Ducati 749s

DUCATI 749S

Quick Ride

Extra revs, extra power

HIGH-SPEED CIRCUIT de Catalunya may not seem the ideal place for Ducati to introduce its newly modified 749S, but when you find out what the Italians were going for was more top-end power and a higher rev limit, well, then a track where you can nudge 150 mph on said V-Twin begins to make

Ducati invited us to for a double-whammy introduction to the 749S and ST3 sport-tourer (CW, February), giving us a full day on the 2.9-mile Grand Prix circuit in northern Spain to flog its latest middleweight Testastretta Twin. And this time, we didn’t just hit Spain for the good weather-Circuit de Catalunya was the site of Ducati’s first-ever MotoGP victory.

While our lap times weren’t quite as quick as Capirossi & Co’s., it’s hard to think of an easier middleweight to ride at your limit than the 749S.

Chassis and brakes on the $14,795 monoposto S model remain as competent as ever. The Ti-nitride-coated inverted fork and shock are fully adjustable Showa units, and performance is excellent, set up to ideally handle the ~ y long sweepers that dominate this wonderful, flowing track,

Ideal for the chassis, if not the 748cc V-Twin. The long front straight, onto which you’re already hauling the groceries through a downhill right-hander, makes any bike under a liter feel slow. But maybe that’s because the last press intro I attended here was for Suzuki’s 160horsepower Hayabusa! Still, this new Due engine sings on top, and by the 200-meter board where you begin braking for Tum 1, the ' A „V-, H Ducati’s nifty on-board lap timer-which also records peak rpm and top speed for each lap-says you’ve reached 149 mph, which ain’t too shabby.

Power from the 748cc 90degree V-Twin is a claimed 110 bhp, plus 7 ponies over the previous S and standard $13,495 biposto 749. The bump was accomplished with higher compression, hotter cams, bigger intake valves that weigh the same as the old ones, lighter exhaust valves (with more positive valve retainers) and a lighter crank. These changes, plus reshaped, lighter, stronger rocker arms allow a 500-rpm higher redline. The extra revs were appreciated through a short chute on the back of the track where we were able to skip an upshift-the previous S would have slammed into the rev-limiter.

Ducati said one of the reasons the engine was modified was to boost sales of the hi-po S version, because most folks were opting for the cheaper standard models. Hey, works for us ! -Mark Hoyer