2025 Ducati Panigale V2 and Streetfighter V2

Ducati unveils first bikes with new light-weight mid-powered V-twin engine

The dominant trend in sporty bikes has, for a long time, been relentless increases – in power, and tech and capacity. We spoke about it last week in our story on the KTM 990 Duke R – a middleweight which is now the size of a full-power machine from 20 years ago.

So we guess it’s good that Ducati has resisted the temptation with the replacement for its upper-middleweight V-twin machinery, the Ducati Panigale V2 and Streetfighter V2.

2025 Ducati Panigale V2

The old Superquadro engine had grown to 955cc in the Panigale V2 and Streetfighter V2 models, making 157bhp, and knocking on the door of superbike performance. But the new 2025 V2 engine is smaller, lighter and less powerful. The most striking thing about the new motor is the valvegear – Ducati has dropped desmodromic valves, and is using standard coil springs and one-way cams for its valve control.

The new motor is light – 54.5kg – and is an 890cc DOHC 8v 90° V-twin with oversquare dimensions (bore x stroke of 96×61.5 mm) and high compression, 13.1:1. There’s variable timing on the intake camshaft with a hydraulic variator, chain cam drive and a clever design that locates the water pump in the front cylinder head, for more compactness.

It’s not a mega-powerful unit: 120bhp in high power format and there’s also a 115bhp version. Fit the optional Akrapovic race exhaust system and you get 126bhp, while losing 4.5kg in weight.

2025 Ducati Panigale V2

It’s the 120bhp version that we get in the new 2025 Panigale and Streetfighter models of course. And while that’s a fair downgrade in peak power, it also means a lighter overall mass: the Panigale V2 S is claimed to be the lightest Panigale ever, at just 175kg ready-to-ride, albeit with zero fuel. The old V2 was 176kg dry, so you’re looking at probably around a 15kg saving overall. Will that be enough to cancel out a 37bhp decline in peak power? That remains to be seen.

There are plenty of other changes to the Pani V2 – a double-sided swingarm, new suspension and a revised frame. The frame design is a light monocoque, which uses the engine as a stressed member, while the double-sided swingarm is apparently inspired in design by the Hollow Symmetrical Swingarm of the Panigale V4 and is claimed to offer the same benefits in terms of stability when exiting corners and feeling when riding on the track, where it allows the rider to make the most of modern slick tyres.

2025 Ducati Panigale V2

The suspension is fully-adjustable kit, with Marzocchi forks and Kayaba shock absorbers on the standard V2, or Öhlins units on the V2 S. New cast wheels are fitted with Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV tyres in 120/70 and 190/55 sizes, which combine handling and contact patch, enhancing the sporty qualities. Meanwhile, a Brembo front braking system consists of two 320 mm discs and M50 monobloc calipers, offering power for track use and modulation for road use.

Ducati claims that the V2 has ‘benchmark electronics’ for 2025: you get a six-axis IMU inertial platform, and a rider aids package including sports ABS Cornering with slide-by-brake functionality, Ducati Traction Control, Ducati Wheelie Control, Engine Brake Control and the new Ducati Quick Shift 2.0, the same system used on the Panigale V4. The S version is also equipped with Ducati Power Launch and Pit Limiter as standard.

2025 Ducati Panigale V2

You get four Riding Modes (Race, Sport, Road, Wet) that offer pre-set intervention levels, which can be modified by the user, for all the controls and engine response. The dashboard is a new 5″ TFT with a user interface based on Infomode conceptually derived from that of the new Panigale V4. The three views – Road, Road Pro and Track – are designed to allow the rider to concentrate on riding, highlighting the most relevant information for each context with a rational and complete display.

In addition, the rider interface has been streamlined, integrating the information as much as possible in order to reduce its density and therefore improve readability. The rev counter, for example, also acts as a gear shift indicator, lighting up green at the ideal rpm to shift up, and red when over-revving is reached.

2025 Ducati Panigale V2

A potent package of mods for the Panigale V2 then – and as Ducati says, perhaps aa move back to the roots of its middleweight supersport models: the 748 and 749 of old. More of the proverbial rapier than the two-handed claymore sword, with sharper handling, less weight, and the ability to use a bigger percentage of the performance.

Most riders will appreciate the difference in satisfaction between using 95 per cent of a 120bhp bike’s performance on a track, or gingerly applying 50 per cent of a 210bhp bike’s performance. We’d much rather be on the 120bhp machine on a wet Brands Indy, as the obvious example…

2025 Streetfighter V2

You could argue that the naked V2 Streetfighter has even less need for a screaming top-end, and the 2025 upgrade follows much of the same path as the Panigale. You get the new engine, frame and dual-sided swingarm, albeit a special 30mm longer version to aid stability on the more upright riding position.

There’s a Sachs steering damper as standard to assist here, and the suspension setup is the same – fully adjustable Öhlins NIX-30 fork and rear monoshock absorber on the S and 43 mm Showa Big Piston Fork (BPF) with a fully adjustable Sachs monoshock on the standard Streetfighter V2. Braking is the same Brembo M50 Monobloc setup too, and the electronics package is also the same, with all the features of the IMU-assisted ECU.

2025 Ducati Streetfighter V2

The Streetfighter is even lighter than before too – saving a heady 18kg over the current model – which goes some way towards cancelling the 34bhp drop in power.

2025 Ducati Streetfighter V2

Both models are available in A2 licence form, with power restricted to 47bhp. Expect them by February next year, priced at £13,990 for the Streetfighter V2 or £15,990 for the V2 S, and £14,995 for the Panigale V2 or £16,995 for the V2 S version. www.ducati.com

TECH HIGHLIGHTS

Panigale V2 S

Colour: Ducati Red

Main standard features

V2 engine, 890 cc