Adam's Motorcycle Shop: Expensive Taste

Let's say you're the owner of a Superbike team. And let's also say that you have all the trappings of a professional racing team: engineers, crew members and masseuses. You have a load of spare parts, high-tech equipment and a big truck to haul it all around in. Finally completing the package is a chiseled jawed rider with the body of David and the steely-eyed glare of a comic book superhero.

It looks like everything is order for racetrack success. One thing is missing, however: a motorcycle.

Hmm, how do you solve that problem? Well, you could develop, at a great expense of time and money, your own bike. That could take years and there's no guarantee of competitiveness when you're done. You could also ink a deal with a major manufacturer and use one of their bikes. If desperation sets in, you might be able to buy last year's bike, which isn't competitive anymore, and hope for the best.

There is one other way, too. You could walk to Ducati's factory in Bologna, knock on the door and tell them you want to buy a motorcycle built solely for racing; one that isn't available to the general public. What Ducati will sell you, then, is a Panigale RS13.

As the name implies, the RS13 is the 2013 race-only version of the Panigale. No, it's not an uprated version of the 1199 R, which is a street bike adorned with super high-performance bits. When Ducati says the RS13 is track only, they mean track only. These bikes will only be sold to owners of race teams.

And how much is this dedicated race bike? It's $180,318.60.

For that large amount of money, our fictional race team owner gets a bike with carbon fiber bodywork, aluminum fuel tank and a special wiring harness. Adorning each end of the bike is uber-trick Ohlins suspension (natch), Brembo brakes (natch) and light-as-possible wheels (natch). Taunting passed riders is a full race spec Termignoni exhaust.

Alright, our race team has its high-tech crew, god-like rider and truck full of spare parts, let's go win some races!

Well, not so fast. This nearly $200,000 bike is sold as a blank canvas. Once you buy it, you still have to tune it, which means the spending has only just begin. Since motorcycle racing is like any other form of racing, it's a fast way to go broke.

So, thoughts about the RS13: I like it.

And I don't just like it because it's a Ducati and I like Ducatis. I like it because it can attract more competitors to motorcycle racing. Racing's expensive, that's no revelation. The RS13, though, can help cut costs some because Ducati has done a lot of the development work for you. Yes, you'll still have to do some work on your own, but you don't have to build the bike from the ground up. That leaves you with more money to hire better engineers, crew members, masseuses, and riders. It also leaves you more time to tune the bike for the upcoming season.

Motorcycle racing history is littered with anecdotes like John Britten, MotoCzysz and others; teams that have built up their own bikes from scratch from their own ideas. That's very commendable but most race teams don't have the time, money or genius to do such a thing. They want something that's cheap, reliable and proven so they can maximize the probability of a successful outcome.

I think the RS13 fills that void. I hope to see the RS13 do well and bring more bikes to the starting lines of tracks everywhere. More bikes and competitors is never a bad thing for a racing series.