Heading into Borgo Panigale

[showerfan]

I am headed to the Ducati factory in Bologna today. Needless to say, I am excited. I have SO MANY questions -- most of which they won't likely answer.

What will the development of the V4 engines yield? Only race bikes? Or might we one day see a sport-tourer with a desmosedici?

What do they think of automatic transmissions? Could we see a DCT Multistrada (not to be confused with DVT or DTC)?

Do they make the engine run lean and the gearing too tall on purpose? I assume so, but what gearing would the factory have chosen in a reg-free world?

When will we see a new Streetfighter? The Monster is not a direct competitor to the super-nakeds like the Super Duke and the new Tuono. V4 Streetfighter? Naked Panigale? Come on!

Who would be the ideal buyer of Ducati from VW? My pick would be a racer-consortium led by Valentino Rossi.

Sidecar?

[stopintime]

Enjoy your visit 

Answers as I imagine they will be from the Factory Tour representatives 

What will the development of the V4 engines yield? Only race bikes? Or might we one day see a sport-tourer with a desmosedici?
- at the moment, there are no plans to make 4 cylinder bikes

What do they think of automatic transmissions? Could we see a DCT Multistrada (not to be confused with DVT or DTC)?
- at the moment, there are no plans to make bikes with automatic transmission

Do they make the engine run lean and the gearing too tall on purpose? I assume so, but what gearing would the factory have chosen in a reg-free world?
- Ducati chooses gearing to suit a wide variety of riders and riding scenarios. We don't recommend changing anything. 

When will we see a new Streetfighter? The Monster is not a direct competitor to the super-nakeds like the Super Duke and the new Tuono. V4 Streetfighter? Naked Panigale? Come on!
- at the moment, there are no plans to make another SF. Ducati is a leading manufacturer and will introduce new models in the future

Who would be the ideal buyer of Ducati from VW? My pick would be a racer-consortium led by Valentino Rossi.
Ducati is happy with the current ownership and at the moment we have no knowledge of any changes

Sidecar?
- can you repeat the question?

[GregP]

LOL!

On a serious note, I went last summer and enjoyed the experience. Was more surprised at how much my wife enjoyed it. The factory is surprisingly small and you are right in the mix of workers assembling, testing and prepping bikes. Watch out for the not so careful forklift drivers.

The museum is super cool with bikes and even a few radios from the companies past on display.

I also saw some spectacular hookers outside of the factory. I'm talking supermodel hot, at least from 50 feet away. Bologna isn't anything special but we only stayed long enough to get on and off the train.

Enjoy!!

[Speeddog]

Enjoy your visit 

Answers as I imagine they will be from the Factory Tour representatives 

~~~SNIP~~~

Well played, sir! 

[showerfan]

Hahahaha. Yes, that is kind of what I got. The museum curator, Lodi, did his best Sgt. Schultz the whole time. I did, in fact, speak with some execs, including Domenicali, but they didn't want to answer any of my questions directly, either. Still, here are some of my own theories taken from a range of "no comments," facial expressions, body language and chuckles.

DVT transmissions in a near-future Ducati are only slightly more probable than sidecars, and sidecars are definitely not happening. Still, it's clear that an automatic option will be available on all top-end bikes eventually, with shift-by-wire advances.

I got no response to questions about a new Multi but we know the engine could be upgraded to the 1262 power plant from the CARB application. Any new Multi will finally have a quickshifter, duh. Should have been done on the 2015 DVT's. Will they have embedded navigation in the TFT? How could they not, is my question.

Obvious: the V4 put into the new superbike will quickly, if not immediately, go into a Tuono-fighting supernaked. I hope an adventure bike too. Also, the Panigale superquadro engine could finally be used in a Streetfighter to battle the Superduke. It is a fantastically streetable engine -- I've had three -- tuned for the task it's unbeatable.

Lorenzo is not concerned about his struggles this year, he is focused on developing the bike and confident. Meanwhile, no one seemed to want to jinx Dovi's chances by sounding too optimistic. I am hopeful! Rossi is unlikely to put together a consortium for a Ducati MBO as his next career move.

[koko64]

Planning to go there next year.