DUCATI BAYLISS 1098R
Tyler Hopper
All About Bikes Staff-Writer
The Troy Bayliss Limited Edition Ducati 1098R was created to mark the end of an impressive career for Troy Bayliss. With an MSRP of $43,995, the price tag sure is impressive. The 1098R is transformed by means of a few performance and some cosmetic upgrades. Production is limited to 500 units.
The 44,000 smackers you dish out will buy you 180 pavement pounding horses, increased to 186 with use of the provided race kit, as the name implies they say it’s for track use only. The Bayliss Special Edition and the 1098R share identical spec sheets. Aside from all the bells and whistles, such as Ducati Traction Control, Ducati Data Analyzer, and Marelli fuel injection, the Bayliss Limited Edition 1098R comes with a number of cosmetic upgrades.
The most significant upgrades to the appearance of this bike include a color scheme approved by Troy Bayliss, and the number '21' on the pearl white nose and side-fairing number plates. The red and white paint scheme utilizes the dark blue background of the Australian national flag to blend along the side of the bodywork and into the unpainted carbon fiber stripe along the seat unit. The carbon lower-fairing finished in red, with the exception for aerodynamic recess for the side-stand, which remains natural carbon fiber reflects the attention to detail when designing this paint scheme.
In addition to the paint and body, Ducati have also added 5-spoke wheels finished in matte black and a carbon fiber heat shield for the exhaust. A numbered plaque on the top fork-clamp verifies the build number and authenticity. The fork-clamp number matches a numbered commemorative desk-top plaque, presenting the engraved signatures of Ducati Motor Holding CEO Gabriele Del Torchio and Ducati Corse triple World Superbike Champion, Troy Bayliss.
I can’t help but to think, though, that for nearly one-third of the price tag a person can own a Ducati motorcycle with almost as much power. I must ask; Are the cosmetic upgrades and the bragging rights worth it? Heck yeah! If you can afford it, that is. Horsepower isn’t (always) everything. Why not drop 44 grand to own a piece of racing history? To own something that only 500 other people in the world can say they own?
