beansbaxter
Needs a life
Posts: 5911
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posted November 08, 2004 10:46 PM
MUST READ '05 999r article
I know there are a lot of you that dislike the elitist attitude of Ducati riders, and I'm on your side; I know that a lot of you dislike the fact that the eccentric italian beauties are inaccesably expensive and seem, sometimes, overstyled; I know that for a lot of you the lack of comparitive horsepower renders Ducati's obsolete, making them survive on their looks and name alone; and I know that most everyone would agree that the reliablity issue make it a no-brainer when deciding between a jap-bike and a Ducati--all that aside and all things even, try and enjoy this article, it's well written.
RUMBLE SEAT
A touch of evil (and Evel)
Ducati's 999R, a hyper-fast race bike for the street, has designs on your soul.
By Dan Neil, Times Staff Writer
If you enjoy the wide-open freedom of a motorcycle, the wind in your face, the carefree, horizon-chasing moment, then by all means avoid the 2005 Ducati 999R.
This thing is misery on two wheels, a wickedly disposed and temperamental exercise of sheer mechanical narcissism upon which you assume a posture like it's flashlight inspection day in prison. Its 150-hp V-twin motor runs on damned souls and is lubricated with the fat of unbaptized children. All this bike wants to do, all it dreams about at night, is catapulting you over the handlebars or pitching you backward onto the streaming concrete so you make one of those slo-mo, Evel-Knievel-at-Ceasars-Palace death rolls in your fancy Italian riding leathers.
So plan your day accordingly: After riding this bike, you will need some time to unwind. Go for a Polynesian fire walk, perhaps. Play some "Deer Hunter" roulette. Or, if so equipped, have a vasectomy.
The 999R is one of a mutant species of vehicles built to meet the production-based rules of a racing series, a process called homologation. The American Superbike Championship requires that competing bikes must be largely based on series-production motorcycles. In order to make the Ducatis more competitive, the company has built a limited number (500) of 999Rs, which are, in fact, pitifully disguised racing superbikes with just enough street-legal spit on them to pass DMV inspection. The badge on the carbon-fiber fender is that of the factory racing operation, Ducati Corse.
Made of steel, titanium, carbon fiber and sadism, the 999R is as close as you are going to get to a grand prix motorcycle, and unless you are a fantastic rider with years of experience, you don't want to get that close. This bike will beat you down like you said something bad about its mother.
Look for my name in the annals of motorcycle glory. You won't find it. I am a competent but by no means expert rider. I accept this. Call me a wimp, a weenie, a wuss, if you are inclined to excessive alliteration. But this bike scares the pudding out of me.
So, there I was on Sunset Boulevard, puttering along in first gear with about 1,500 rpm showing on the tach, hunched over the handlebars. My sunglasses slipped down my nose.
When I took my right hand off the accelerator, there was the briefest moment of adhesion between my palm and the gummy rubber grip just enough to goose the throttle slightly. The bike jumped like it had been poked with a cattle prod. Baaaa-WHAAAYH! The force of the acceleration whip-lashed my helmeted head, wrenching my neck.
This was the first sunglasses-adjustment injury I have sustained.
One sunny Sunday morning, I got up early, determined to take the bike for a proper stretch of the legs. Velcro'ed and zippered into my motorcycle fetish leather, I pointed it down the 210 West and wrung the throttle, working up through the gears yet shifting well short of the bike's howling 11,000-rpm redline. In the 20 seconds or so that it took me to reach fifth gear, the speedometer read ... well, I'm not going to tell you what the speedo read.
The point is, the bike was just waking up, just beginning to shake its strange, low-speed awkwardness. The super-stiff springs and shocks, which burr and tremble on the patched concrete around town, went all velvety; the aero cowling, useless at 60 mph, threw the jet stream over my ducked head, creating a small pocket of tranquillity inside the headlong tornado; the engine all chatters and clatters at low rpm began resonating like a cathedral pipe-organ keyed with a Hallelujah chord.
My license would last about a week with this bike, maybe less.
So it is fast top speed is about 190 mph (you didn't hear that from me). But it's also quick.
The fundamental ratio of performance machines is power to weight, usually expressed as pounds per horsepower. A Ferrari F430 with driver weighs about 3,300 pounds, a burden shared by its 490 horsepower, which the abacus tells us is about 6.7 pounds per horsepower. The Ducati 999R (dry weight of 398 pounds) weighs about 600 pounds with me on board, which means each of its 150 horsepower must move only 4 pounds.
It's hard for those who have not saddled a superbike to appreciate the sick, perverted violence of this equation. If you rev the 999R's engine to about 6,000 rpm, shift as much of your weight as possible over the front wheel, and gingerly slip the clutch for a couple hundred feet and if you can hang onto it the bike will accelerate from 0-60 mph in about 3 seconds. Your wits might take a bit longer to catch up.
But woe betide the rookie who fails to execute the full-power launch precisely right: The bike will be delighted ... delighted, thank you ... to wheelie over onto its, and your, back. Even in second and third gear, the bike's massive torque (at 8,000 rpm) will easily pull itself over your head in an asphalt full gainer.
Oh, and what's that smell? Why it's my roasting thighs.
The heart of the 999R (that is, if it had a heart) is the 999-cc displacement, liquid-cooled, V-twin engine. This has to be the most highly stressed engine in any street vehicle, producing 150 hp out of less than one liter displacement.
The technology that goes into this bespoke, sand-cast engine is the stuff of race engineering, but its essential feature beside the ludicrous power is the unbelievably low reciprocating mass. This courtesy of alloy pistons, featherweight billet crank and exotic and titanium-intensive "desmodromic" valve train which is to say, the return action of the valves relies on an opposing rocker arm system rather than passive valve springs.
What does all this mean? The internal moving parts of the engine are extremely light, so they can accelerate and decelerate very quickly. fuel the motor and the rpm shoot skyward. Heigh ho, Silver! (or its equivalent in Italian). Let off the fuel and the rpm and power plummet which can be quite exciting if, for example, you miss a shift under hard acceleration. It would be very easy to be unhorsed this way.
As hard as the bike speeds up, it slows down even harder. The radially mounted Brembo front disc brakes are incredible.
But, again, the slightest misapplication of pressure on the right-hand brake lever say, two fingers instead of one and the bike will stop dead in its tracks, leaving you to sail over the carbon-fiber fairing like Buzz Lightyear.
The 999R is a very naughty motorcycle. However, I did learn a few tricks on the serpentines of the Angeles Crest Highway that made my time with the bike easier.
First, get all the braking done in a straight line; none of that fancy trail-braking into the corner that you see on televised Superbike races you ain't Valentino Rossi and I'm certainly not.
Second, get off the saddle early and set up for the corner. The bike is far too reactive, far too edgy, to permit sliding off the saddle once you enter the corner.
Third, hold onto the bike with your legs; avoid putting any weight on the grips. The slightest tug can cause the bike to surge out of your control.
Fourth, stay in a higher gear than you might on a less powerful bike. Crank the bike over on the tire sidewalls and roll on the throttle and let the ludicrous amounts of torque pull you through the corner. Have no fear. The bike's racing tires have stupendous grip on dry pavement.
Fifth, use the force, Luke. As difficult as it may be, you have to trust this bike. The harder you ride it, the more stable and secure it feels. I practically stood the thing on its nose under braking and the tail didn't wiggle an inch. I flopped it over from rail to rail as hard as I knew how and the front end didn't even tremble. Pound for ornery pound, this has got to be the most dynamically perfect motorcycle in the world.
Yes, once you master the brakes, the stuttering dry-plate clutch, the splenetic throttle, the aching-back riding position and its overall rabid dog demeanor, the 999R can still be a traumatic life event. I mean, come on, it's a racing bike! It is to normal street bikes what crystal meth is to your morning coffee.
I have never been so relieved to park any vehicle unscathed in my garage.
And yet, I confess, I was a little sad to see it go.
*
2005 Ducati 999R
Price, as tested: $32,000
Powertrain: 999-cc, sand-cast alloy, V-twin engine, liquid cooled, desmodromic timing, four valves per cylinder six-speed transmission, multi-disc dry sump clutch, chain drive, 15/36 final drive ratio.
Horsepower: 150 hp at 9,750 rpm
Torque: 86 pound-feet at 8,000 rpm
Weight: about 420 pounds
0-60 mph: 3 seconds
Top speed: 190 mph (estimated)
Wheelbase: 56 inches
Final thoughts: Light fuse, get away.
   
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beansbaxter
Needs a life
Posts: 5911
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posted November 24, 2004 05:14 PM
Not even a comment?
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted November 24, 2004 10:13 PM
it must have left everyone speechless  the numbers sure are impressive tho, especially for a duc!
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worm~hole
Needs a life
Miles to go before I sleep....
Posts: 10623
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posted November 28, 2004 09:12 AM
...I shall call it... 'mojo-cycling'
____________
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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Spyral
Pro
Unpredictable individual.
Posts: 1071
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posted November 30, 2004 05:33 AM
Interesting.
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Banana Bike Man
Needs a job
Posts: 2023
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posted November 30, 2004 09:15 AM
Ha, the guys a good writer
Good read actually.
The Duck heads will love it.
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squidlydiddly
Expert Class
Posts: 247
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posted November 30, 2004 09:24 AM
quote:
Ha, the guys a good writer
Good read actually.
The Duck heads will love it.
Not so much a good writer as a half-assed attempt to copy Hunter Thompson's style. Read this crap next to Hunter's 1995 Cycle World review of the 900ss...
'Duck Heads' good term with interchangeable consonants.
____________
A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.
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DB
Pro
Posts: 1932
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posted December 02, 2004 10:26 PM
Why is it called a 999 if it is only a 998cc?
____________
Dan
04 ZX10r (Track only)
08 Concours14
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squidlydiddly
Expert Class
Posts: 247
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posted December 03, 2004 11:46 AM
The preceeding model was named the 998 - based on the 996 engine, and this model is stated to have 999cc's, so wtf are you on about exactly?
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Spyral
Pro
Unpredictable individual.
Posts: 1071
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posted December 03, 2004 07:27 PM
Hell, my RC51 said 1000 on the tail, but it was a 999cc. People like rounded numbers.
____________
Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.
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sp500
Expert Class
Posts: 195
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posted December 04, 2004 07:37 AM
I think the R model is 999cc in capacity, the others are 998cc.
$60,000 in OZ, pass.
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Banana Bike Man
Needs a job
Posts: 2023
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posted December 04, 2004 09:33 AM
Its all marketing.
Most 600's are 599. I believe this skirts around some insurance limits as well. Though I'm not sure on that.
It really no different to "RR" models. Stick the double 'r' on there and every squid's gonna snap that thing up. Change one or two do dads and poof lable it the RR version.
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jonwright
Needs a job
Posts: 2416
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posted December 05, 2004 10:22 AM
Considering Ducati's market isn't your usual young street squid I'd say yer full of crap.
And also consider that the R version has different cams, and ALL kinds of engine mods to make it have 10 more HP than the regular 999, and also the fact the suspension is Ohlins on the R versus the regular 999 and you get two totally different motorcycles.
The brakes are different as well. Also 10 lbs. lighter.
Chump.
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squidlydiddly
Expert Class
Posts: 247
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posted December 05, 2004 10:32 AM
Ya. What he said. Chump.
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Banana Bike Man
Needs a job
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posted December 05, 2004 06:21 PM
quote:
Most 600's are 599. I believe this skirts around some insurance limits as well. Though I'm not sure on that.
thought I'd quote myself back. Since it seems some people are implying that I know every thing.
Please refer to the final sentence of the two line quote, specifically stating THOUGH I'M NOT SURE ON THAT
I know, as some of you also do, that local insurance rates climb when you break the 600 cc line. I based my assumption on that FACT
obviously I was wrong.
and if you don't think 'street squids' don't buy ducks, your fuck'n delusional. Financing is all it takes. As soon as the US bought major interest in the brand, it became marketed to the masses. Gone are the days when duck meant anything like selective or elite. MV Augsta is about the only marquee that I can think of, though I don't know all of them nor am I positive on that either. That's an example I offer for comparison.
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eddyo
Parking Attendant
Posts: 20
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posted December 28, 2004 06:51 PM
For 32 grand I can buy a lot of shit that will make me happyer then a fuckin duc. Not impressed!
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beansbaxter
Needs a life
Posts: 5911
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posted January 03, 2005 12:14 AM
yeah but if I had the $$$ then I would still get one
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