Ducati 959 Panigale | Ducati 959 Panigale Review

Ducati 959 Panigale is a beautifully designed motorbike by Ducati fitted with a new, more powerful engine with slipper clutch, ready to unbridle a racing attitude. Let’s get into the detailing of this bike.

Specifications of Ducati 959 Panigale:

Engine and Transmission:

Chassis and Suspension:

 Dimensions and Capacity:

 Battery and Electricals:

 Tyres and brakes:

 Performance and mileage:

 About Ducati 959 Panigale:

Produced by the Italian manufacturer, Ducati 959 Panigale is one of the most elegant sport bikes coming with a powerful 955cc, twin cylinder engine that produces 154.85 BHP and 107.4 Nm of torque and the used gearbox is a 6-speed unit while the bike claims a top speed of 289 kmph. It is one of the lightweight bikes (200 kg) around its segment and even seems to be the only twin cylinder machine that rivals Honda CBR1000RR, Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Review of Ducati 959 Panigale:

Design:

Since, it is a proper street-bike that allows for the option of racing instead of a full-on race machine, the 959 necessarily has to carry mirrors and turn signals, but the factory wisely combined those two features. Not only does that clean up the front end, but it also makes it easier to remove the weight they add for actual track days if you’re into that sort of thing.

The lateral air-intake ports were enlarged to make better use of the ram-air effect at the bike’s entry and get a cheap boost to the engine’s volumetric efficiency. Below the lights, a cowl scoop opens wide to closely engulf the front wheel and increase the all-up-front general look of the Panigale, and of course, it doubles as a shroud that forces cooling air through the radiator and engine compartment. The enclosure continues down to a full chin fairing and belly pan to leave quite a bit to the imagination and leave us with but a glimpse of the innards.

The 4.5-gallon fuel tank rocks a wide flange up top with a definite wane toward the rear in order to form a generous knee pocket and meet the narrow waist. Clip-ons pull the rider forward with high, jockey-mount foot-pegs to keep your training wheels out of the way — even with a knee/elbow down — and a deep-scoop saddle provides the fifth point of contact with an ample butt stop to keep the pilot in place.

Since this is a bike that’s meant — more or less — for everyday use, the tapered tail comes with a pillion pad, and there’s a set of flip-up, billet-aluminum foot-pegs bolted to the subframe so you can share the fun with a friend. The taillight is recessed in the tip of the tail, but the blinkers and tagholder is mounted to a short mudguard that, like the mirrors and passenger pegs, can be quickly struck from the bike as a unit to pare down for race days.

Chasis and Engine:

Ducati opted to use a monocoque structure that uses the body panels and engine as stressed units to arrive at its final rigidity. As you’d expect, that shaves quite a bit of weight off the final tally to put the base 959 at 387.2 pounds, and the Corse at 386.9 pounds, dry.

A die-cast, yoke-style aluminum swingarm finishes out the bones and contributes to the low weight as well with a 4 mm lower pivot point (versus the 899) and a 51/49 split on the weight distribution. The steering head sets a rake angle of 24 degrees with 3.78 inches of trail to make the Panigale downright eager in the corners, and both models come with a steering damper to take the edge off the kickback forces.

A set of 17-inch, light-alloy rims round out the rolling chassis with ZR-rated Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa hoops in a 120/70 up front opposite a 180/60, and the tires rock a three-zone, multi-compound construction that delivers the goods. Dual, Brembo monobloc M4.32 calipers bite 320 mm front discs with a 245 mm disc and twin-piston anchor to slow the rear, all under the Bosch ABS that comes as part of the stock equipment package and serves as the first line of traction insurance.

At this point, the base model and Corse diverge in their gear. The base 959 rides on 43 mm Showa BPF stems with a Sachs monoshock out back while the Corse rocks Öhlins NIX30 forks and a TTX36 to take care of business. No matter which you choose, you can count on the full spectrum of adjustments.

Drivetrain:

The liquid-cooled L-Twin plant is massively oversquare with a 100 mm bore and 60.8 mm stroke, and it comes with a sizzlin’ hot, 12.5-to-1 compression ratio that demands only the finest road champagne. New con-rods connect to the pistons via Diamond-Like Carbon treated wrist pins, and in the bottom end we find a new crank-journal oiling system that marks a first for a Superquadro engine.

Dual, 62 mm oval throttle bodies manage the induction with a pair of injectors per cylinder and a Ride-by-Wire throttle control and a host of rider aids that include Traction- and Engine-Brake Control along with a Power Modes function that lets you tailor the power delivery. Power flows through a slipper clutch adding yet another layer of protection for the rear contact patch, and the six-speed transmission gear comes with the Ducati Quick Shift feature that allows for seamless shifts clutch actuation.

Mileage:

Ducati 959 Panigale offers an impressive mileage of 18 kmpl and the top speed of 202.59 kmph

Price:

The starting price for Ducati 959 Panigale in Nepal is estimated Rs. 35,00,000 but prices may vary according to the cities and for India the estimated price is Rs. 14,00,000.

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