Ducati has built its reputation on building exotic sportsbikes, so when the Italian company drops ‘something special’ it really is something out of the ordinary.
The new Superleggera V4 Centenario has just been announced although, unlike the trio of Superleggeras before it, production will be capped at 600 units rather than 500. Despite the extra numbers, to get hold of one you’ll have to spend a six figure sum and will likely already be one of Ducati’s most loyal customers.
They’re the most collectable of all Ducatis, with most likely to end up in the hands of the most fanatical (not to mention wealthiest) Ducatisti. Owners will also have the opportunity to purchase matching Dainese leathers and Arai helmet, while an exclusive band of 26 will be join an special track day where they will even be able to experience Ducati’s current MotoGP machine. Each bike comes in its own dedicated wooden crate (which we suggest some collectors may not even open) and all the fanfare and pageantry that comes with owning a limited edition Ducati.
Superleggera is Italian for ‘Super Light’ and that tells you all you need to know about these rolling works of art. Taking modified versions of the company’s most powerful engines, Ducati’s engineers use the most exotic materials and racing know how to make their best, money-no-object, sportsbikes.
Without constraints of budget or racing regulations, this new model debuts a 228bhp, 1103cc Desmosedici Stradale R engine, which is 3.6kg lighter than the regular V4 R engine through extensive use of titanium. The headline figure is a 228bhp superbike weighing just 173kg in road trim, with 247bhp and 167kg possible when fitted with the accompanying track kit.
Based on Ducati’s seventh generation superbike, the Panigale V4, everything has been about saving weight, with carbon fibre and titanium abound. It is the first ‘road’ bike to have carbon fibre brakes and carbon fibre fork stanchions. The attention to detail and craftsmanship is staggering, making it as much a work of art as a motorcycle.
Limited edition Ducatis are nothing new. They were at it in the late 1970s, when the first Mike Hailwood Replica was introduced to celebrate the great racer’s success at the Isle of Man TT Races, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s a whole host of limited run Sport Production, or SP, models went into production in order to give race teams the best possible base machine upon which to go racing.
These ‘homologation specials’, like the 916 SPS, would have subtle chassis modifications and were built in just enough numbers to be eligible to go racing, but it was in the 2000s that Ducati really got down to the business of building super exotica just because they could.
It was in 2007 that Ducati started production of the Desmosedici RR. Limited to 1500 units, it was essentially their 2006 Desmosedici GP6 MotoGP machine made road legal. Costing £40,000, it produced nearly 200bhp and was roundly praised for just how authentic it was. No-one thought it could be topped, but the first Superleggera arguably did just that.
That story started with the 1199 Superleggera of 2014. Using a modified version of Ducati’s 1199cc ‘Superquadro’ engine as its base, it cost £54,000 and boasted of 200bhp and a dry weight of 155kg – the same as the company’s factory world superbike racers. With a frame and wheels constructed from magnesium, and lashings of carbon fibre and titanium further reducing weight, the first Superleggera sold out immediately. With a production run of just 500, it was even more exclusive than the fabled Desmosedici RR and offered even more performance – especially when fitted with the race kit, which saved an additional 2kg and unlocked another 5bhp.
By 2017, Ducati’s Panigale range had been updated and the 1199 motor replaced by an even more over square 1285cc iteration, known as the 1299, which was putting out more than 200bhp in ‘standard’ trim. A new 1299 Superleggera, also capped to a production run of 500, took the concept even further. Lightweight engine internals knocked off over 2kg from the weight of the motor alone, while power was up to 215bhp at 11,000rpm (and 220bhp with the kit exhaust).
Weight was (heaven forbid) up by 1kg on the 1199, but at a claimed 156kg dry there was still nothing else like it. The monocoque frame was now in carbon fibre, as were the wheels. As before, it was a rolling work of art. At £72,000 the price was as eye watering as the spec but, as before, they all sold out in a flash. It was, and remains, the ultimate V-twin Ducati.
Then, in 2020, when the world was in the midst of the Covid pandemic, Ducati released the first Superleggera based on the Panigale V4.
The script remained the same, and even if the ingredients were a bit different the key points remained the same, with 500 made and World Superbike levels of performance offered as standard. Even though most would be destined for collectors, where they’d never be ridden in anger, the Superleggera is more than capable of delivering in the right hands. The first Superleggera V4, as it was officially called, had a carbon fibre frame, MotoGP style aerodynamics, and a 221bhp iteration of the V4 R’s 999cc V4 engine.
With a fastidious approach to saving every single gram (witnessed by copious use of lightweight materials like carbon fibre and titanium) it weighed even less than its predecessors. With the track kit fitted, a Superleggera V4 pumped out an unbelievable 234bhp, in a package weighing just over 152kg. Priced at £86,000, all the componentry was naturally the best-of-the-best-of-the-best available at the time.
Now the Superleggera V4 Centenario has come along. The second V4 is based around the architecture of the latest V4R, which sports a new chassis with a conventional twin spar swingarm rather than the single sided unit which has appeared on every other Superleggera so far.
It’s not quite as light as the Superleggera before it, but the carbon fibre chassis is 17% lighter than the aluminium one found on a standard Panigale and the swingarm is 21% lighter. The wheels save 300g over even the optional carbon fibre Panigale units, while those carbon brake discs take almost a kilogram of unsprung weight off the front wheel.
The attention to detail is staggering, with almost every decision being focussed on keeping the machine as light as possible – for example the suspension is mechanical, rather than electronic, to save weight, while even the intake trumpets are a fixed length, rather than variable, in the quest to ensure the Superleggera V4 Centenario lives up to its name.
While 500 ‘standard’ Centenarios will be produced, at an expected price of €150,000 there will be another 100 in a Tricolore livery. These feature an Italian flag inspired livery based on the iconic 750F1 endurance racer of the 1980s and is expected to carry a €50,000 premium – you could buy a standard Panigale V4 S for that!
Of course, the Superleggera V4 Centenario means very little to the everyday rider. The price tag alone puts it out of reach for all but a select few, and the performance – while staggering – is too much to use on the road. But that ‘irrelevance’ misses the point. Just as BMW does with its M range, and Aprilia’s RSV X and the Honda RC213V-S have shown, these moving works of art are how the big manufacturers flex their muscles and show off all they learn in racing.
The fact that all 600 will almost certain sell out instantly means it probably won’t be bad business for Ducati too, and even if we’ll likely never swing a leg over one, we’re glad that these bedroom wall bikes continue to exist and continue to push the boundaries of modern motorcycling.
