A bike? On Lamley…. have we had that before? I don’t think so, but if this the first then it’s a great place to start. This is the Ducati Panigale 1299 by Siku.
Bikes are a love of mine as well as cars, and for a long time I had a huge collection of 1/18 scale diecast motorbikes. My favourites were always the Ducatis, and back then it was the era of the 748, 916, 996 and 998, Carl Fogarty and Troy Bayliss. I was in love with the Ducati style, the twin headlights and under-seat exhausts, the single-side swingarm and the noise of the things, even with that trademark rattling dry clutch. The InfoStrada and HM Plant Ducati liveries still rank amongst my favourites of any race livery, on two or four wheels. I don’t know that much about more modern bikes these days but I still know about Ducatis. And that’s why when I saw this recently in a Muller store in Croatia, It hooked me.
The 1299 Panigale takes its name from the Borgo Panigale district of Bologna (Ducati’s home) and was Ducati’s range topper from 2015 to 2017. Powered by a 1285cc V-twin, the Panigale puts out 204 bhp and can hit a top speed of 178 mph.
Siku’s miniature range is aimed more toward children, however like a lot of their other offerings there is a lot in this Ducati to hook in curious collectors like myself.
It’s a great looking little thing for a start, with that single-sided swingarm looking superb. The proportions are great and even though plastic is utilised for the entire body, there’s a metal engine and chassis underneath it all to give it a respectable weight. There’s also a stand that folds out with a satisfying click. The handlebars are poseable but in order to save on parts costs and prevent fragile parts the brake and clutch levers have been moulded together with the throttle and hand grip, and it just looks a bit…. wrong.
But the rest of it works very well….
As far as scale goes, I’ve no idea. 1/40 maybe? Who cares? I’m a fan of it and I’m kind of regretting leaving behind the KTM 1290 Super Duke R on the pegs in that Muller store!
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(Find the Siku Ducati Panigale on Ebay)