Ducati St2

CYCLE WORLD TEST

NEW FOR DUCATI '98

Ducati ST2

THE FIRST PRACTICAL DUCATI

OWING A DUCATI HAS ALWAYS BEEN A bit of a compromise. The booming, red Italian V-Twins are renowned for being sexy, fast and sure-footed, but they’ve also earned a reputation for being finicky, maintenance-intensive and uncomfortable. As a result, these thoroughbreds more often than not are relegated to Sunday-morning-only status. If their owners want to go sport-touring, they have two choices: 1) Throw some soft luggage over the tailpiece and schedule an appointment with the chiropractor upon their return; or 2) buy another brand of motorcycle.

For Ducati, and Ducatisti, that’s an unacceptable position. Surely, there must be a happy middle ground, some form of compromise?

Meet the ST2, which successfully marries Ducati’s traditional performance attributes withlong-distance manners befitting a BMW-in fact, in many ways, the bike this new Ducati most resembles is the R1100RS. That’s no coincidence: BMW has long been a sport-touring leader, and Ducati is looking to make inroads into that market segment. And with Cagiva’s recent financial woes having been resolved by funding from the U.S.-based Texas Pacific Group, Ducati finally is in a position to give customers a true sport-touring model. Like it or not, Ducati’s reputation has been permanently altered.

Not that this is a bad thing, because Ducati got it right with the ST2. More than a warmed-over 900SS, the ST2 (for SuperTurismo, two-valve variant) is a product of parts-bin engineering, a medley of proven pieces from various models cloaked in all-new silver/gray bodywork. Aside from the obvious cost-cutting concerns, following this route gave the team a solid, familiar foundation. Says project engineer Andrea Fomi, “We already build sporting motorcycles, and we believe we build a good sporting motorcycle, so that part of the job was easy for us.” Beginning with the 916’s proven steel-trellis chassis. the engineers made a number of subtle refine-

merits in an effort to preserve that bike’s handling qualities while improving stability.

First order of business was lengthening the wheelbase by .8-inch, in order to place the weight of the passenger and luggage ahead of the rear axle. This was accomplished by replacing the 916’s single-sided cast-aluminum swingarm with a slightly longer, double-sided extruded-aluminum piece that pivots in the engine cases alone (the 916 has swingarm bosses in

the frame as well). The engineers then gave the new bike 24 degrees of rake, half a degree steeper than the two-positionadjustable 916’s standard street setting, but significantly less radical than the 916’s racetrack setting of 22.5 degrees. Trail was summarily increased from 3.8 to 4.0 inches, making for more relaxed steering manners.

In this era of “tuned” chassis flex, Ducati’s engineers opted to make the ST2’s frame less torsionally rigid than the 916’s, but more rigid than that of the 900SS. Explains Fomi, “Stiffness is good, but too much makes the frame heavy. Reasonable frame stiffness is the lowest number that makes the rider comfortable.” That number, Fomi candidly admits, was determined in true seat-of-the-pants fashion, by reducing frame stiffness until the test rider complained, then reverting to the previous version.

The R&D team’s efforts in this arena paid off with a dry weight of 479 pounds for the ST2 (sans bags), compared to 447 for a 916 and 421 for a 900SS-SP. Weight distribution also was reshuffled, with the ST2’s 49/51 percent front/rear bias slightly more forward than the 916’s 48/52, to allow for the additional weight of a passenger and luggage at the rear of the machine.

Suspension also derives from the 916, with the same Showa 43mm inverted fork and Showa remote-reservoir shock. The leverage ratio of the shock linkage was altered, however, so that there is more of a rising rate, with the same initial rate as the 916 but a stiffer rate in the final half of the travel. This gives a supple one-up ride while preventing unnecessary bottoming two-up with luggage.

Furthermore, the rear wheel moves through a .7-inch longer stroke (the fork boasts an additional .4-inch of travel), so that the increased progressiveness isn’t felt as abruptly. As on the 916, both ends are adjustable for spring preload, compression and rebound damping, while rear ride height is adjustable via threaded ends on the link rod.

Brakes, too, are more or less standard 916-issue, with a pair of four-piston Brembo calipers grasping 12.6-inch stainless-steel rotors in the front and a two-piston caliper acting on a 9.6-inch disc in the rear. New on the ST2’s front calipers are revised internal fluid passages, a new piston surface treatment that reduces stiction and increased spacing between the mounting bolts for greater rigidity. Wheels are three-spoke, 17-inch, cast-aluminum jobs shod with Metzeler’s new steel-belted MEZ4 sport-touring radiais in 120/70 front and 170/60 rear sizes.

Occupying the space between the wheels is not the liquid-cooled, four-valve-per-cylinder engine from the 916, nor the air-cooled, two-valve lump from the 900SS, but a sort of combination of the two. Last seen on the 907 i.e., the ST2’s engine effectively combines the heavier-duty 851/916 cases and six-speed transmission with 900SS-style cylinders and heads. Unlike the 900SS engine, however, the ST2’s finned jugs house water jackets. Inside are 94mm pistons, which in conjunction with a 68mm stroke give a displacement of 944cc. At 10.2:1, compression is on the high side for a big Twin, necessitating what Ducati calls “trispherical” combustion chambers to prevent detonation. Revised cam timing and higher-inertia (effectively heavier) flywheels tone down engine performance to suit sport-touring, while a modified alternator produces greater voltage at lower engine rpm, a good thing for running touring accessories such as electric vests.

Feeding the powerplant is Ducati’s familiar Weber/Marelli electronic fuel-injection system, with one 44mm injector per cylinder. Exhaust exits via a 2-into-2 system with an underengine crossover, capped off by a pair of huge aluminum canisters. These, incidentally, swivel down to make room for the standard hard luggage, manufactured for Ducati by Italian company Nonfango. ST2s will in fact be sold with the bags and their mounts in a box; the parts can be installed by a dealer or by the owner himself in approximately 30 minutes.

That’s a good thing, because it gives the ST2 owner the option of tailoring his bike to suit his needs on a specific day. Got an urge to join the local Ducati Owners Club at the

roadrace track? No problem: Simply unfasten your ST2’s hard luggage, pivot the mufflers up to their higher mounts, and you’re all set-unless you can’t stand the looks of the saddlebag mounting brackets, in which case you’d need to go a step farther and remove them, and re-fit the standard rear tumsignals.

The adjustable mufflers also are a good thing if you like to ride hard on the street, because you can ground them in the lower setting-an act made easy by the absence of “hero tabs” on the footpegs to warn you of impending contact. This is in no way a condemnation of the ST2’s cornering clearance; rather, it’s a backhanded compliment, because you’d have thrown any other sport-touring bike down the road if you’d tried to lean over as far as the ST2 lets you.

And that, in a nutshell, is the ST2’s strong point. This is a sport-touring motorcycle with the accent firmly on “sport,” a hardcore, roadrace-derived machine whose edges have been rounded off just enough to ensure long-distance comfort.

And that it does. Sitting in the ST2’s cushy seat, you immediately feel poised for a long day on the road. The position is moderately sporting, with slightly rearset footpegs and a mild forward cant to the high, wide and handsome handlebars.

Thumb the starter button, pull in the too-stiff clutch lever, snick the tooclose shift lever into first gear, then gas it and release the hydraulically actuated dry clutch, and you’re rewarded with a cacophony of sounds (however muted) that can only emanate from a Ducati.

Once underway, you’ll note the gentle airflow off the windscreen, the slimness of the tank, the smoothness of the engine, the crispness of the throttle response and the broad, broad powerband. Though the ST2 didn’t set any records on the dyno or at the dragstrip, it is deceptively quick, its slowrevving nature and healthy midrange power conspiring to give on-road performance comparable to Open-classers with much greater peak-power figures. While the ST2 will rev to 9000 rpm and beyond, there’s no reason to, because it’s happiest between 5000 and 6000 rpm. Ridden conservatively, the ST2 owner will be rewarded with excellent fuel economy, yielding a potential range of 250 miles from the 6-gallon tank.

Handling is what you’d expect from a bike based on the 916, the chief differences being that the ST2 is much more stable yet lighter-steering, thanks to the leverage-enhancing handlebars. Suspension action is also excellent, albeit with a noticeable transition to the firmer portion of the rear wheel travel. Both the fork and shock have wide ranges of adjustment, meaning there’s a setting for every occasion.

The brakes, though, are not as praiseworthy. While there’s no doubting their potential stopping power, front lever travel on our testbike was mushy, mushy, mushy-a familiar Ducati bugaboo. Furthermore, the lever is non-adjustable, meaning you can’t just stick it in the farthest-out position and live with it. Frequent, careful bleeding is the order of the day-either that, or switching to a master cylinder with a larger piston.

Our only other criticism concerns the spring-loaded kickstand, which while nicely tucked up out of harm’s way, is difficult to deploy from the saddle. Furthermore, its odd, bent shape imparts a complete lack of trust, making you think the bike will roll off of it. Best to leave it in gear, just in case. Fortunately, there’s a convenient centerstand with a fold-out lift handle. Not to mention a pair of good-sized, locking saddlebags that are simple to open, close or detach, and which weigh virtually nothing off the bike (depending, of course, on what’s packed inside them).

If it seems odd to be discussing centerstands and saddlebags in a road test of a Ducati, it’s no odder than thinking of Ducati as a “new” company. But then, Ducati has a long history of rising, Phoenix-like, from the ashes, always returning stronger than before, with better product. The ST2 is the latest evidence of this trend.

Perhaps more significantly, Ducati North America says ST2s won’t trickle into the U.S. in small batches of 40 or so (as has often happened in the past), with long waiting lists the inevitable result. To the contrary, the first shipment contained 250 units, which already are on dealers’ floors with a suggested retail price of $12,495. Even better, dealers are said to have spare parts in stock now, with many more in the company’s New Jersey warehouse.

Yes, Ducati is back in business. Under new ownership, as the sign would say, yet still producing-if the ST2 is proof-some of the world’s best sporting motorcycles.

Even if they don’t come in red.

DUCATI

ST2

$12,495