2012 Ducati 848 White Review & Pictures

Ducati’s middleweight superbike gets a significant upgrade for 2011, further separating itself from the confines of established sportbike categories.

It’s already 17 years since the first small-bore Ducati 4-valve superbike, the 748, broke cover – the same year as the iconic 916, in 1994. The 748 played a background second fiddle to the beloved 916 series until the 749 emerged in 2003. A close relation to the aesthetically challenged 999, the 749 continued to be a relatively low-cost entre into Ducati’s superbike family and competed against the Japanese 600s in supersport competition.

Then MY2008 saw a paradigm shift for the sub-liter Ducati superbikes, with the new 848 getting 15 extra horses and a weight loss of nearly 50 lbs! However, its 101cc displacement bump (to 849cc) made it ineligible for supersport competition, leaving it adrift in a class of its own.

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 848 White

Well, Ducati has upped the ante again with the 848 EVO, bringing along extra horsepower, improved brakes and fitment of a standard steering damper – all for the same price as last year’s 848s.

To demonstrate the EVO’s newfound prowess, Ducati invited us to the historic Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, Italy.

It’s within the engine that most of the EVO’s updates are found. The 848’s powerplant remains structurally unchanged, but a multitude of revisions to improve performance creates what Ducati says is “the highest power-per-liter of any twin-cylinder engine in production.”

At the intake side, the fuel-injection’s throttle body size jumps from 56mm to 60mm and feeds fuel into optimized intake ports. New cams offer increased valve lift on both the intake and exhaust sides. A revised combustion chamber and new pistons bump the compression ratio from 12.1 to a high 13.2:1. The 90-degree V-Twin’s rev ceiling has been lifted 500 revs to 11,300 rpm, and heat generated from the extra revs is dissipated by new ventilated timing belt covers.

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 848 White

Aside from new paint color options, the 848 is stylistically unchanged in its EVO guise. For many bikes, this would be a problem. For the 848, its status-quo stance keeps it among the belles of the ball, especially in the new Arctic White Silk seen in these photos, a tasty matte-white pearl with red frame and wheels. Bella!

Our time aboard the EVO at Imola reaffirmed the 848’s sporting credentials, nicely upgraded for 2011 with tweaks that will help it get around a racetrack even quicker than before. It’s an upper-echelon sporting tool that can dust off a Ducati 999 if need be – or nearly anything else on a medium-speed racetrack.

Perhaps it doesn’t matter if the 848 is a bike without direct competition. It’s a strong seller for Ducati, with some 80% of buyers new to the Ducati fold, most coming from Japanese 600s. And along with Monster 696 riders, the 848 shares the distinction of having the youngest buyers among the Ducatisti.

With middleweight sportbikes from Asia pushing the $11,000 mark, it doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch to pony up another grand or so to park a Dark Stealth (matte black) 848 EVO at its $12,995 MSRP. That’s less than asked for the 749 back in 2003! The white or red EVO’s list for $1000 extra.

So, can a $13,000 Italian sportbike be a value proposition? We think so.

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 848 White

2012 Ducati 1198 Superbike Concept & Pictures

Dozens of red Ducati flags whip in the wind along the front straight of the Autodromo Internacional Algarve circuit as a row of pristine 2009 Ducati 1198S superbikes glisten in the morning light below them. This is Portimao, a region near the southern edge of Portugal, and this is a big day for Ducati. It’s the international press launch for the new 1198, the latest in an ever-growing line of Italian superbikes that has taken the world by storm. Only two years removed from the arrival of the brilliant 1098, the 1198 is thoroughly redesigned and this is the first opportunity for the press to sample the goods. In brief, the new 1198 feels like its predecessor with a confident front-end and serious stability, but this bike is more powerful, faster and gnarlier than ever before. 

At the heart of this new motorcycle is a stroked version of the Testastretta Evoluzione engine. It revs quicker, makes ten-more horsepower and is lighter and more durable than its predecessor. The S-version we will be testing is equipped with top-shelf suspension and wheels, as well as the latest Ducati Traction Control (DTC) and Ducati Data Acquisition (DDA) systems. This Ducati Corse racing technology has again spilled-over and sprinkled us with its scientific splendor. 

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

We’ve long been fans of the way Ducati L-Twins accelerate and as their traits have evolved over the years, so too has our taste for Italian power. This year the 1198 connects corners even faster and with less effort than before. It revs quicker, so the 10,500 rpm redline arrives sooner. Fortunately, the 6-speed transmission is slick and precise because keeping this baby in the right gear to take full advantage of the heaps of torque it churns out is a recipe for success. Internally, gears three through six are physically thicker than the 1098 to counter stresses from the extra hp and torque. Gear ratios are now identical to the 1098R. The dry clutch proved durable and effort at the lever is still quite light. There is no slipper clutch to be found. 

Row through a few gears on Algarve’s smooth surface and you’re hauling serious ass when the brake markers arrive (They start at 100 meters here, so there’s not much warning). The bike howls proudly under acceleration, it pulls linearly, always building power quickly until the mandatory cut-off after 10 grand. The 1198S and 1198 feature 1198.4cc of displacement, up 99cc over last year, and the same 106mm bore and 67.9mm stroke dimensions as the R model. Weight savings start with the use of a vacural-casting process, first seen on the Ducati 848, which shaves 4 lbs (2kg) off the crank cases alone. The 1198S/1198 engines are essentially 1098R engines without the expensive top-shelf internals. There are no Titanium connecting rods or valves on the 1198 models, among other R-specific internal mods that push it to the 180-hp range. 

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

Make no mistake the engine is the soul of the 1198. Power is simply fantastic and the combination of this and the DTC seems to increase confidence, allowing the rider to focus more on entry speed and lines to dial in lap times. Add into the mix the really trick Ducati Data Acquisition (DDA) and you learn exactly where the DTC comes into play, how fast you are in each turn, where the throttle is, what rpm you are at – it’s a technophile’s wet dream. You can mine data until you are sick of looking at it but beware – there’s no bullshitting the computer and everyone who sees the data will know exactly how fast you were going and how you got there.

Chassis remains a constant of the Ducati Superbike family. No significant changes to the geometry ensure the 1198S is as stable as the 1098. Toss this bike into a corner and the first thing you notice is that it seems to turn-in with less effort. Having recently ridden an 848 to bone-up on my Ducati turning traits it seems the Ducati 1198, with its forged 7-spoke GP-replica wheels, 43mm Ohlins fork, Ohlins shock and four-lb weight reduction, reacts quicker to rider input than the sum of its parts would suggest. Imagine a 1098 that turns-in ‘better’. 

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike

2012 Ducati 1198 Bike