http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/race/motogp-race/the-problem-at-ducati/

I hope Gigi can turn it around.

Thanks, great article.
I get it. They need engineers in overalls, not suits.

  GG15   

 

Ducati has steadily been going backwards since the 916 series bike IMO, in terms of practical design. I could completely remove the tank, airbox, and fairings on my old 748 race bike in less than 4 minutes. The 749 probably took 2-4 times longer. Forget about it on the 848. A mechanic friend claims he can remove the entire motor from an R6 quicker than he can remove the 1199 exhaust. It seems their engineers have forgotten how to come up with practical designs.

I'm sure the newer bikes handle better than the old ones, but geez, at least making the bolts a common size is a no-brainer.

Here's a photo mix of what it takes to remove an 1199 motor from a race bike. 

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/archive/14archive/garage14/

If it was easy it would be a japanese bike. They are definitely over engineering the bikes.

I feel like every year Ducati always has a great story for why they will have hope the next year...  VR is coming! Al twin spar instead of CF! Audi is going to fix things! Gigi is on board now! Err... we're going to finally get a bike from Gigi next year!

Sadly, I'm always still hoping that the story they give will actually come true... but the stories are getting a bit old.

As far as the production bikes are concerned, SBK ease of maintenance peaked on the 916/748.
749/999 are the worst, at least under the bodywork, which itself is moderately complicated.
848/1098/1198 are better under the bodywork... except for R&R of the shock, which is a travesty.

They're clearly biased toward ease of assembly at the factory, with little thought given to routine maintenance.

I can totally see how they've carried that sort of thinking over to the MotoGP bikes, as described in that article.

MotoGP is not an art gallery, it's a marginally civilized form of warfare.
If you're a heartbeat too slow, you're often dead.

Thinking back to the last race... if the shock spacer that Bradl's crew had to chase on the grid had been captive.... they could have finished the job and likely he'd have been on the podium rather than 16th.

Great article. I hope they change the bike for the better. Changing corporate culture is far harder.

Nut/Bolt sizes notwithstanding; the physics of modern (2014+) racing-motorcycle design/testing might be over both of their 'heads' if, as Oxley reports, the rider has to spend all his energy/attention saving the front end in turns instead of racing

Well, thats what Gigi can hopefully bring to the table. Get a good baseline system that wont have that happen every corner.