Is that a Ducati Panigale 899?

According to the motorcycling press today, a Ducati Panigale 899 has been spotted lurking in the undergrowth of an Italian street.

According to the motorcycling press today, a Ducati Panigale 899 has been spotted lurking in the undergrowth of an Italian street.

The said bike picture below was spotted by Italian magazine Motociclismo, looking less like a prototype and more like a finished product with just a piece of red Gaffa tape over area that usually says “1199” on the existing Panigale.

The most obvious change is the fitment of a double-sided swingarm instead of the single sider seen on the bigger Ducati 1199 bike. The new machine also has lower specification suspension, different wheels

MCN reported that a ‘baby’ Panigale has been rumoured for as long as the 1199 Panigale has been around and launched in 2011 but these were premature until now for a variety of reasons.  Firstly, that Ducati wanted to cement the reputation of the 1199 Panigale before it brought out a smaller bike and secondly, the 848 remains a popular and decent selling bike.

Visordown surmise that the bunch of cabling strapped to the tank shows that the bike is fully wired up for datalogging as the factory completes some last-minute tests.

Motociclismo suggests there are Showa Big Piston Forks on the front. The picture doesn’t reveal the rear shock, which like the 1199 is presumably mounted high and horizontal on the bike’s left hand side.

Whilst we have no official confirmation from Ducati, whatever the rumours we're looking forward to 2014!