Ducati 900ss
DUCATI 900SS
CYCLE WORLD TEST
The bike from Bologna, a no-firills sporting V-Twin
DUCATI. THERE'S MAGIC IN THAT NAME. THE MAGIC' of a faraway place where the fine craft of turning out sporting motorcycles is taken very seriously. The magic of racing glories on tracks with names too difficult to pronounce. The magic of valvegear bearing the engineering signature of Ing. Fabio Taglioni, the famed dean of desmodromics.
The latest magic-maker from the Ducati factory in the Italian industrial"center of Bologna is the 9Q0SS, a motorcycle which revives an old model name—that of the hardedged, mid-’70s café racer, a bike that offered charisma and performance, albeit at the cost of some discomfort to various parts of one's anatomy. In most other areas, though, the new 900SS is a thoroughly modern motorcycle. In fact, this may just be the most impressive piece of machinery the factory has put together in recent times.
Put together is an appropriate phrase, as the SS is very much a product of parts-bin engineering, borrowing components from various Ducati models.
The SS's engine cases come from the six-speed 851 Sport, though it shares 92 x 68mm bore-and-stroke dimensions and a 9.2:1 compression ratio with the 907 Paso. Unlike the liquid-cooled Paso, the 900SS uses air-and-oil cooling to maintain proper operating temperature, withthe added weight of liquid-cooling paraphernalia. The top-end uses the same camshafts, valves and cylinders as the off-road Ducati/Cagiva Elefants that run in the Paristo-Dakar Rally.
Unlike previous Ducks, the 900SS breathes through a pair of 38mm constant-velocity Mikuni carburetors, forgoing the elaborate and expensive fuel-injection system used on the Paso 907 and eight-valve 851 Sport, and getting by without the car-tvpe Weber carb mounted on the 750 Sport. The 900SS released in Europe last year was tted with a single, dual-throat Weber, the very unit that has drawn so much flak over here for the midrange flat spot it shackled previous Ducatis with. We experienced no such problem with the C'V Mikunis. There is, however, a slight surge w'hile cruising at a constant pace with the rottle slightly cracked open. This trait becomes less noticeable after the engine is fully warmed up.
Don’t mistake this as meaning the 900SS is a coldblooded beast—quite the contrary. Cold starting presented difficulty at all. A minute of high idle on the choke circuit-actuated from the left handlebar by a two-position ever—and she’s ready to go, with no further aid from the e required.
The intake manifolds have been redesigned to facilitate nting the two semi-downdraft Mikunis, and in the process, The powerband has been moved 1000 rpm dow n he scale compared to last year’s Euro-900SS. accentuating midrange poke at the expense of some ponies off the top. This torque-rich pow er curve is appreciated on public roads, w'here so much time is spent in the bottom twothirds of the rev range. Throttle response and carburetion are excellent at any rpm. so whacking the slides open from as low' as 2000 rpm produces immediate results as the chugs along with a throaty growl and propels the machine forward. When the revs reach 4000 rpm, there is an increase in acceleration. Power tapers off around 8000 rpm. so there is little to gain by running the SS to its 9000rpm redline.
Top speed and quarter-mile times of the 900 aren't world-beaters-an I 1.72-second showing at the strip and a best run of 129 mph past the radar gun put the Ducati squarely behind the current crop of 600 inline-Fours-but top-gear roll-ons show just how strong this Twin is. It outguns all of the sporting 600s and 750s, and even a few' liter-class bikes, in an impressive display of real-world horsepower. And performance numbers can’t begin to portray just how much fun riding the SS really is. Snatching a handful of throttle in first gear results in an instant wheelie like no other bike we’ve recently tested, in part due to the bike's short wheelbase, and a scarcity of weight on the front wheel.
Ducati powerplants have never been known for being electric-motor smooth, and most friends of the marque would have it no other way. enjoying the pulse of two large pistons going about their business. The 900SS maintains that tradition of mechanical presence with a strong heartbeat its rider can feel. Fortunately, the 900’s engine vibration isn’t of hand-numbing frequency, and if the vibes do become bothersome, there is refuge between 4000-4500 rpm, where the 90-degree V-Twin's engine harmonics smooth out. This works out to speeds in the 70-mph range, a good cruising velocity, even if that means keeping an eye out for the local constabulary. Incidentally, the SS's mirrors are not up to this task, giving a limited, mostly shaky, rearward view.
Even though it's blessed with a wide powerband, the 900 is coupled to a six-speed gearbox. The shift lever's short throw and light effort lead to easy and positive engagement on upshifts. However, smooth downshifting requires a bit more precision on the part of the rider. Simply pulling in the clutch lever and kicking down one or more gears results in very notchy and noisy action. Slick journeys back through the shift pattern are obtained by a fluid combination of clutch, throttle and foot action —the classic throttle-blip downshift.
Even when a smooth shifting technique is mastered, the 900’s tranny is not without fault. Locating neutral can, at times, seem like a rowing exercise as you repeatedly bounce from first to second and back into first, never quite finding the neutral detent. The dash-mounted neutral light is not to be trusted, either—it often comes on during the rowing routine even though the bike is still in gear.
While the gearbox’s idiosyncrasies can be easily dealt with, the hydraulically actuated dry clutch is another matter. As we've experienced with other Ducatis recently tested, the clutch plates have a low tolerance for testing at the dragstrip. After a few hard launches, the clutch plates distort and chatter during engagement, producing a wretched screech that recalls the sound of fingernails scratching a chalkboard. Normal street riding doesn't call for such clutch abuse, so most riders probably won’t have the problem, but we'd like to see some re-engineering here.
Overall, though, the strong points of the 9()0SS's powertrain far outweigh our short list of gripes. This becomes evident the moment you exit the highway onto your favorite set of twisties. It is on tight, snaky roads where the 900SS gleams, with a glorious, meaty midrange pull out of corners. The absence of drive lash —the herky-jerk that afflicts many bikes—makes mid-corner throttle changes less of a concern. We’ve praised previous Ducatis for their light-mannered, almost effortless handling, and the 900SS. with reworked frame and suspension, is an even more capable backroad dance partner.
A strengthened version of the 750 Sport’s steel “birdcage” frame envelopes the solidly mounted 900 motor, but beyond that, there are few chassis simularities between the two bikes. The SS's steering-head geometry is much steeper than the 750's and only slightly more conservative than that of the 851. In keeping with the current sportbike trend, Ducati has fitted the 900SS with an inverted fork. Due to improved rigidity over conventional units, the inverted design has received widespread acclaim in roadracing circles. The surprise here is that Ducati has broken with its long-standing tradition of using Italian-made Marzocchi suspension components. Indeed, for 1991, the 851 uses Swedish-built Öhlins pieces and the SS is fitted with Japanese Showa suspension front and rear.
Built specifically for Ducati—hence the cast-in company name on the lower legs—the fork is very similar to the unit used on the 1991 Suzuki GSX-R750. It offers the standard trio of adjustments found on most cartridge forks: spring preload, compression damping and rebound damping. Although adjustability is a bonus in knowledgeable hands, it can be a source of confusion for others. The only adjustment on the 900SS fork that may pose a serious handling problem if mis-set is the 13-position rebounddamping adjuster. To avoid suspension pack-down and the resultant harsh ride, keep the adjuster at least four clicks out from maximum damning.
The single-shock rear suspension is an example of simplicity. Without any linkage hanging about, the cantilever swingarm lacks the up-to-date, techno look of the fork, but it does do a good job of carrying the machine’s weight down a twisty road. The piggyback-reservoir Showa shock has provisions for spring-preload adjustment, and for compression and rebound damping, but the damping adjusters don’t have reference clicks, and changing the settinps from one extreme tn the r>ther had little effert nn the quality of our test bike’s ride and handling. The shock is slightly oversprung for solo riding and offers marginally enough rebound-damping control. Even with these shortcomings, the 900’s rear suspension is in the ballpark, and together with the excellent fork, provides a ride that is racebike taught and supplies excellent feedback of what’s going on between the wide Michelin radiais and the road.
Nimble is a good description for the Super Sport’s steering characteristics. At 414 pounds dry, it’s 15 pounds lighter than a Flonda CBR600F2 and makes transitions from one corner to the next with great ease. Steering is very neutral; holding a chosen angle of lean in a corner doesn’t require constant pressure on the bars, and midcorner line changes are as simple as deciding where to aim. Applying the front brake while healed over won’t cause the bike to stand up and run wide, either. Cornering clearance is abundant—with our 150-pound go-fast tester aboard, tire traction was the limiting factor at full-tilt operation, and those limits were high.
But even if drilling apexes and sliding tires isn’t your idea of the proper way to spend a Sunday morning, the 900 Super Sport is a success. Riding it is such a thrill that we found ourselves extending breakfast jaunts into all-day affairs. Credit here goes to the bike’s excellent ergonomics. The Ducati’s riding position is spacious by modern sportbike standards, with logically placed footpegs, relatively high clip-ons that are height-adjustable through a half-inch of movement, and an odd-looking saddle that nonetheless has ample padding and a posterior-pleasing contour.
And the 900SS is an attention-getter without peer. Rarely have we ridden a motorcycle that’s received so many double-takes and thumbs-up from pedestrians and passing motorists. Even three of our regular photographers, jaded by years of shooting new motorcycles, fell under the big red Duck’s spell, burning up far too much film and always wanting “just one more shot.” Certainly, it’s a bike that captivates the eye, a blazing combination of form and color that appears more beautiful the longer you gaze at it.
On top of all this, at $7900, the 900SS is 1991’s most affordable big-bore Ducati, almost $1000 less than the Paso and more than $4000 cheaper than an 851 Sport. In fact, the SS is less expensive than some big Japanese sportbikes. Sure, those machines will blow right past the Ducati, but matching its charm and panache is a much more difficult task. To do that, other bikes will need more than horsepower and handling.
They’ll need some magic. E8
DUCATI 900SS
SPECIFICATIONS
$7900
Cagiva North America 5 Washington Ave. Fairfield, NJ 07006
