The engine is based on the race bike's. It is a 4 cylinder in V layout with a 90-degree spacing between the two pair of cylinders. It uses as most, if not all, ducatis a desmodromic valvetrain and uneven ignition spacing between the four cylinders. In the 2003 race bikes the V4 engine operation simulated a large two cylinder. Ignition took place simultaneously at each bank of two cylinders. The purpose of this design was the maximization of the rear tire's traction. It appears that racing tires (and possibly road tires) can operate with better results if loaded with pulses of thrust rather than a continuous stream. The "twin pulse" as called by ducati marketeers groups the thrust of two cylinders together in contrast to a conventional in line 4 cylinder where the pulse from the ignition of each cylinder is evenly spaced in time to produce a stream of frequent small pulses to the rear tire.

In the RR bike and also in the later race bikes an intermediate layout is used. It has also larger intervals between thrust pulses than an inline 4 cylinder but the pulses come more frequent (and are smaller) than the 'twin pulse' or a similar twin cylinder engine. This is achieved by spacing the ignition timing in pairs for every two cylinders but the ignition between the cylinders of every pair doesn't take place at the same time, there is a small gap (following by a much larger time gap when the next pair of cylinders is to ignite).



The commercial bike's engine is possibly wider because it should last much longer than the almost expendable race engine. The camshafts use a much calmer profile in order to reduce the loads of the valves although the maximum lift is similar. The race engine's camshafts reaches very fast the maximum valve opening but it also submits the vavetrain to great loads because of the accelerations it has to endure. The desmodromic valvetrain also requires frequent readjustment (with catastrophic consequences if neglected) so the calmer operation of the RR's engine apart from the longevity of the components allows a less demanding maintenance.

RR's engine produces more than 200ps at 13.000 rpm and is one of the most powerful (if not the most powerful) engines in production. It is however lacking 50-60 ps in comparison with the original motoGP bike.

Electronic launch control won't be available at least for this year because it is one of the most sensitive and closely guarded technologies of the race version.



Frame.

According to Ducati, RR's frame shares the same basic structure and geometry with the 2006 racing bike. However there are same major differences between the two. Of course they both use the famous Ducati trellis frame from steel tubes. .



The most important difference is at the brackets where the engine is suspended from the frame. The engine is a stressed member of the chassis and is also used to support the rear suspension. It also is used for the complete triangulation of the engine-chassis structure. In the following image you can see on the left the RR and on the right the frame of the 2006 race bike.



The blue arrows point at the first difference between the two bikes. In the race bike's frame the tubes end in a cylindrical element though at the RR's frame there is a cast part with strengthening ribs. Apart from supporting the RR's heavier rear subframe this part is amplifies the local rigity. With the green arrows another possible alteration is shown although because this remark is based on the photos provided is in effect speculation. In the racing frame there is a -slightly bent- tube that connects the front engine mount to the rear. In the RR this element seems to be absent or it is placed upwards, possibly connecting the rear engine mount with the node above the front engine mount, where other tubes connect also.
The result either way (total absent of the tube or higher mounting) is a notably flexier local mounting point.

There are possibly two reasons for these two differences between the race bike and the commercial bike. The engine is mounted directly into the frame and it also lacks any balancer shafts. This alteration on the frame stiffness possibly reduces or dampens the engine vibration in order to provide a smoother ride. The road bike must also be controllable with road tyres and most importantly with riders who lack the motoGP level of experience.

The alteration in frame stiffness looks similar to the design path that most Japanese sport bike manufacturers follow. The rear part is made as rigid as possible and certain flexibility (at specific planes) is introduced to the front part of the chassis. The flexibility in the transverse bikewise axis allows the wheels to follow road disturbances (rare if at all existent at the track). The flexibility in the lengthwise axis assists the operation of the front suspension. Even though the chassis flexibility is minimal in absolute terms these specific flexibility paths allows the bike to be more friendly and controllable in road conditions and under the use of inexperienced (in comparison with factory drivers) users. It should also be noted that the resistant to twist lengthwise is very big thus providing the bike with great stability under sudden lean angle changes or under acceleration or braking.



Another minor change is the possibly wider frame at the front engine-mounting bracket of the RR in order to accommodate the wider engine. In the photo above the blue arrow shows the two brackets.