Ducati released the 1299 Panigale R Final Edition in 2017 with much celebration. This last edition of the 1299 Panigale R superbike comes laden with top-shelf electronics and racing livery in a finale for the twin-cylinder Superleggera-derived Superquadro engine.

Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition Design

It seems like all the major sportbike manufacturers are beefing up their street-legal racebike lines lately, and Ducati uses it as an opportunity to produce a tribute bike that pays homage both to racers past and to the beating heart itself, the twin-cylinder Superquadro a engine. What's up with the “Final Edition” language? Well, this is the last hurrah for the racing twin that is passing the baton to the V-4 configuration. It's a numbered model, though not necessarily limited to a set number of units, and that adds to the exclusivity.

You might be wondering about the numbering. According to Ducati CEO Chaudio Domenicali, the factory plans on building at least five hundred units, unless they decide to build six or seven hundred, but definitely no more than a thousand. Definitely. Yeah, that's kind of vague, but I can't blame the builders in Bologne for being cautious with this the last Panigale twin. No matter whether it's street legal or not, it definitely isn't very street friendly, so it's going to appeal to a rather narrow subset of riders at the end of the day.

A windtunnel-tested fairing splits the wind with a bubblescreen up top to shape the rider's pocket. Dual headlights are segregated by a brow that gives the visage that angry-bird squint associated with the Panigale family, and outboard of the projectors lie a pair of intake ports that draw pressurized air from the entry and direct it to the airbox for a cheap boost in volumetric efficiency.

The fairing has deep cut-outs on both sides to accommodate the sweep of the clip-on bars, but flows down into a full cowling that fairs off most of the drivetrain and forms a full belly pan to boot. A single diagonal vent on each side pulls hot air from the radiator and engine compartment and reintegrates the waste air with the slipstream – I'm sure it does wonders for the bike, but for the rider's legs, maybe not so much.

Instrumentation falls to a color TFT display that delivers the usual figures and acts as an interface for the higher electronics. The 4.5-gallon fuel tank is made to be laid on with a wide flange up top that doubles as a fairing ahead of a tapered rear that leaves plenty of room for some knee-dragging English. An upswept subframe forms a deep swale for your posterior, and the tail fairing tapers off to nothing with a stylized taillight on the underside to complete the rearward lighting. It finishes out clean as a whistle and takes advantage of the aching void between the subframe and rear tire by routing the dual exhaust so as to add nothing to the overall drag.

Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition Chassis

One of the most interesting components of the 1299 Panigale R FE is hiding in plain sight; the monocoque frame that isn't actually a frame in the most common sense, but a stressed-skin assembly that uses the aluminum sheet metal body panels as its main load-bearing structure. The forward members also serve as conduits for the ram-air intake system and form the airbox in a move that displaces yet more weight from the overall tally.

Inverted, 43 mm, Öhlins NIX30 forks float the front end with the full trinity of adjustments at 24 degrees from the vertical with a mechanically-adjustable steering damper to combat kickback. Symmetrical, 17-inch, Marchesini forged-aluminum wheels round out the rolling chassis with ZR-rated hoops and 3.78 inches of trail over a 56.49-inch wheelbase to put the “FE” firmly at the maneuverable end of the spectrum.

An Öhlins TTX36 monoshock tames the motion of the single-side swingarm, and like the front-end components, it rocks the full trifecta of ride-quality adjustments so you can dial it right in where you want it. The brakes are all-stars as well with Brembo monobloc calipers at both ends. Up front, dual four-piston anchors bite the 330 mm discs, and out back, a twin-pot caliper grabs the 245 mm disc, all under overwatch from the Cornering ABS feature that uses data from the inertial measurement unit to calculate the available traction and adjust its levels of intervention accordingly. The 418.9-pound wet weight is the factory's reward for all its mass-saving measures.

Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition Drivetrain

The fandanglery on the 1299 Panigale R FE continues into the drivetrain with a host of top-shelf features that draw data from the IMU and wheel-speed indicators to deliver a safe, stable ride. Ducati's proprietary gadgetry adds traction control to prevent spinout, wheelie control to help you keep the front end down and an engine brake control that heads off the effects of excessive backtorque. Also included in the tech wizardry is a slipper-type clutch that allows for a certain amount of over-run protection on hard downshifts. A Riding Mode feature binds them all together through a trio of performance profiles for quick setup changes.

This is the curtain call for the racing L-Twin lumps, and Ducati used its considerable experience with this configuration to put together a mill worthy of a final bow. Bore and stroke measure out at 116 mm and 60.8 mm respectively for a total displacement of 1,285 cc and a sizzlin' hot 13-to-1 compression ratio. Ducati's signature Desmodromic valvetrain times the four-valve heads with nary a spring to be found; the poppets are pulled closed via cam action, and since the valve springs are eliminated, their vulnerability to harmonic valve float goes right out the window with them. This allows for an 11,000 rpm red line – pretty high for any angle of V-twin – with 209.4 horsepower on tap and 104.7 pound-feet of grunt that tops out at 9,000 rpm.

The exhaust system, poppets and the conrods come in tough, lightweight titanium, while the crankshaft is tuned through the use of tungsten balancing pads. As for the cams themselves, this model rocks higher-lift versions to give this mill a decisive edge over its predecessors.

Power flows through a six-speed transmission supported by the Ducati Quick-Shift feature that lets you shift both up and down the range and ne'er touch the clutch to give an estimated top speed of 175 mph.

Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition Pricing

No doubt, this is a premium machine, and it commands a premium price at $39,900. As for colors, it sports the red, white, and green race livery that marks it clearly as an Italian stallion.

Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition Competitors

Extraordinary models like the 1299 Panigale FE require extraordinary competitors, and since I wanted something with real punch from outside the neighborhood, I went straight to the Ninja H2 R from Kawasaki.

Kawi takes the race-tastic bodywork to the extreme with a quartet of winglet-style spoilers that help keep the front wheel planted. Intake scoops draw air from the pressure wave at the front of the fairing much as the Panigale does, but Kawi trumps with a proper supercharger to give the H2 R a decisive edge in power – to the tune of 121.5 pound-feet of grunt with 300 horsepower that turned in a top speed of 209.442 mph on the Salt Flats. That's a fairly significant power difference, but honestly, the vast majority of riders would never be able to do this bike justice, even on a closed circuit.

The Ninja leaves little to the imagination with sparse body enclosures for a super-naked look that doesn't make quite the same visual connection to the racetrack as the Panigale. As far as the hardware, I daresay the Kawi is a match for the Duc throughout the chassis in both the brakes and the suspension department.

Although the Panigale clearly surrenders some power to the Ninja, the Ducati wins bigtime at the checkout counter with its $39,000 sticker versus the $55,000 H2 R, and that kind of price offset starts to look pretty good if you're a non-sponsored prospective racer.

He Said

“You could look at this as the bittersweet end of an era, or you could look at it as a sign of progress as the factory commits to its V-4 configuration. Wherever you land, you have to admit that this is a sweet machine, and it makes for an appropriate swan song for the storied Panigale twin family.”

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “ The bike wants to go fast and just protests when you aren't on the throttle. It doesn't sound right and it doesn't ride right going slow. It's also hot as Hell on your legs. Around town, it's a bit of a nightmare trying to find a balance between engine braking when you're not on the throttle and the surge forward when you are. Give it some room and twist it, though, and even in Rain mode it launches into space. Sport mode is just ridiculous. As a commuter, it's gonna suck unless you are within a mile of the interstate on each end of your journey. If you're buying this to impress someone and you aren't taking it to the track, you're gonna be miserable. Moving forward though, the 1299 Panigale R FE is out and the Panigale V4 is in.”

Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition Specifications

Further Reading

Kawasaki Ninja H2 R

See our review of the Kawasaki Ninja H2 R.

Ducati Panigale V4

See our review of the Ducati Panigale V4.

Ducati

Read more Ducati news.