Ducati's Swansong Superbike

Just like Christmas Day and lap dances, all good things have to come to an end, and that includes Ducati’s iconic line of V-twin superbikes.

- Dangerous Bruce

For 29 years, and a few handfuls of days, the Italian powerhouse has ruled supreme in the twin pot department, producing a plethora of pornographic (looking and sounding) motorcycles that will forever leave an impression on sports bike fans the world over. And while it’s hard to conceive, this really is the end of an era for the Bologna-built bullets, Ducati has rightfully and honourably chosen to send off its V-twin heritage in the most fitting and worthy way by going balls out to produce an extra lightweight, ridiculously powerful and stunningly beautiful street bike.

KING OF BLING

Aptly, they’ve called it the 1299 Panigale R Final Edition (FE), and it’s officially the joint most powerful production V-twin to grace this wonderful world (sharing that prestigious accolade with its spanking 1299 Super leggera sibling). But the good news is it costs around half the price of the latter, with a retail price confirmed at £34,995.

If you’re like me, and by that I mean tight, then you’re probably doing the maths and calculating how many other production sportsbikes you could get for that kind of money, but rest assured that this is one of those instances of quality over quantity. See, every last inch of the FE has been finely honed with both beauty and performance in mind. This isn’t just the most powerful sports bike on the market, but also one of the very lightest, with a kerb weight of just 190kg. And it’s also one of the most sophisticated, crammed with an abundance of technological brilliance that includes GPS, lean angle monitoring, a race-spec traction control package and more rider customisation than you can shake a stick at. The list goes on and on in a manner that reassures the investment you’d be making, should you decide to rob a bank and hand over some of those hard-earned spondoolies.