Superlight superbike: 2021 Ducati Superleggera V4

Ducati pioneers the first street-legal production motorcycle with a full carbonfiber chassis, as well as advanced aerodynamics.

According to Ducati, the 2021 Superleggera V4 is its most-powerful, fastest and most-advanced production motorcycle. Ever. No mean claim from the Bologna-based manufacturer known for its raucous sportbikes. The Superleggera V4 is the first street-legal production motorcycle from a full-line manufacturer with an entirely carbon-composites based chassis. An exercise in cost-no-object engineering free of any homologation constraints, the machine will be limited to a production run of 500, at a princely $100,000 apiece.

The 2021 Superleggera (“super light”) V4 is a follow-up to the 2016 1299 Superleggera, also a 500-unit production run (at a cool $65,000), that featured extensive lightweighting elements. Technically part of Audi within the Volkswagen Group, Ducati has been aligning more closely of late with Italian stablemate Lamborghini, which along with projects such as its Sesto Elemento (“sixth element,” i.e. carbon), typically has been the brand to showcase the group's composites prowess.