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We have again put our hands on the Desmoquatro basic project, effectuating a set of modifications that make it a radically new motorcycle, named “Testa Stretta,” or narrow head.
The advantages of Desmo technology are added to those deriving from a revolutionary conception of the head - lightened by about 1.5 kg, thus obtaining an even lower center of gravity - which can be summed up as follows:
- Angle between the valves reduced from 40° to just 25° - from which comes the name “Testa Stretta” - thanks to a new geometric arrangement of the elements of the timing system, resulting in a more compact configuration of the combustion chamber
- Intake pipes and exhaust redesigned in a more rectilinear pattern
- Suction valve diameter increased from Ø 36 to Ø 40 mm
Other important innovations regard:
Considerably modified bore and stroke measurements - from 98 x 66 mm to 100 x 63.5 mm - to push the engine to higher rotation speeds
Single-injector injection system located “over the throttle” managed by the new ultra-compact and lighter Marelli 5.9 CPU
New engine-case design, produced using a sand-casting technique like the models used in the competitions
This resulted in the engine of the 996 R which, though rigorously the maintaining the 90° V-architecture of the Ducati twin cylinder tradition, marks a fundamental evolution in Desmoquattro thermodynamics, and opens new frontiers in high performance: 135 HP at 10,200 rpm accompanied by a torque delivery curve following a more steady and progressive course.
The Brembo Corse braking system completes the series of innovations: four-pad calipers, reduced-band brake disks. Overall, we have saved about 800 g on the non-suspended masses at the front, combining greater safety - more controlled pad wear, less roll-back in release - with increasingly more precise dynamic behavior.
The fairing has been redesigned, improving the Cx by 0.02, and is made of 100% carbon fiber. The frame-engine connection is stiffer thanks to fittings increased to Ø 12 mm.
The new 996R is definitely more powerful. It features an uncommon pick-up and its power curve never seems to drop. It is a thoroughbred born to win.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NOT PART OF THE ORIGINAL DUCATI WEBSITE
DEVELOPMENT
A new generation bike had been rumoured for years, as it was widely known internally that Ducati had Massimo Bordi hard at work developing a revised engine so they would remain at the top of competition in World Superbike . The original 916 had debuted in 1994 and had always raced with a 955cc Desmoquattro engine until the 996cc came out in 1998. Honda had stepped in to take the Championship in 2000 away from Carl Fogarty who had won in 1999. It was clear that if Ducati were to take back the title in 2001 they needed a drastic revision of their engine. Central to this was the search for higher revs and improved cylinder filing and combustion. 2001 would also make the 8th production year for the Massimo Tamburini generation Superbike, so it had many wondering if in addition to the new engine, that a new bike design would debut as well. As we know, that was not the case. The reality was that Ducati didn't have the resources to produce either an all new engine or complete motorcycle in a short space of time. [1]
Once the formula and design parameters for the new engine were established in early 1998, an outside consultant was engaged to design the Desmodromic cylinder head. Ex-F1 engineer, Angiolino Marchetti came with over 30 years of experience and already had previously business dealings with Ducati. [2]
Marchetti commenced on the new head design in early 1998. But unfortunately died in 1999 without seeing the project completed. During 1999 three examples of the 998 were produced, and early in 2000, Luca Cadalora tested the Testastretta on the track. Although this engine had the new crank-case and shorter stroke, it still didn't feature the Testastretta cylinder heads. [1]
Great effort was put into keeping the new bike secret down to every detail. In reference to a supposedly leaked image which a press outlet had reacted negatively to, Pierre Terblanche had this to say about it at Intermot :
"iets gemeen uit de ogen kijkend (looking something mean in the eye), that was from MCN or somebody. But I can tell you it's absolute rubbish! The bike... a lot of people in the company have never seen the bike. Definitely no dealer has seen the bike at all. The bike they saw is the one that has been launched. They saw the 996R like it is today. There are people in Ducati's management that haven't even seen the new bike. The whole idea is that nobody knows!" [3]
PUBLIC LAUNCH
The 996R was first teased to the industry at the Intermot show in Monaco , however Ducati officially "debuted" the new Testastretta engine and the 996R at the Munich International Motorcycle Show (Intermot) in Germany the week of 11th September 2000. The public would have seen it in the 2001 model line brochure in very early Sept (they were printed in Aug). It then went up on the newly redesigned Ducati.com around the same time with an online pre-order date of 12 Sept announced. No doubt all this hype contributed to the online pre-order allocations selling out so quickly as this all coincided at the same time after several months of rumours and anticipation. The 996R was shown again at the NEC Motorbike Show in Birmingham in November of 2000.
The 996R has the distinction of being the first ever "R" version Ducati in its Superbike line-up. The 996R was the race homologation special for the all new Testastretta (meaning “compact head”) [4] 998cc engine that Ducati was campaigning in World Superbike for the 2001 season . Troy Bayliss swept the championship that year on a 998 F01 (the factory race version of the 996R) in his debut season after Fogarty had to retire in late 2000 due to an injury. In addition to the new 998cc engine, the 996R also set the design language for what the upcoming 998 and 748 model line-up would look like for 2002. It also led to the 998R and 748R in 2002.
Here is a quote from a MotorBox interview at Intermot 2000: Pierre Terblanche, "The performance gap that the Desmoquattro created between itself and the competition has gradually narrowed. Despite the endless evolutions, this engine was beginning to feel the weight of the years. It was time to put an end to it. Or perhaps it would be better to say the word beginning. Yes, because the new "Testastretta" is not a more or less profound evolution of the previous engine but opens a completely new chapter. The changes are such and many that they deserve an in-depth technical analysis. Here we limit ourselves to summarising the work of the Ducati technicians and a very short series of figures is enough to do it.." [5]
The 996R made its motorcycle journalist test rider debut 7 March 2001 at the Circuit de Valencia race track in Valencia, Spain . Select motorcycle journalists were invited to learn more and ride the new 996R. Ben Bostrom and Ruben Xaus were on hand with Troy Bayliss also showing up later in the event. [6] For the occasion, the 996Rs were set up with the "upgrade kit" which includes free carbon 50mm Termignoni exhaust cans and a reprogrammed control unit (all included in the purchase price of the bike). The power rises to 141 horsepower. [5] [1]
Through the Ducati Performance catalogue via dealers, there was also full 54mm system with ECU that increased the power to an advertised 149HP. Dealers that took the 996R racing like Pro V Twins in the UK and AMS in Texas, USA were able to easily extract 150HP+ on the dyno just massaging the timing on top of the full 54mm exhaust.
There was a full 57mm race-only Titanium exhaust that required a spacer for the right rear set and a different (or cut/modified) tail section to clear the carbon heat shield and rear of the cans, all available via Ducati Performance. There are no advertised HP numbers on this as the ECU tuning was up to the customer and not covered by warranty at this point. However, it is known than the 996RS Desmoquattro was estimated to have 168HP [1] and the factory Testastretta F01 bikes had around 174HP [1] and both of those bikes used the 57mm exhaust system. Of course it goes without saying that these bikes had numerous other serious race upgrades, but aside from F01 specific components, all of them were available via Ducati Performance to anyone with the P/N and money. It was much more cost effective though to just buy a pre-built 996RS/998RS from Ducati.
SERIALISED VS. NON-SERIALISED
Serial plaque from a press fleet 996R
There had been a long-standing rumour that the non-serialised bikes were all "held back" for race teams, but that's simply not the reality. Actual race teams would have bought the 996RS (14 were made but had Desmoquattro engines) straight from Ducati rather than a street bike, have to strip it all down, and then pay for all of the racing parts independently. The Ducati factory teams riders on the other hand were issued what were known as F01 bikes, F for factory and 01 for the year. These were very special bikes that were at least a year ahead in development compared to the RS bikes Ducati sold to the public. - All of that said however, most of the non-serialised bikes were expected to be purchased by small privateer teams and individual racers who didn't have the budget for an RS. It's also known that there were several race teams who did buy non-serialised 996Rs and did go to the extra time and expense to strip them down and build them up to RS spec just to have the next generation Testastretta engine.
Ducati knew there was a huge "grey market" demand for their WSBK homologation bikes in countries like the USA where they were not legal. The non-serialised 996R, just like the 998R after and the SPS bikes prior, were sold to USA customers for "non-road use" only. The dealers had the buyers sign a piece of paper which acknowledged this, but of course many ignored it and could get them registered depending on their state laws. The NHTSA was catching onto this and that's why the 996R and later 998R bikes that made their way to the USA lacked many parts which were required for them to be street legal:
Tail-lights (had red tape covering holes)
Number plate holder
Rear turn signals
Front turn signals
Kick stand
Headlight assembly (housing, bulbs, rubber caps) - the wiring harness was the same and Ducati simply places a hard plastic insert to fill the nose fairing
Choke switch on left clip-on
Mirrors
They came with the street exhaust installed and the carbon slip-ons in a box just like the serialised street versions. They also shipped with a display stand like the street versions. Notably the non-serialised version had the same wiring harness so many opted to purchase all of the missing items from their Ducati dealership to make the bike more street legal in appearance. It's of note as well that the VIN decal locations were different on the non-serialised bikes with the decal being on the right side of the removable rear subframe partially under the seat. For the USA models they were on the same diagonal frame tube as the emissions warning label stating off-road use only.
Dozens upon dozens of these non-serialised bike had remained unsold. Ducati required many of their dealers to accept them in an attempt to move the inventory out of the factory in Bologna. As a marketing tactic Ducati recommended to its dealers that they upgrade the bike with all of the carbon-fibre parts from the Performance Accessories catalogue in order to be rolling show pieces for their customers and to make the sale price more attractive. Australia was an example of a market where the 996R was seen as a failure due to lack of sales, and as a consequence, only less than a dozen of the 998R were imported.
QUIRKS & RANDOM INFO
Desmoquattro on the fairing?
As with earlier SPs and SPSs, the 996R kept the earlier model designation, even though the engine displacement was 998cc. This was an historical precedent that began with the 851 SP2, intentionally done to retain links with the earlier design and maintain family uniformity. There would eventually be a designated 998R to replace the 996R which actually had a 999cc engine. [1] This explains why the first 998cc bike was called the 996R, but as to why the decal on the fairing says Desmoquattro instead of Testastretta is anyone's guess. No doubt the marketing bike used in the poster was made long prior to the new Testastretta engine even being ready (as evident with all of the differences from the production model). It's very possible that when Ducati placed their advanced order for the hundreds of carbon side fairings needed with their supplier ATR so the parts could be ready in time, that Desmoquattro was communicated somehow to them by mistake. It could simply be the case that the person communicating this didn't even know about the Testastretta engine going into this bike. Most just point to it as the quintessential "Italian" mistake.
4 Digit Serial?
4 digits on the triple plaque even though Ducati never intended on producing 1000 or more is a little odd. We have to remember this was a format used by prior models whose production numbers did exceed 999. So even though these weren't interchangeable as each one had the model designation of the bike molded into it, that it was the standard at the time to have 4 digit place holders.
What's with all of the ECUs labelled 996R that are out there?
Since the 996R was the very first of the brand new 59M ECU and for the Testastretta, it seems that when Magneti Marelli made the first run of them, they were all labelled 996R. Most of them are NOT actual 996R tunes and may in fact just contain 998, 998S, 998R, 998FE, etc. tunes saved to them. Buyer beware.
The 2001 996R engine became the 2002 998S engine in the RoW bikes (Rest of World, ie: non-US). Note that every ECU has a sticker on it with what's referred to as a BIN code - this is the code for the mask of the specific tune that is actually saved to the EPROM (at least when it left Magneti Marelli ). Tuners will know that the file saved to the chip is in the format of .bin and is burned to a specific start address on the chip.
The correct BIN code for the 996R tune that's for the included Termignoni race silencers (50mm) is S10DB10. These were included with every single 996R sold. So no matter what the other labels on the 59M may say, if it doesn't have a sticker with this code on it, it's not correct for that application. Of course the BIN code for the 996R stock silencer chip is different, as is the chip for the 54mm Termi race silencers, etc. etc. - To complicate things further, as Ducati published updates to tunes, the BIN code changes.
If you buy a 59M ECU online and are unsure of exactly what's on it (because you don't know what BIN codes are what or if someone else has re-flashed it), take it to a tuner who can flash the exact .bin file you want on it so you are absolutely sure. Two different cylinder heads? It was a common rumour on internet forums that the non-serialised 996R bikes had different cylinder heads from the serialised bikes. This no doubt came about due to the fact that the non-serialised bikes were intended to be sold to privateer racers, but it gained momentum as the revised 996R parts manual shows 2 different cylinder head P/Ns which ended up being revised again in even later updates. Because the 996R were the very first Testastretta engines, the cylinder heads are slightly different on these early bikes with shorter studs and different fasteners on each side of the cylinder head. The second series had the cylinder head types as used on the 998 and 999 series. That's all. Both benefited from all of the Testastretta design improvements equally in terms of cooling passages, etc. Here are all of the 996R cylinder head P/Ns historically as known today. Credit to Ducatiforum.co.uk for sorting this out: [13] 30121031A 2001 996 R (shorter studs & different fasteners) 30121091A 2001 996 R II (original part number, replaced by 30121093A) 30121092A 2002 998 all models excluding R (original part number, replaced by 30121093A) 30121093A This part number superseded the previous 2 and is now listed as the replacement part for the 996R, All 998 models (Excluding the R) "The 996R II was the first revision of the 998 production part which then became the 999 part." [13] Leaving us today with a parts manuals that list only "30121031A 2001 996 R" and "30121093A 2001 996 R II".
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