Ducati is 100 years old this year, and it is celebrating with the most extreme road-legal bike ever: the Ducati Superleggera V4 Centenario. “Centenario” here, of course, is Italian for “centenary” or “100th anniversary.”
It is not just a Superleggera V4 with centenary branding slapped on it, and the bold statement “most extreme road-legal bike ever” is not just marketing talk. This two-wheeler boasts three world-firsts never before seen on a production motorcycle.
It is the first bike to rock road-legal carbon-ceramic discs, the world’s first motorcycle with a production carbon-fiber front fork—courtesy of the brand-new Öhlins NPX 25/30 Carbon—and a record 228 hp in road-legal Euro 5+ configuration. That power figure is a threshold never previously reached by a homologated production motorcycle, according to Ducati.
In fact, that number is restrained. The 1,103 cc (67.3 cu in) Desmosedici Stradale R 1100 V4 engine is fully capable of unleashing 247 horses with the full racing exhaust and Ducati Corse Performance Oil. That’s pretty mind-bending, considering that this beast weighs as little as 167 kilograms (wet weight with no fuel) in racing configuration. This translates to an impressive 1.48 hp/kg power-to-weight ratio.
Back to reality, in non-racing configuration, it is no less monstrous. At 228 horses, 119 Nm (88 lb-ft) of torque, and 173 kg (381 lbs), the power-to-weight ratio is still impressive at 1.32 hp/kg.
Other highlights include a striking GP26 Rosso Centenario livery, race-bred aerodynamics featuring the same high-efficiency wings used on the WorldSBK-competing Panigale V4 R and Desmosedici GP-derived sidepods, Brembo brakes—including the carbon-ceramic brake discs—and a chassis made entirely of carbon fiber.
That’s right. Everything, including the frame, subframes, fully redesigned swingarm, and even the wheels, is made of carbon fiber. It is the world’s only road-legal motorcycle with an entirely carbon-fiber chassis.
There are two models to choose from. There’s the US$165,000 standard Centenario with the aforementioned GP26 Rosso Centenario livery, which combines matte dark red, white graphics, and exposed carbon fiber, and then there’s the US$220,000 Superleggera V4 Centenario Tricolore, featuring the special Italian tricolor livery.
The GP26 Rosso Centenario version has a limited run of 500 units, while the Tricolore has just 100 units to go around.
Images: Ducati.