Friends, have you ever met the man who was troubled by ‘too much sex’? Not me, can’t say such a man exists. Like, consider if you will this scenario (in a darkened downbeat bar, wistful strains of southern blues hanging in the Bourbon-etched smoke haze):

“Hey what’s up man, you look really down?”
“Yeah… I got problems man… too much sex…”
“Sheesh, no… hey fellas, Lennie here is getting too much sex…”
“No way… poor guy…”
“Whoa, bummer mate…”
“Yeah… what a fizz…”

No, doesn’t happen.

Of all the abundances, a surfeit of ‘sink the snag – international rules’ is perhaps the least troubling. It’s a different story with other abundances: like speed cameras (immobile revenue devices), ‘wire rope barriers’ (give me strength), discriminatory motorcycle taxes (*^@!*^), deadshits (is that one word or two, and why are there so many?), bureaucrats (by definition, too many), merchant bankers (poodle-rooters and toss-pots), newspaper editors (a pox on their houses)… you get my drift?

Answer, if you would friends, why we have such abundance of the things we don’t want or need, and too little abundance of the things we really want.

Above: 1198

All praise to Ducati then for issuing forth a worthy abundance. In the past week it has released no less than two new Hypermotards, three Sportclassics, a Multistrada 1100 and 1100s, three new Monsters, a searing Streetfighter, and a five-model stove-hot 2009 Superbike range. Like ribs, chilli sauce, strong liquor, wild women and sex, that’s the kind of abundance we like to celebrate here at the TMR Central Motorcycle News Desk.

In the past few week or so we’ve looked at the 2009 Ducati Sportclassic 1000S - GT1000 - GT1000 Touring, the 2009 Ducati Monster 1100 And 1100 S, and the 2009 Ducati Hypermotard 1100, Hypermotard 1100S; we’ll pick through the rest of the new 2009 Ducati range over the next few days.

If it’s track-ready performance you want, the new Ducati Superbike five-model range is loaded to the gunwales with race technology. From the lightweight 848, to the grunt-laden 1198 and the ultimate 1198 S and 1098 R, each carry race-level specs in their performance-built Testastretta Evoluzione engines and traction control technology from Ducati’s world championship-winning machines. Cube for cube, Ducati claims that “the 848, 1198 and 1098 R Superbikes are the most advanced, most powerful twin-cylinder motorcycles ever built”.

To celebrate his third Superbike World Championship, Ducati is also offering a 1098 R Bayliss Limited Edition. With Troy’s announcement of his retirement from racing after a gritty, hard-fought and brilliant career, the Bayliss Limited Edition is a certain collector piece.

Ducati claims each is “engineered by the stopwatch” and “designed for the racetrack”. The raw numbers friends, would seem to support that claim.

Engines

The new Ducati 1198, while visually the same as the previous 1098, is a totally new bike. Both the 1198 and 1198 S share the 1198cc liquid cooled, L-Twin, Desmodromic engine. With the same 106mm x 67.9mm bore and stroke as the factory race bike, the four-valves per cylinder twin produces 170hp (125kW) @ 9,750rpm, and class-leading torque of 97lb-ft (13.4kgm) @ 8,000rpm.

Above: 1198

For the new 1198, valve diameters have been increased by around four percent to 43.5mm for the inlet and 35.5mm for the exhaust. They are actuated by ’super-finished’ racing-type rocker arms and double overhead camshafts with radical profiles that provide around ten percent greater lift than their predecessors.

The 1098 R is the sledgehammer in this lot, “a race bike, pure and simple” according to Ducati’s press release, it was built to power Troy Bayliss to victory in the World Superbike Championship.

The 1098 R is not a replica - it’s the real deal. The 1098 R engine produces 180hp (132.4kW) @ 9,750rpm and brute torque of 99.1lb-ft (13.7kgm) @ 7,750rpm in standard mode, rising to 186hp when using the supplied race kit (intended strictly for track use only). Its 1198.4cc capacity is the product of a larger bore and stroke of 106mm x 67.9mm; compression is also lifted to 12.8:1. To handle the extra ergs, the 1098R utilises titanium valves and conrods, and a sand-cast crankcase.

Above: 1098 R

(It also sports a higher ratio sixth gear, and, unique to the ‘R’ version, a dry multiplate ’slipper’ clutch for finer control under race conditions and to reduce the destabilising effect of aggressive downshifting.)

The 848 also packs a king-sized punch from its liquid cooled, L-Twin Desmo. At full noise it produces 134hp (98.5kW) @ 10,000rpm and peak torque of 70.8lb-ft (9.8kgm) @ 8,250rpm. (With a dry weight of just 168kg (369lb) the agile 848 is a full 20kg (44lb) lighter and 30 percent more powerful than its predecessor.)

Above: 848

With 94mm x 61.2mm bore and stroke and four valves per cylinder fed by racing-style elliptical throttle bodies, the 848 powerhouse also features electronic injection, Marelli ignition system and a lightweight cat-equipped 2-1-2 exhaust system.

Ever wondered why Ducatis sound the way they do? It’s not just the big-bore pipes that provide the trademark growl. Part of the reason is in their unique Desmodromic valve system, where valve closure is activated mechanically enabling steep cam profiles and radical cam timings. It’s a system used on every Ducati motorcycle including the world-beating Superbike and Desmosedici MotoGP bikes.

To carry the increased power and torque output, the 1198 gearbox introduces ‘R’ model internal ratios with shot-peened gear sets machined from the same high-strength steel used in Ducati Corse race applications.