When 30 Grand For Two Wheels Isn’t Too Much

Surviving long-term motorcycle riding requires a healthy dose of fear and the heightened awareness that accompanies it. Nothing suffers fools quite as ruthlessly as two-wheeled transport, an axiom that has been relentlessly reinforced by YouTube. The exposure of riding is bound to catch up with thrill-seekers hungry for speed, knee dragging, and all the potential disaster that comes with tapping into a sportbike’s vast reserves of performance.

That said, few things trigger as many life-preserving neurochemicals for a red-blooded rider as a fleet of 2014 Ducati 1199 Panigale R motorcycles idling in pit lane at the newly minted Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, TX. Something about the blood-red bodywork, the guttural idle from two huge combustion chambers and electric tire-warmers (with their implicit suggestion to strike while the rubber is hot), warns the reptile brain to take it easy and not make today the day to chase imaginary trophies and champagne sprays.

Though the famously fast and tricky race circuit is partly to blame (or credit) for the pulse-quickening emotions, the bike provides the bulk of the fear. Introduced last year as a continuation of Ducati’s big-engined superbike lineup whose lineage (888, 916, 999, 1098, 1198) has left a numerical paper trail of how engine displacement has steadily grown over the years, the Panigale R succeeds the S version as the top-dog beast that’s homologated from its consumer application to the global arena of World Superbike Racing. Though the spec sheet of this $29,995 plaything makes it look like a $7,000-ripoff compared to the $22,995 S model, which claims the same 195 horsepower output and a nearly identical curb weight, the R’s internal upgrades are the stuff that separates the mere crotch rockets from the bona fide race bikes.

The L-twin engine displaces exactly 1,198.16 cubic centimeters – yep, the 1199 nomenclature is strictly there for marketing purposes – but the mill’s insides are all business. New titanium connecting rods and a lighter-weight flywheel save nearly three pounds while enabling faster crankshaft speeds and boosting the rev ceiling by 500 rpm to 12,000 rpm. A diamond-like coating on the rocker arms helps the engine cope with higher revs, while updated engine programming boosts mid-range torque in Race and Sport modes.

Canada’s Prehistoric Predator Gets Longer Arms

Without a doubt, the three-wheel Campagna T-Rex 16S is one of the most fascinating vehicles I have ever driven.

“Drive it like a car, but act like you are on a motorcycle,” were the words of wisdom bestowed upon me before the keys were handed over, and the advice couldn’t have been more accurate. During the next four days, I zipped blissfully around town with the wind blowing through my hair as I watched the front wheels articulate over the pavement. I could smell the ocean as I drove down Pacific Coast Highway, and taste the dry brush of the Santa Monica Mountains as I toured the canyons.

I also took a bumble bee in the cheek, was nearly squashed by an inattentive driver in a Toyota Camry, cut off by a Ford F-150 and I was stared down by the law at every opportunity.

Apparently, that’s the price of having the wind blow through your hair as you mount a low-slung, agile steed with a very unique three-wheel configuration.

Campagna Motors has been hand-building three-wheel side-by-side vehicles since 1995. Based in Montréal, Canada, the company’s claim to fame are its small tube-frame cars that are based on motorcycle mechanicals. To date, they have put about 1,600 units on the road. Avid readers will recall that we sampled the $48,000 V13R, with the heart of a Harley-Davidson, in October 2011. The following summer we drove the $58,000 T-Rex 14R, a hot little handful fitted with the four-cylinder mechanicals of a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14. But things have progressed, in a slightly more civilized manner, as the manufacturer has inked an agreement with BMW Group to supply liquid-cooled motorcycle crate motors for its new model, the $62,000 T-Rex 16S.

The inline six-cylinder engine, sourced from BMW Motorrad, is rated at 160 horsepower and 129 pound-feet of torque. The six-speed sequential manual gearbox is also BMW’s, but Campagna has embedded its own reverse gear inside BMW’s housing to improve drivability. BMW uses shaft-drives, but it would have been too low for the chassis so a chain drive was implemented instead. The motorcycle transmission, clutch, brakes and throttle operation have also been adapted to mimic the controls in a car – there are three pedals on the floor and a shift lever between the two passengers.

Construction of the chassis is entirely comprised of steel tube frames, with a sturdy sheet metal floor and fiberglass body panels. The wheels are cast aluminum, in 16- and 18-inch diameters, made by Enkei. The tires are performance-oriented BF Goodrich KDW rubber, sized 205/45ZR16 in the front and 295/35ZR18 in the rear (incredibly, Campagna only puts 16-18 psi of air in each tire as they are so lightly loaded). There are Wilwood monobloc calipers at all three corners clamping down on drilled iron rotors. The plastic pods on each side of the engine are for storage, think of them twin strap-on trunks, and each is removable. Its curb weight is a mere 1,100 pounds.

There are only a handful of vehicles in existence that can change you permanently – ones that have the power to rewire your concept of speed to fit their definition. Some five years after the Nissan GT-R legally touched down here in the US for the first time, the coupe is still bending perceptions of what it means to be a supercar in the modern age. For 2014, engineers reworked the GT-R’s twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V6 engine for more power, tweaked the transmission and massaged the suspension for ever more speed. Yes, that’s right, I said more speed.

The changes have sharpened one of the best performance buys on the market into a weapons-grade track assault vehicle that just so happens to be street legal. More than ever, this is a car that rankles established supercar players with names like Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche, and does so with a Nissan badge on the hood.

Aesthetically, the GT-R hasn’t changed all that much since the car first bowed, but that doesn’t stop onlookers from busting out their cell-phone cameras at every stop light. I’ve had the pleasure of driving some incredibly expensive and rare vehicles, and none have courted attention the way the 2013 Nissan GT-R does. The car is still downright stunning, and in the flesh, there’s no avoiding just how much gravity this thing generates. With all of its weight thrown down low into those wide front fenders and a flared tail end, the GT-R has all the pull of a neutron star. The car rolls down the freeway cocooned in an orbiting cloud of eyeballs.

And much of that draw comes from how clearly the GT-R communicates its purpose. Those chunky, 20-inch RAYS forged aluminum rollers look built to turn the weighted wheels of time, and the gleaming bronze six-piston Brembo monoblock calipers up front peek through the spokes to hint at industrial levels of brake force. The front rotors are a batty 15.35-inches across and 1.28-inches thick. Out back, engineers fitted the GT-R with four-piston Brembo monoblocks that squeeze 15-inch discs. It’s the kind of hardware you need to repeatedly bring a 3,829-pound missile down from speed.