Ducati continues to push its bikes into bold new territory with yet another new V4 engine. We all knew it was coming, but still, the new V4 Granturismo engine has some surprising features.
First off, Ducati’s ditched the Desmodromic valve design on this V4, instead opting for standard valve return springs. It means the engine won’t rev as high, but it also means longer maintenance intervals (valve clearance checks every 60,000 miles, now!), and it should make things simpler overall.
The whole V4 design is a surprise in itself. Not that we didn’t know it was coming, but Ducati’s long been known for L-twins, and this is a 90-degree V4. But thanks to that V4 design, Ducati was able to program in a rear cylinder deactivation feature, so this bike is actually a petrol-sipping parallel twin in stop-and-go traffic, turning into a high-performance monster once you open the throttle up for actual performance. No doubt that deactivation feature somehow plays into the machine’s Euro5 certification, too.
The Granturismo engine has 1158cc capacity (remember, this is actually replacing a 1260 L-twin), with 170 horsepower at 10,500 rpm and 92 pound-feet of torque at 8,750 rpm. It has 83mm x 53.5mm bore/stroke, with 14:1 compression ratio. Ducati used 70-degree offset crankpins, with counter-rotating crankshaft. There are three oil pumps (one sending unit, two return units) and a semi-dry sump design, with a wet, multi-plate servo clutch (another non-traditional design for a Duc).
Ducati says it will reveal a new Multistrada based around this engine, coming on November 4. No doubt we’ll see other machines as well, but probably not this fall.
