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2017 Ducati 1299 Superleggera

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Did Santa forget to put a certain carbon fiber superbike under the tree this Christmas? Us too.

Since we aren’t one of the lucky 500 people who will be receiving the Ducati 1299 Superleggera in 2017, we will have to make do with appreciating Ducati’s latest halo bike from a distance.

Ducati officially lists the 1299 Superleggera as making 215hp and weighing 156kg dry, though with the installation of the included race kit that peak horsepower figure pops to 220hp, while the dry weight drops to a near-nothing 150kg. OMGWTFBBQ.

Numbers aside, the truly astounding part of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera is its carbon fiber chassis, a first for a production motorcycle.

Make no mistake, the Bologna firm has been continuously pushing the boundaries of what defines a superbike, and it has been interesting to watch other brands react to their creations.

There might be a lot of talk about the death of sport bikes, but we argue that they have never been more intriguing.

You won’t find any photos of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera at a higher resolution than the ones after the jump. Enjoy!

The Ducati 1299 Superleggera is easily the bike of the 2016 EICMA show, and it is the first production motorcycle with a carbon fiber chassis.

On top of that accolade, the 1299 Superleggera is the lightest and most powerful superbike ever created by Ducati, making 220hp and weighing 162kg at the curb, when the track-only race kit is installed.

Every detail of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera serves the purpose of making the motorcycle faster, and each piece has been shaved to find ever ounce possible in weight savings. It helps too that the Ducati 1299 Superleggera is a looker too.

As such, we have some up-close photos of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera, for those who cannot experience the machine in the flesh. Enjoy!

Photos of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera leaked this past weekend, and well before that we already knew some of the details about Ducati’s “Project 1408” machine, but none of this detracts from the truly impressive machine that Ducati debuted today in Milan, just ahead of the official start to the 2017 EICMA show.

Like its 1199 counterpart, the Ducati 1299 Superleggera is a limited edition version of the company’s venerable superbike platform, and it focuses on being the lightest, most powerful, street-legal machine that Borgo Panigale can produce.

Upping the ante this time around, Ducati has used a carbon fiber chassis (frame, swingarm, wheels, and bodywork) for the 1299 Superleggera, in addition to an array of other exclusive components and exotic materials.

Also of note is the Akrapovi? race exhaust, which looks like it fell right off Ducati’s World Superbike project. When combined with the rest of the race kit, the Ducati 1299 Superleggera makes 220hp, and tips the scales at 162kg (wet). Truly impressive.

Ducati has updated its microsite for its Project 1408 motorcycle, and unsurprisingly those with access to the photos have posted them to Facebook and other social networks, for the whole world to see.

The photos reveal the Ducati 1299 Superleggera, which drips carbon fiber (including its frame, swingarm, and wheels), and features a WSBK-spec Akrapovic exhaust in its race kit, which brings the total power figure of the v-twin Superquadro engine to 220hp (215hp stock).

Limited to 500 units, for those who can afford its $80,000 price tag (USD), the new Superleggera weighs a paltry 150kg dry (330 lbs), making it the lightest and most powerful superbike ever from the Italian brand.

Not officially debuting until Monday evening in Italy, we expect the Ducati 1299 Superleggera to be the main topic of discussion at next week’s EICMA show.

Thus, we will have to wait to get proper high-resolution photos and official tech specs from Ducati, but until then we have a bevy of leaked image grabs from Ducati’s Project 1408 microsite.

When news of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera started to leak out of Italy, we knew that the second “super light” from Borgo Panigale would command a price increase over its 1199 counterpart, and now we know by how much.

Reliable sources have told Asphalt & Rubber that the Ducati 1299 Superleggera will cost $15,000 more than its predecessor, meaning you will need a cool $80,000 to own one of these limited-production superbikes.

While there will be some sticker shock to that price tag, loyal Ducatisti should remember that the Desmosedici RR retailed for $72,500 back in 2008, which when adjusted for inflation, would be $81,000 in 2016 dollars.

With the news that Bologna is showing its new lightweight project, the Ducati 1299 Superleggera to would-be owners, it shouldn’t surprise us then to see information leaking out about the superbike.

Unsurpsingly then, some of the component images and details have leaked out from the Project 1408 microsite, posted to forums by invited guests.

These leaked details give us a glimpse as to how Borgo Panigale is going to improve upon its namesake even further, namely through the use of carbon fiber.

Ducati has begun teasing something very special, which for now is going by the name of “Project 1408” on a micro-website the Italian manufacturer has setup.

The site itself has no information, and doesn’t even tease what Project 1408 could be, but Ducati has already begun reaching out to its VIP customers, teasing something made from carbon fiber.

Sources tell us though that the Ducati Project 1408 is a new Superleggera model, based off the Ducati 1299 Panigale platform.

This new superbike isn’t just the Ducati 1199 Superleggera with the 1299 motor bolted into it though, with our sources saying that the Ducati 1299 Superleggera takes the weight savings a step further, with the highlight being a carbon fiber chassis.