First Drive Review
One look at the 2008 Ducati Desmosedici RR, and you’ll suspect that you’ve led an unfulfilled life. And when its 1.0-liter, DOHC 16-valve V-4 engine rasps to life, your suspicions will be confirmed. Priced at a chilling $72,500 and barely available to the public (Tom Cruise was the first U.S. customer, and there will be only 299 others), the Desmosedici RR is a street-legal version of Ducati’s 2006 MotoGP race bike.
Ducati always packs plenty of style and panache into its bikes, but this one is on a whole other level. Armed with 197 horsepower (with supplied track exhausts and ECU) and with an estimated curb weight of 400 pounds, the Desmosedici boasts a power-to-weight ratio of 2.0:1 pounds per horsepower. Take a moment to compare that with the upcoming Chevrolet Corvette ZR1’s 5.3:1 ratio, and the Desmosedici is a serious piece of performance art that deserves a closer look.
Although many Desmosedici RRs will likely be found cruising down Rodeo Drive, few of the other bikes that motor down Rodeo Drive can boast all of the Ducati’s exotic components. Here is a partial list of the exotic bits found on the Desmosedici: forged Marchesini magnesium wheels, carbon-fiber bodywork, race-spec Ãhlins dampers, rigid Brembo monoblock front calipers, and Magneti Marelli electronics and instrumentation.
This bike’s real home is the racetrack. Ducati invited a handful of writers to test-drive the new bike at Miller Motorsports Park’s long, 4.5-mile course.
A thumbing of the start button snaps the V-4 engine to life, which quickly settles into a savage drone. The characteristic engine sound is largely due to offset crankpins that alter the firing order to improve the bike’s traction when drifting through corners. Like all street bikes, you nudge the Ducati into first gear by tapping the shift lever down with your left foot. Dial in a few thousand revs with your right hand, slip the clutch, and the Desmosedici rolls away. The engine isn’t fussy at all; in fact, you can putter around well below the power band or scream through the gears while tagging the 14,200-rpm rev limiter. With Miller’s 0.7-mile straightaway at our disposal, burying the V-4 into the red zone seems like the better option. Maximum acceleration pins the rider against the seatback while he crouches under the windscreen, adrenal glands pumping out a charge. We observed a giddy 168 mph at the end of the straight.
Breathtaking quickness—0 to 60 mph comes in less than three seconds—is matched by the bike’s Brembo brakes. The four-piston front calipers yield such dramatic braking force that even one finger on the lever raises the notion of how easy it would be to go flipping over the handlebars. Cornering manners follow suit. Like many modern sport bikes, the Desmosedici uses the engine as a structural member; the steering spindle mounts on a compact steel trellis bolted to the engine’s cylinder heads, and the aluminum rear swing arm bolts to the crankcases. Together with the highly adjustable front fork and rear shock, the Desmosedici RR corners with uncommon accuracy. Provide a few millimeters of handlebar input or tip a knee slightly, and the bike faithfully follows your lead.
As noted, it’s the nearest thing to a 2006 990cc MotoGP race bike. The U.S. quota of 300 units makes it highly collectible—so much so that one delivery has gone from the owner’s garage to his living room. Having sampled one on the track, though, we think that owner is missing the point. This bike is more than static art—the real art is in the way it rides.
