Newbies, please read: Ducati Sport Touring Models

[Bill_Anderson]

Originally Posted by Ducxl

Are those bags detachable?????

Yes, the hard bags are detachable. The key turns one way to open the bag and the opposite way to remove it from the rack.

[NoDrama43]

guys I am brand new and have been reading all these great threads trying to decide which ST I am going to buy. I like the Ducati Designs headlight look over the newer fairing. I like the ST4 or ST4s over the ST2 (so far anyway). What do you all think of the blue color. I spent a couple of hours yesterday looking at a 2000 ST4 with a ton of expensive mods. I really like the blue color but I am hearing they are few and far between?


I already have a very red "go fast" car and I would like something different on the bike. Is it going to be hard to find a blue ST 2003 down? thanks in advance for any help.

[Bill_Anderson]

Originally Posted by NoDrama43

guys I am brand new and have been reading all these great threads trying to decide which ST I am going to buy. I like the Ducati Designs headlight look over the newer fairing. I like the ST4 or ST4s over the ST2 (so far anyway). What do you all think of the blue color. I spent a couple of hours yesterday looking at a 2000 ST4 with a ton of expensive mods. I really like the blue color but I am hearing they are few and far between?


I already have a very red "go fast" car and I would like something different on the bike. Is it going to be hard to find a blue ST 2003 down? thanks in advance for any help.

I have seen very few blue ST models. I think blue wasn't offered for very many model years. The last blue ST model that I am aware of was the 2000 or 2001 ST4.

[EJP711]

I can tell you that from 2004 through 2007 Ducati did not offer either of the ST models in Blue. Its an old color from the ST2 line and was only around a few years.
As far as ride ability, which is more important than color (you can have the bike painted, their are only the tank fenders and side panels).However, if you're looking for the best Sport Touring Ducati, you should go with an ST3. The ST2 is a dog, engine wise. Low power and high cost of maintenance. The ST4 has no mid-range torque, but plenty of top end power, good for the track mostly, but again its missing mid-range power, from 2500RPM up. Ducati fixed the bike with the creation of the ST3, 3 valve engine. It has lots of low end torque, mid range, and enough high end power. My 2004 ST3, puts out 100.29HP at rear wheel on the dyno. Also, after 2004, Ducati changed from the usual dry clutch to the wet clutch system, now in use in many of its bikes.
Liking the front headlight of the old model over the new model design's better lighting, is no reason to buy an inferior bike. The body work is the same on all ST models, and its not hard to swap the upper fairing back to the pre-2004 style to incorporate the Ducati Designs headlamp kit.
Seriously, test ride an ST3 before you purchase an ST2 or ST4.
Lastly, 2004 colors were: Red, Yellow, Metallic Silver. 2005 & up included Black.
My bike was the new metallic Silver. I tired of it quickly, as it just doesn't look like a Ducati. Mine is now a custom painted Ducati Red.

[Bill_Anderson]

Originally Posted by EJP711

.... The ST4 has no mid-range torque, but plenty of top end power, good for the track mostly, but again its missing mid-range power, from 2500RPM up. Ducati fixed the bike with the creation of the ST3, 3 valve engine. It has lots of low end torque, mid range, and enough high end power......

I have owned both an ST4, ST4s (two, in fact), and now an 06-ST3s. The ST4 and ST4s had plenty of power in all ranges. The ST4s required a 42T or 43T rear sprocket to make it run smoothly at street and highway legal speeds, but other than that it was good to go out of the box.

My current ST3s has plenty of power after a lot of performance enhancing mod$ by the previous owner (DP ECU, Power Commander, dyna-tuned, etc).

Originally Posted by EJP711

Liking the front headlight of the old model over the new model design's better lighting, is no reason to buy an inferior bike. The body work is the same on all ST models, and its not hard to swap the upper fairing back to the pre-2004 style to incorporate the Ducati Designs headlamp kit.

Do you know anyone who has done this? The upper fairing differences between the two body syles are quite extensive including different dashboards and instrument clusters.

[Yacoby]

Noob question du jour here...

1999 ST2, when properly warmed up the oil window reads a bit low, about 1/4 the way below the max line in the space between Max/min (if that makes any sense)

Is there an easy way to add a weeeee bit of oil without taking any fairing(s) off? i.e. common everyday household family items like a turkey baster, breast pump, penis pump, ball gag, etc?

I've never had a bike with full fairings before a week or two ago.

[tonered]

This is probably a better question in a thread versus a sticky. But. . .

Sorry if I am stating the obvious, but you should only be reading the oil level with the bike shut off. I does take quite a while for the oil to get back down to the sump. Cold or hot does not make a difference in my book.

I have used a really long and skinny funnel with the fairings on. I can be tricky as it is almost flat, so the pouring is sloooooow. The other thing I use that someone posted around here is an empty toilet bowl cleaner bottle, like Toilet Duck. Just go to the grocery store, find the one with the longest 'neck,' go home and clean your toilets, then clean the bottle well to remove any trace of cleaner, and fill with your favorite oil. The one I have reaches nicely to the fill hole. I cannot drain the entire bottle of oil, but I can get most of it in there without spillage or loosening fasteners.

Have a good one.

[scottrnelson]

Wow! Two year old thread resurrection!

I used to fabricate a funnel out of aluminum foil to get the oil into the filler hole. That was usually the same aluminum foil that I covered the lower exhaust pipe with when draining the oil. I never took the fairings of, or even loosened them, to change the oil in my ST2.

As for oil level, you can try to keep it near the Max mark, but the engine will either burn the extra oil or spit it out the vent at the back of the engine. Ducati engines like to find their own preferred oil level. As long as it's above the Min mark when the engine is off and the bike is standing straight up and down, you're good.

When the engine is running at idle speed, if you can see oil at about the Min mark there should be just the right amount in there.

[Yacoby]

Originally Posted by tonered

This is probably a better question in a thread versus a sticky. But. . ..

Noob ST thread with a touch of how to check/add the oil ain't that bad, maybe even good in a way

Originally Posted by tonered

This is probably a better question in a thread versus a sticky. But. . .

Sorry if I am stating the obvious, but you should only be reading the oil level with the bike shut off.

Well, to clarify a bit I am only a Ducati noob as opposed to a wholesale "internal combustion engine noob" and so where I added the part about the bike being warmed up, I didn't mean for that to sound like I was checking the oil while said L type engine is running.

It had been explained to me that one needs to let ones bike warm up before checking the oil to avoid what risk there may be of overfilling due to some reason which escapes me at the moment, and henceforth I always err on the side of caution forthwith.

It was on its center stand - ignition OFF - on as level as a place I could find in this particular coastal town which seems to lean towards the ocean in perpetuity.

And for what I learned here today, my Ducati has a vent in the back to vent excess oil! That (cross my fingers) explains the almost intangible amount of oil residue in that area I was eyeballing with so much disdain earlier.

Thanks guys!