2012 Ducati Panigale side right

The famous Italian superbike manufacturer, Ducati made a storm when it released the successor of the legendary Ducati 1198, the 1199 Panigale. With a strong racing pedigree, this bike has been one of the most anticipated motorcycles to be ever rolled out from the Bologna factory. Now, Ducati has released much more anticipated photos of the Panigale, the naked versions revealing the underpinnings of the svelte model in great detail.

The Ducati Panigale represents a step ahead in Ducati’s bold and innovative approach in motorcycle design. Ducati has achieved in the new 1199 Panigale a significant amount of weight reduction with the help of an extremely compact monocoque construction chassis merging multiple parts together into one compact and lightweight component. With this, Ducati achieves a total dry weight of just 164kgs in the Panigale, a 10kg weight reduction.

The Ducati Panigale uses its Superquadro, signature 90 degree L-twin engine as the stressed member in the chassis. The new engine is made completely of die-cast aluminium which alone helps achieving 5 kg reduction in weight. The new engine has rotated the top-end backwards around the crankshaft a further 6° to give more clearance on the front wheel and enable engineers to modify the front and rear weight bias. This also enables a front-end geometry of 24.5° of rake and 100mm (3.94in) of trail. The exhaust system has also been relocated below the engine. The Panigale gets a new fully die-cast aluminium swing-arm too and the wheelbase has been increased to 1437mm compared to the 1198. The Panigale is surely a bike which any bike lover would love to own, so go ahead and drool over the pictures.

2012 Ducati Panigale side left