Audi Motorrad Concept

Now that Audi is the proud owner of the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati, it isn’t too much of a stretch to imagine Audi wanting to slap their four-ringed badge on a two-wheeler in an effort to increase their ever more diverse lineup.

This particular concept motorcycle was conceived in the mind of French designer Thibault Devauze. He’s in a better position than most people to theorize what an Audi-badged motorcycle might look like, having had the fortune to be a design intern at both Audi and Ducati.

His concept, called simply the Audi Motorrad Concept, was partially inspired by many of the classic DKW motorcycles he saw in the Audi museum in Ingolstadt. Quick history lesson: DKW were one of the four German vehicle manufacturers who merged together in 1932 to form Auto Union, and Auto Union later evolved into Audi.

Powering the Audi Motorrad Concept is a Ducati-sourced 850cc, Desmodromic L-twin engine coupled to a double clutch gearbox. And for once it’s obvious this is an Audi without any form of quattro AWD system. The frame uses some of the lightweight manufacturing techniques currently used by Audi to keep weight to a minimum. In addition to the more conventionally powered version, Devauze also envisages an E-tron electric powered model.

Devauze is fairly clear about what his concept is all about: “The idea was pretty simple: the first competitor of Audi is BMW, and BMW sell bikes. Audi has a massive heritage in terms of bikes with the DKW brand and is always looking for new markets – so bikes represent a good opportunity.”

Helping with the development of the project were Thibault’s brother Marc, also a designer, and Clement Couvreur, a digital modeler.

It’s not the first Audi motorcycle concept covered on diseno-art, the 2003 Audi Moto being another which springs to mind. But it is one which is a little more rooted in reality and acknowledges Audi’s current design language and Ducati connection.