Ducati Monster Forum

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Dec/091213-69-interview.htm (http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Dec/091213-69-interview.htm)

on stoner:

His data was ...it wasn't so much he only relied on the electronics to do all the work. He really has great throttle control. He gets off the corners better. That's one of the things that surprised me. He really gets off the corners good. But for the most part, he's still about a second a lap quicker than me most places. He's faster everywhere, but one of the things early in the year that was encouraging.

I say "everywhere" but there would be parts on the track where I would always be just as fast as him, but there was a couple places on the track where I would lose a lot of time. So that kind of gave me some good confidence, knowing that if I could always fix those one areas, I would be getting closer. So I've still got to get a lot closer, but we're confident that we can close that gap. One of the things is his top speed is always quite a bit better than mine. So we're going to go back to the wind tunnel in a couple of weeks and try to improve that. Because I got no doubt we have all the same parts, same engines and stuff.

He does get off the corner better than me. But we're missing something, aerodynamics or somewhere. Because there's too big a difference.

So, even Hayden admits that he sucks? [laugh]

I wish

I sucked that bad ;D

Me too.

Hayden's a real gentleman. I'd buy that guy a beer.
He gives credit when it's due and only criticizes when he has due cause (eg Pedrosa who is a special case)!!.
I hope he does well next year and hangs around Ducati long enough to ride the big bikes (1000cc) again.

Hayden is definitely one of the good ones, he's a good person, just not up there with "the 4".

Hayden's a class act. Unfortunately, that's not related to going fast.

Two things stood out in my mind:
He had a *really* unlucky season. How many first turn crashes was he involved in that weren't his fault? 4 ? 5?

Also, I found his comments about the teams sharing information so freely pretty interesting. It makes me wonder how much of the bike's set-up was coming from input from Stoner.

i.e. If they are using a set-up that helps make Stoner faster are they sharing that set up and is it not working for Hayden? It seemed like Hayden did better when Stoner was out. Then again, I'll have to double check the season stats, and it's hard to get good data when Casey's being taken out in every other race...

That was a good interview. He's a humble guy and really seems like he's always working to be better. You know a lot of the riders in the field would just blame the bike and the team if they were in that position.

Stop the purchase of your fuel on 69, to help him out this year.  ;)

At least one of the Hayden's has a ride for 2010. I too think Nicky is a class act and a hard worker. No, he's not "4 aliens" fast but he could be. I know Rossi thinks a lot of him and has said so... of course he's a class act himself.

Just hope this next year goes better for Hayden. I'd like to see him do well. Maybe his 848 replicas would sell better with a few podiums under his belt! ;D [thumbsup]

I think they sold the entire production run hours after unveiling it at Laguna.

That's good to know. I'm pretty sure AMS here in Dallas has had one on the floor every time I've been in and last time I asked (which was a while ago) they hadn't sold one yet. They still have them on their website. Again, I haven't been in this month so I'm hoping they sold them all. [thumbsup] They are cool looking scooters. I'd just wish they had made an "S" model out of it with some Ohlins boingers to make it really special. I was a little disappointed that it was a stocker with special bodywork.

Of course the new Rossi special R1 is the same, stocker with groovy bodywork. Wish Yammyhammer had made it like their 50th Anniversary R1... body work plus Ohlins and Marchesini wheels. [clap] [moto]

Superbike Magazine in the UK had the same thought...so they made one:
http://www.superbike.co.uk/news/ducati_848s_motorcycle_test_ride_report_news_289911.html (http://www.superbike.co.uk/news/ducati_848s_motorcycle_test_ride_report_news_289911.html)

Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about! Ducati needs to build that bike! [thumbsup] [moto]

My local dealer told me that there's virtually no profit margin on the 848, and that's why there's no S.

Ouch. Wonder why there were 749 standard, dark, S and R models then. Besides the f'ed up economy I wonder what changed with their middleweight sbk? Still would like to see a factory 848S. But the mighty dollar dictates everything. :P

I'd heard somewhere that the 749 was a loss leader and management felt offering all the model options was a mistake.

I'm surprised they don't offer an 848 with a dealer installed "S" option though. Something like Fiat does with their Abarth 500 SS in Europe.

Good idea.

Ducati seems to do well with the termi & ECU packages, why not a Termi & Ohlins & ECU (with traction control) kit, all branded under an "S" badge.

I think the only sticking point would be the cost of the kit  :o

I can see the price point on an 848 being a problem.

Not sure if there's any big differences between an 848 and 1198 motor, if it's just the displacement, the 848 mill might be a dollar cheaper.  :P

Dry vs. Wet Clutch for sure. After that couldn't the smaller mill be made with looser tolerances since the power output is lower?

They probably aren't making a lot of money on the Superbikes. Actually, I have always thought the Big 4 were losing money on all their Superbikes and Supersports and making up for it by selling cruisers for $15K. I can't believe that you can completely revamp a state of the art competition motorcycle every two years and sell enough of of them to cover the costs.

Ducati doesn't have that luxury, ergo the longer product life and higher costs, exchange rates not withstanding.

In Ducati's case it's the opposite. The Superbikes have far more margin than the other models. That's why the 999's dismal failure was so much of a problem for the company.

Yamaha probably sells more R1s than Ducati sells in total. Hell, Honda's budget for office supplies is probably bigger than Ducati's total operating expenses.

In short: the economies of scale for the Big Four are staggering when compared to Ducati. If they have any loss leaders, it's in the entry bike category.

Yeah, that's a valid point, but as many R1's as they sell they sell even more cruisers at even higher prices. Those bikes have nothing high tech about them, no real development and still selling for more than $10K each. Definitely a lot of profit in that segment.

Probably much higher margins on cruisers to be sure, but I've noticed the level of "fit and finish" on the cruisers is pretty high.

i.e. it's easy (and cheaper) to build a "sloppy looking" bike when you can hide the uglyness under some bodywork.

Man, this thread is turning into the TOSAT or the racing board  ;D

Glad to see you're doing your part. [thumbsup]

 [laugh] My apologies for fueling the tangent