It seems the latest craze in the bike industry is to tease potential buyers with “leaked” photos and tidbits of information for the media to then make wild assumptions over. BMW mastered the art with the release of the S1000RR, and now Ducati borrowed the same page from the German playbook with its forthcoming 1199.
The Italian magazine Motociclismo was kind enough to ruin its relationship with Ducati by printing official shots of the new superbike (which were quickly removed from shelves due to a pending lawsuit), but from those teaser shots we were able to mock up what we believe to be a very close representation of the finished bike.
The biggest news is the long-awaited monocoque chassis which essentially tosses Ducati’s trademark trellis frame out the window and uses the engine and airbox as stressed members. This design technology comes directly from Ducati’s MotoGP development, meaning it’ll go well around a track. What that means for street performance is still debatable, but Ducati race replicas have never exactly been comfortable.
More info will surely be coming soon, with a teaser video also likely to continue the foreplay. Check SSB’s Facebook and Web pages for immediate updates.