I thought I would post my 300 mile first impressions of the bike. I took delivery late Friday and just hit mile 300. 290 miles of back roads and 10 miles of highway (I hate the highway).
My profile: Riding for 30+ years, early 50’s, decent amount of track days, most recent bikes were Hyper 821 and BMW S1000RR. 6 feet tall and 215 pounds wearing just a smile 😊
What I wanted out of this bike: My back cant handle the full on sport bike ergonomics but I miss the sportbike performance. Simply put, I wanted a sportbike with an upright riding position. Please don’t detune it and neuter a perfectly good sport bike. I want to ride the piss out of it on the street and do the occasional track day without having to reconfigure it so I don’t grind a boot down so bad I can see my pinky toe (true story on the Hyper)
Break in Philosophy: What beak in period???!! Break it in the way you would normally ride it. Ride her like a $2 whore. No courtship or cuddling. Just get right to the main event. Break her in like you stole it. Nuff said.
Two bikes in one:
This bike is a Jekyll and Hyde in a good way. I was shocked how easy it was to ride around town at low speeds and putting around. I thought I would be dealing with the standard cranky sportbike low RPM behaviors and have to wind the piss out of it to keep it happy. Not this bike. It’s a pleasure to ride at low speeds and low RPM’s. At first, I was worried that the pussycat I was riding was the “detuned” sportbike I was afraid Ducati would make. Ohhh was I wrong, this cat has claws. Crank up the RPM above 7K and it wakes up. Push her past 9k and its gets [email protected] bonkers. Ludicrous speed bonkers… smoke em if you got em bonkers. But here is the surprising part. It’s not Jekyll OR Hyde its Jekyll AND Hyde. Its not a switch you flip or an RMP powerband you hit to cross over into bonkers. There is a blending of the compliant and the beast. I found myself pushing through turns between 7-11K and the bike was smooth. No on off chop and the wind up to higher RPM’s has surprising pleasant fueling. Normally on these backroad twisties I would keep a lower RPM and have enough torque to muscle trough. Why? Because I had to. My previous bikes got “twitchy” at higher RMPs and the on off throttle was choppy and could upset the suspension. This is not the case with the SF. Now I can choose the hit the turn with low RMP/torque or roll on in higher RPMs without feeling the bike was going to twitch me into an uncomfortable position.
Comfort: Yes, its comfortable for me. I tried to ride from fueling to fueling and stopping only for gas. The low fuel light comes on at 80 miles and the refill will take 2.5 gallons. The seat in nice and comfy. I have spent good money on Corbin and Sargent seats and this is as good as they were. There is no buzz in the handle bars or rearsets. Wind protection is decent at highway speeds. 80MPH at 6K/6th gear. The weather has been 60-70 so I have experienced any heat issues.
Riding modes: I have only spent time in sport and race. At first, I liked sport because it felt more refined. But as I spent more time on the bike I now prefer race. Specifically, because of the lack of twitch factor I explained above. On my Hyper and BMW, I always felt race was just too much of a knife edge for the street. This is not the case for the SF. I have played a little with all the rider control nanny options. But honestly, I have not pushed the bike enough to notice these intervening. I have dialed them in to where I think I want them to be for sport and race, but more time is needed to sort them out.
Does the bike wheelie? [email protected] YES the bike wheelies 😊. But there is a caveat. DWC (Ducati wheelie control) does its job. Really Really well. I have never ridden a bike that you had to fight so hard to loft to front wheel. (Wheelie defined as brining the front tire up to 11-12 o’clock and riding on the balance point) Even if you dial DWC down to #1 its still fights you bigtime. Its like trying to snatch Ronda Rousey’s purse. You may get away with it but its not going to be worth it. Just turn OFF DWC. Simple, now go have fun. FYI you CAN”T turn off any off the nanny functions on the fly. You CAN dial them between 1-8. But you can’t turn them off. You need to go 5 screens deep in the setting menu to turn them off. If you are able to do this while riding it’s a very bad Idea. I have DWC turned it off in Race mode and have it on #2 in Sport. If I feel the need to give the front tire a break. I toggle to race, crack the throttle and up she goes.
So far so good with my purchase. I tried to cover a few things that were not mentioned in the other reviews and my overall opinions. As with everything opinions may vary. Like my grandfather used to say “Opinions are like [email protected]. Everyone stinks but mine”.
My profile: Riding for 30+ years, early 50’s, decent amount of track days, most recent bikes were Hyper 821 and BMW S1000RR. 6 feet tall and 215 pounds wearing just a smile 😊
What I wanted out of this bike: My back cant handle the full on sport bike ergonomics but I miss the sportbike performance. Simply put, I wanted a sportbike with an upright riding position. Please don’t detune it and neuter a perfectly good sport bike. I want to ride the piss out of it on the street and do the occasional track day without having to reconfigure it so I don’t grind a boot down so bad I can see my pinky toe (true story on the Hyper)
Break in Philosophy: What beak in period???!! Break it in the way you would normally ride it. Ride her like a $2 whore. No courtship or cuddling. Just get right to the main event. Break her in like you stole it. Nuff said.
Two bikes in one:
This bike is a Jekyll and Hyde in a good way. I was shocked how easy it was to ride around town at low speeds and putting around. I thought I would be dealing with the standard cranky sportbike low RPM behaviors and have to wind the piss out of it to keep it happy. Not this bike. It’s a pleasure to ride at low speeds and low RPM’s. At first, I was worried that the pussycat I was riding was the “detuned” sportbike I was afraid Ducati would make. Ohhh was I wrong, this cat has claws. Crank up the RPM above 7K and it wakes up. Push her past 9k and its gets [email protected] bonkers. Ludicrous speed bonkers… smoke em if you got em bonkers. But here is the surprising part. It’s not Jekyll OR Hyde its Jekyll AND Hyde. Its not a switch you flip or an RMP powerband you hit to cross over into bonkers. There is a blending of the compliant and the beast. I found myself pushing through turns between 7-11K and the bike was smooth. No on off chop and the wind up to higher RPM’s has surprising pleasant fueling. Normally on these backroad twisties I would keep a lower RPM and have enough torque to muscle trough. Why? Because I had to. My previous bikes got “twitchy” at higher RMPs and the on off throttle was choppy and could upset the suspension. This is not the case with the SF. Now I can choose the hit the turn with low RMP/torque or roll on in higher RPMs without feeling the bike was going to twitch me into an uncomfortable position.
Comfort: Yes, its comfortable for me. I tried to ride from fueling to fueling and stopping only for gas. The low fuel light comes on at 80 miles and the refill will take 2.5 gallons. The seat in nice and comfy. I have spent good money on Corbin and Sargent seats and this is as good as they were. There is no buzz in the handle bars or rearsets. Wind protection is decent at highway speeds. 80MPH at 6K/6th gear. The weather has been 60-70 so I have experienced any heat issues.
Riding modes: I have only spent time in sport and race. At first, I liked sport because it felt more refined. But as I spent more time on the bike I now prefer race. Specifically, because of the lack of twitch factor I explained above. On my Hyper and BMW, I always felt race was just too much of a knife edge for the street. This is not the case for the SF. I have played a little with all the rider control nanny options. But honestly, I have not pushed the bike enough to notice these intervening. I have dialed them in to where I think I want them to be for sport and race, but more time is needed to sort them out.
Does the bike wheelie? [email protected] YES the bike wheelies 😊. But there is a caveat. DWC (Ducati wheelie control) does its job. Really Really well. I have never ridden a bike that you had to fight so hard to loft to front wheel. (Wheelie defined as brining the front tire up to 11-12 o’clock and riding on the balance point) Even if you dial DWC down to #1 its still fights you bigtime. Its like trying to snatch Ronda Rousey’s purse. You may get away with it but its not going to be worth it. Just turn OFF DWC. Simple, now go have fun. FYI you CAN”T turn off any off the nanny functions on the fly. You CAN dial them between 1-8. But you can’t turn them off. You need to go 5 screens deep in the setting menu to turn them off. If you are able to do this while riding it’s a very bad Idea. I have DWC turned it off in Race mode and have it on #2 in Sport. If I feel the need to give the front tire a break. I toggle to race, crack the throttle and up she goes.
So far so good with my purchase. I tried to cover a few things that were not mentioned in the other reviews and my overall opinions. As with everything opinions may vary. Like my grandfather used to say “Opinions are like [email protected]. Everyone stinks but mine”.
