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Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition Spotted in CARB Docs

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It’s official, the folks in Bologna are about to launch the Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition, the name being confirmed in emission filings made to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) this week.

The CARB document confirms a couple items for us (most notably the name of the final v-twin superbike), but it also raises some interesting questions.

For instance, the CARB document shows that the “FE” Panigale will have a 1285cc engine, just like the rest of the Ducati 1299 Panigale lineup, yet the bike will still carry the “R” badge, which is usually reserved for Ducati’s race homologation machine.

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Rumors

Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition Specs Leak Online?

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A document reportedly sent to Ducati dealers in the United Kingdom appears to spill some juicy details on the upcoming “Final Edition” Panigale superbike.

Allegedly, the “Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition” will come with 209hp at the crank, thanks to a number of engine modifications. The final installment of the v-twin superbike will also allegedly weigh a paltry 419 lbs when fully fueled (370 lbs dry). Shazam!

As we saw in the video teaser, the bike will have a red and white front fairing, with a green tail section, which looks similar to what was seen on the Ducati 1299 Superleggera, with a little tricolore flare.

It also appears to have a special Akrapovic exhaust, which we have seen already on the Superleggera and the Ducati Panigale R WorldSBK machine.

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Bikes

The End Is Nigh for the Ducati 1299 Panigale

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That Ducati is about to debut a V4 superbike is perhaps the worst-kept secret right now in the motorcycle industry, and when we saw the Ducati 1299 Panigale S Anniversario late last year, we were sure this would be last “new” Panigale from its namesake, Borgo Panigale.

Getting ready to send the v-twin superbike on its final farewell, it seems Ducati still has a few surprises up its sleeve, as the Italian brand has released a teaser video for an event on July 7th, with the tagline “When the End Tells the Whole Story.”

Filled with quick-takes on a Panigale superbike, in the red/white Corse livery (just like on the Ducati 1299 Superleggera), the video is surely a nod to the end-of-the-line for this big-displacement v-twin superbike. The words “Panigale Final Edition” in the video title are a tip-off too.

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Bikes

Ducati MHLeggera Concept by Speed Junkies

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The Ducati 1299 Superleggera might be the most technically astounding machine ever to come from the Italian brand, but all those exotic materials and fancy electronics are lost on some riders – motorcyclists who prefer more simpler times.

So the good folk at Speed Junkies have heard this call, and mashed-up the 1299 Superleggera with Ducati’s perhaps most coveted nod to the past, the Mike Hailwood inspired Ducati MH900e.

Both the Superleggera and MH900e are beauties in their own right (a proper Ducati collection should be considerd incomplete if it is without an example of both machines), though there is something interesting to the design that Speed Junkies proposes with the two bikes together.

We thought you would find the concept interesting, and there is a second “race” version waiting for you after the jump as well. We are of the belief that either would look good in our garage.

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Bikes

Ducati 1299 Superleggera – A 215hp Carbon Fiber Superbike

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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.

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Bikes

Ducati 1299 Superleggera Priced at $80,000

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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.

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Bikes

Ducati 1299 Panigale S Anniversario – Celebrating 90 Years

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Ducati is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, with the culmination of that celebration happening right now in Misano, at World Ducati Week. As we previewed already, Ducati would give a sneak peak of a new model at the event, and debut a limited edition machine as well.

Well, we have had more than a sneak peak of the upcoming Ducati Supersport model, and now we get the full monty of the Ducati 1299 Panigale S Anniversario – a special superbike that commemorates 90 years of Ducati motorcycles.

The Ducati 1299 Panigale S Anniversario is more than just a cosmetic exercise, with only 500 motorcycles getting its limited edition paint job, gold-colored metal pieces, and bevy of technical upgrades

One interesting new feature though is the debut of the EVO version of the Ducati Traction Control (DTC) and Ducati Wheelie Control (DWC) systems.

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Bikes

Lazareth LM 847 – A Maserati-Powered Leaning Quad

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The minds at French builder Lazareth are truly mad as a hatter, and Asphalt & Rubber has published several of their more eccentric designs here on our pages. Lazareth’s latest build takes the cake though.

The Lazareth LM 847, which debuted today in Geneva, features the 4.7-liter, 470hp, V8 engine out of a Maserati automobile, with a leaning quad chassis built around it.

We generally loath making comparisons of a manufacturer’s design to another’s, but here Lazareth does seem to be stealing from the best.

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Bikes

Ducati 1199 Panigale Café Racer Concept by AD Koncept

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I think in 2016, we will find that the whole post-authentic motorcycle movement officially jumped that shark right about at this point in time. The 2015 EICMA show was inundated with café racers and scramblers from manufacturers that wanted to cash in on the budding trend.

Now with Deus ex Machina up for sale and no Honda CB350 left behind, the industry feels ready for the next moto du jour – though not before we give it one last go, of course.

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News

Ducati Reaches 50,000 Units Sales Mark for First Time Ever, And Other Red Herrings

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Ducati Motor Holding is reporting that it has sold over 50,000 units to customers, for the first time ever. This is a substantial improvement over the 40,650 units that Ducati delivered at this time last year, and the 45,100 units the company sold to customers in 2015.

This news is a bit of a red herring though, as the sales increase comes due almost solely because of the addition of the Ducati Scrambler line, which in the first three quarters of the year was at 13,609 units sold.

As we have reported before on Asphalt & Rubber, the sales increase being posted by Ducati is a bit of red herring with the brand. While the Scrambler line has shown strong growth for Ducati, the rest of the model lines have been weak for the year.

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News

Ducati CEO Quashes Four-Cylinder Superbike Rumor

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Well, the fun is over. Talking to MCN, Claudio Domenicali has laid to rest any rumors about the Ducati building a four-cylinder superbike to replace the Panigale.

The news confirms what everyone already expected to be the case, as it is hard to imagine a Ducati superbike model being anything other than a v-twin, World Superbike rules be damned.

“I can confirm there is no officially confirmed project at Ducati for a four-cylinder engine to replace the Panigale V-twin,” Domenicali confirmed to MCN. “There is no Ducati four-cylinder superbike planned.”

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