Long-Term Wrap-Up
Long-Term Wrap-Up
DUCATI
ST2
TRIALS AND SMILES
"CYCLE WORLD, YOU HAVE BEEN tried by a jury of your peers and found guilty of motorcycle abuse in the first degree. As punishment, you will have your long-term Ducati ST2 removed from your possession, whereupon it will be placed in a nurturing environment. The judge's decision is final."
All right, we confess, we didn’t exactly take loving care of our Ducati. We first met our dusky gray 1998 model in October of ’97, and enjoyed our time together right up to the point where we tossed her off a New Mexico mountainside. Many months and many thousands of dollars later, she returned to the streets wearing a gorgeous new yellow paint job, only to be pelted by stones on a group ride.
It was then that our relationship truly deteriorated. One staffer and his girlfriend got blown over by a blast of wind at a stoplight; the front fender was destroyed in a disc-lock incident; and the bike toppled off its sidestand when the rear tire went flat after pick-
ing up a nail during its very first outing on new Dunlop D205s. Righting all these wrongs took considerable time, which was one reason we kept the bike for two years. The other reason was, we love it! We heaped praise on the ST2 in our initial road test (CW, December, 1997), but bemoaned the tooshort shift lever, selfretracting sidestand, mushy front brake and stiff clutch. The first
The updatedyet-classic Ducati styling, the beautifully integrated panniers, the longhaul comfort and precise, stable handling make the ST2 the ultimate sport-touring bike for me. -Sean F. Tompkins San Diego, California
two problems were non-issues: Ducati sent early ST2 buyers longer shift levers at no cost under warranty, and we disabled the sidestand spring by shortening the pivot bolt. Fixing the front brake proved more problematic. We tried mickeying with the adjusting screw and installed steelbraided lines ($170 for a complete set from Galfer, 805/ 967-2726) to little avail. Ironically,
The ST2 is good, not perfect. My bike spent a month at the dealer with a busted radiator hose; that’s too long to wait for a common part. A traveling bike has got to be bulletproof. -Scott Baker Dallas, Texas
Ironically, while straightening the bent lever, we stumbled upon a cure. Lightly grinding the flat edge adjacent to the pivot hole moved the lever farther from the grip, effectively letting it engage before it mashed the rider’s outboard fingers. We didn’t get off so cheaply fixing the clutch, which necessitated the
Quotes from the logbook
_______________ What an engine! Buckets of midrange torque, delivered crisply and with no driveline glitches. Even a brief commute is a pleasure. iliiiiw71~i~'n I love this motorcycle; why doesn't anyone else?! I'm seriously considering buying it to ensure it finds a good home. 2iiI Dean __________ Just finished a 900-mile round trip to Monterey, and the ST2 worked just fine. The yellow paint was a huge hit! " "qiles
installation of a big-bore slave cylinder ($230 from Pro Italia, 818/249-5707).
Fear of mechanical problems puts off many would-be Italian bike owners, but our ST2 required only minimal maintenance. We
I’m over 50, been riding since 1964, and except for dirtbikes, I’ve never ridden a bike that can comfortably raise the front wheel while leaned over coming out of a curve like my ST2. -Mike Hasler San Antonio, Texas
changed the oil every 3000 miles, had the valves checked (only a couple needed adjusting) every 6000, and refreshed the chain and tires once. The countershaft sprocket keeper was replaced for free following a factory recall, but the only real “problem” we had was the engine occasionally dropping onto one cylinder. Our
neighbors at Mach 1 Motorsports traced this to an intermittent coil wire, likely incurred in the original crash. From the beginning, we vowed not to put any carbon-fiber parts on our ST2—it’s a sport-tourer, not a racer. But when Larry Ferracci sent us a set of Forza carbon slip-on mufflers ($649 from Fast By Ferracci, 215/657-1276), we said to hell with it and ordered a carbon front fender ($147 from Ducati Performance) to match. Used in conjunction with FBF’s Stage 1 computer chip ($100) and K&N air filter ($55), the mufflers look great, sound even
better (if a tad loud) and notably improve midrange torque. As with most exhaust systems, however, the biggest improvement is measured on the scale rather than the dyno. The ST2 is well equipped for sporttouring in standard trim, but we couldn’t resist adding a few accessories. A Metro Tank Panel System ($90 from Sargent Cycle Products, 800/749-7328) and factory tail trunk ($277) increased cargo capacity,
while a set of .85-inch-tall handlebar risers ($125 from European Cycle Specialties, 714/530-2711) enhanced long-range comfort. The stock seat is plenty comfortable for the rider, but we ordered a Canyon Dual Sport saddle ($558 from Corbin, 831/6341100) anyway because it has one feature no passenger should have to do without-a backrest.
The best part about all this sporttouring fonnaggio, though, is that it
comes right off. It takes just minutes to strip away the luggage and backrest, and swivel the mufflers to their higher mounting points to transform the ST2 into a proper sportbike. More than anything else, it’s this split personality that makes the bike so endearing-like getting two Ducatis for the price of one. □
$12,495
