikes imported into Australia.
Even though manufacturers and importers contact owners when a recall is issued, the bike may have been sold privately to a rider unknown to the company.
Therefore, Motorbike Writer publishes all motorcycle recalls as a service to all riders.
If you believe there is an endemic problem with your bike that should be recalled, contact the ACCC on 1300 302 502.
To check whether your motorcycle has been recalled, click on these sites:
The latest model releases from the two recent motorcycle shows in Milan and Cologne prove that power is still king in the two-wheel world.
A new road leader has emerged and some older models have been pushed down the order.
The list of the most powerful is still dominated by the track-only Kawasaki H2R at 240kW.
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New road king
However, the new king of the road-registered bikes is the 2019 Ducati Panigale V4R.
With 162kW of power it leapfrogs Honda’s RC213V-S which rates 158kW with a track kit, equal to the MV Agusta F4RC.
The V4R has been homologated so Ducati can go World Superbike racing again, so it is 998cc, not 1103cc.
Despite having fewer cubes, it has more poke.
Two bikes joining the top 10 are the updated BMW S 1000 RR with ShiftCam technology and 152kW, plus the 2019 Suzuki GSX-R1000 R1 in 10th place with 150kW.
2019 BMW S 1000 RR
Anyone who says power isn’t everything hasn’t twisted the throttle on a powerful sports bike.
Unfortunately, the only places left to experience these bikes is on unlimited-speed roads, at track days and in that all-important 100m traffic light drag.
There may not be many places left to experience the full power of some of the world’s most powerful bikes, but it’s always good to know the power is there.
So we’ve complied three lists of currently available new sports bikes with the most power, the most torque and with the highest power-to-weight ratio.
We have used factory supplied power and wet weight figures for Australia. The figures may vary slightly for some other countries.
For interest’s sake, we have also included at what revs they achieve peak power and torque to give you an indication of where they get most of their thrust.
Talk the torque
Gruntmeister Yamaha V-Max
While the kings of power are important, torque is that thrust in the chest at the starting line that we all love.
The king of grunt is still the brawny Yamaha V-Max. Kawasaki isn’t far behind with its forced-induction models and the normally aspirated Kawasaki ZX-14R.
If you were to include cruisers, Triumph’s 2.3-litre triple would be the undisputed king with 203Nm of stump-pullling grunt and several other cruisers would also rate high, including Harley’s Milwaukee Eight 114-cube FXDR which makes 162Nm.
Power and torque are meaningless if your bike is a porker like the 310kg V-Max. So we’ve also compiled a list of the best power-to-weight ratio sports bikes.
Again the winner is the Kawasaki H2R track-only weapon which has more kilowatts than kilograms for a power-to-weight ratio of 1.11. That compares with the V-Max at 47ptw.
So if you want a lithe sports bike with a good mix of heady power and gut-crunching grunt, Kawasaki should be your first port of call, or go to your local performance shop for a supercharger or turbocharger.
