Ducati Brings TipTronic-Like Shifting On 1299 And 1299S

Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing.

If there is a common thread for Ducati’s EICMA reveal, it’s the influence and benefits of owner Audi AG. Our sources say that the all-new Ducati Multistrada, which is going to debut in just a few weeks’ time, will be the first model equipped with Desmodromic Variable Timing (DVT). While Ducati ups the ante in the ADV market, we got to know another piece of Audi tech that will find its way onto a Ducati motorcycle, as the 1299 will receive a “Tiptronic-like” gearbox that allows for touch-button upshifting and downshifting, the best part of this is that if it ever gets damaged you’ll be able to find gearbox repairs easily.

It’s not clear if the Ducati 1299 superbike will have a dual-clutch gearbox with its new shifting abilities, but riders will be able to rapidly click through the gears without using the clutch. Our sources make the system sound like an enhanced version of Ducati’s Quick Shift system (DQS), which already allows for clutchless upshifts.

As for the street bike, the 1299 and 1299S will get a 100cc increase in displacement–which comes as a longer stroke in the engine–should surprise no one considering the “Superquadro” engine name roughly means “over-square” in Italian. Adding now clutchless downshifts to the list of features coming to Ducati’s superbike line, the Italian company is trying very hard for this mid-model update to be more than just that.

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