Ducati 1299 Superleggera: Lightest mass produced bike with the most powerful twin-cylinder engine

Italian superbike maker Ducati has unveiled the new version of the 1299 Superleggera and it looks and sounds brilliant. Announced ahead of the EICMA-Motorcycle Exhibition at Milano in Italy, the new superbike is the most powerful twin-cylinder motor ever produced and the lightest production motorcycle to go on sale.

The new 1299 Superleggera comes with a carbon fibre structure which includes the frame, swingarm, subframe and even the wheels.

How light is the bike? Well according to the company, the Superleggera weighs in at just 156kg dry for the standard bike, the race kit drops the numbers to almost 150kg. The weight is distributed as 2.6kg, 4.1kg, 4kg and 900gm for the frame, swingarm, wheels and the rear subframe. And the power? The stock version produces 215PS while the race kit version takes it further to 220PS and 147Nm of peak torque. That is insane.

The new Ducati comes with a loads of electronic-wizardry including a 6-axis Inertial Measurement Unit (6D IMU) that takes charge of the Ducati Traction Control, Ducati Power Launch and Engine Brake Control. The Ducati Slide Control has also been updated and features three levels of intervention. There’s also a bidirectional Ducati Quick Shifter along with the Ducati Data Analyser+ data capture system to analyse your performance.

There is also an optional race kit which includes titanium race exhaust made by Akrapovic, race screen, billet mirror plugs, front and rear paddock stands and a bike cover. There is a multi-adjustable 43mm Ohlins FL936 inverted fork, while the Ohlins TTX36 monoshock unit has a titanium spring that shaves off another 0.5kg. Braking handled by twin 330mm Brembo discs, along with Brembo M50 monobloc calipers. Like always, Ducati has limited the production of the 1299 Superleggera to just 500 units with each cost about Rs 59.50 lakh and that is excluding taxes.