Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

FIRST RIDE ..... l-< ~ 28 from cramping from fighting those stiff springs in heavy traffic. Shifting upward without the clutch is a cinch. However, neutral is still a hitand-miss affair at traffic lights, and a major slap on the wrist goes to Ducati's test riders for signing the bike off with the gear lever as close to the footpeg as it is - 15mm closer than on the 916! This may be just fine if you have small feet, and / or ride with your toes on the footpegs, GP-style. But this is a sport tourer, not Fogarty's superbike with luggage, and most people.will ride it with the well-padded footpeg rubber under their instep, mearting you must then try to change gear with your anklebone.' It's an easy fix, since there's no gearshift linkage: Just offer an optional longer-'Iength gear lever at no extra charge at the delivery stage. And in future, get Northern Europeans or Americans to ride each new model before entering production. While we're niggling, the sidestand is even more suicidal than u ual on Italian bik - it's worse than on a Guzzi, which is saying something. ot only is it impossible to use without dismounting, the spring is so strong you can't balance the bike on it without using the ground to lever it out. And whatever you do, remember to leave the bike in gear on the stand, else you'll be contributing to TPG's gross profit on its investment via the parts store. It is fortunate, therefore, that there's a centerstand fitted, and a very well-balanced one at that, which you can lever the ST2 on to even with heavy luggage aboard with the help of a fIip-out handle . on the left flank. Typical Galluzzi attention to detail, same as the adjustable exhaust silencers which can be angled lower at th~expense of some ground clearance to make room for the optional saddlebags, each of which is big enough to contain a helmet and is quickly detachable. Personally, I think it's a mistake not to include these as stock in the ST2 package, especially as the display-only bike fitted with them at Jerez underlined how integral a part of the overall design they aresame as this is one Ducati model which looks much better in a different color than red. The silver one got the most votes at the press launch, some way ahead of the charcoal option with the red a poor third and last. Your choice. Gear ratios on the six-speed cluster are the same as the 900SS, though on the ST2 the. fact that both the top two gears are overdrives doesn't impinge on topend performance as much as on the Supersport bike, for the simple reason it revs out properly up high, so will pull top gear properly in a way the six-speed 900SS has never done. This translates to a claimed top speed of 140 mph one-up, a realistic figure judging by experience - though an indicated 145 mph came up with the tachometer needle buried in the nine-grand sector. I have to say I don't like the rather anonymous gray CEV instrument dials - Ducatis must have a white-faced tacho, at least! and the whole dash layout is rather undistinguished, though the idiot lights in the top left corner are quite legible. Switch gear is still rather low-rent and needs updating, especially when flanking the central LCD readout, monitoring the time, water temp and fuel level. What, no trip computer? Well, this is the entry level desmo sports tourer. Expect that kind of hardware upgrade on the 8valve ST4 version due to be launched at Milan for the '98 model year, fitted with the single-injector version of the desmoquattro motor. Or the 130-bhp twin-injector ST4S coming at Cologne '98, offering 916SP performance in a two-up touring package replete with carbon fiber - at a price, of course. The ST2's all-new tubular steel spaceframe chassis was designed from the ground up to accommodate the bulkier, heavier and more powerful four-valve motor on a modular basis, thus is essentially understressed here in its two-valve application. Though it uses a conventional extruded alloy swingarm pivoting in the engine cases without secondary ch is support, rather than a cast-alloy 916-type ingleswinger, the ST2 frame has the same rear-suspension linkage as the 916, but with a more progressive ratio to deliver softer suspension over bumps, combined with harder damping at the end of the stroke to cope with higher load weights from a passenger or luggage. Showa suspension is used at both ends, with both the rear shock and each of the two 43mm up ide-down fork legs fully adjustable for compression, rebound and preload. ot only is it vital that they should be on any touring bike a fact Triumph seems not to have learned yet - but it's also important that adjustment should be accessible and easy, and on the Ducati, it is. That makes dialing the bike in to suit per onal tastes the work of a moment. Stock street suspension settings are quite soft, to soak up bumps - ride quality is quite good - but had insufficient rebound damping for track use, so after one session at Jerez to find that out, it took two minutes to make the necessary adjustments front and rear. That done, the fact that Ducati didn't sacrifice anything in the handling department to make a tourer out of a sportbike comes through loud and clear. The ST2 handles like a Ducati should, and again outshines the 900SS' cantilever rear end with its much more compliant rising-rate linkage, with only a slight lack of grip at the rear from Metzeler's new ME Z4 touring tire evident on the race track. This is presumably the payoff for a 4500-mile projected life on the ST2, according to its star technician Helmut Dahne (as in Isle of Man/BMW R100s), who should know. The new zero-bias front Metzeler stayed glued to the track, though - excellent Still, it's not surprising the sport element of the ST2's handling package came through so strongly, because its geometry is closely based on the 916's. Wheelbase is 56.3 inches (55.5 on 916), head angle 24 degrees (23.5-24.5 degrees), trail 102 mm ,<97mm) and claimed dry weight 466 pounds (448). Most significant of all is the weight distribution, which in tum determines front tire grip - 49/51-bias on the two-valve ST2, vs. 48/52 percent on the 916 otto valvole, complete with much heavier desmoquattro cylinder head on the horizontal cylinder. (Abovli) Engine control for thB WeberlMlirelll fuellnJeetlon Is localed uncler 1he selit, as Is compression edjustment for the rear shock. (Right) Typically narrow tor a V-twin, tha ST2 Is Ii comfortable mount for mile-ellting journeys on Interstates es welles beck roads. What this tells you is that Ducati has shoved the ST2's engine as far forward in the frame as possible, which with the shorter engine means the crankshaft must be a good bit closer to the front wheel, too - leading in turn to that improved weight bias - always a critical factor with a 9O-d.egree V-twin motor. But the ST2 chassis package's single mo t impressive feature is the outstanding braking from the new Brembo calipers, combined with 320mm stainless-steel discs from the same company, which until now have never impressed me half as much as Brembo' trademark cast-iron rotors (now discontinued for aesthetic reasons - rust after rain). Even without costly steel brake hoses, the ST2 stops really well from high speed under extreme conditions, such as with a load or on the race track, yet the Brembos are also pretty sensitive at lower lever pressures, which is when stainless-steel brakes don't usually work so well. Development engineer Andrea Forni says this is due not only to altered pad compound and the new calipers, which though still two-piece are stiffer than before, but also to their mounting points on the fork legs, which are wider spaced than previously, thus helping to deliver a stiffer overall package. Though not adjustable, the front brake lever is well-shaped and allows singledigit braking when appropriate, while the 245mm rear Brembo is also quite sensitive as well as reasonably powerful. Just don't use it too hard combined with desmo en~ne braking, or else you'll get the back wheel hopping: just like on any desmo V-twin (or single), However, at the end of the day TPG's target customers for the 3000 versions of the ST2 due to be built in the 1997 model year (U.S. deliveries begin in '98) are those who never owned a Ducati before, and what will make them buy the ST2 is its all-around ridability, combined with the allure of owning a bike that's the streetwise sister of the World Superbike Champion. The spinoff factor is what makes Honda so eager to regain its World Superbike Championship crown and Ducati to hang on to it. In the meantime, perhaps later than it ought, the Italian marque at last has a convenience model in its sporting lineup - a down-toearth desmo that combines brio with common sense, style with function, performance with practicality. It's an apt model with which to kick off Ducati's second half-century as a motorcycle manufacturer - but now U1ider American ownership. Remember - the future tarts here. t~ 1997 Ducati 8T2 SpecIfIcaIIons EoottJliquid·cooIed 90° V·twin four·stroke with twO-vaIves per cylinder ..... 94x68mm DI p.. u •••• ......................................................... 944cc 000IpHt ; .........•...•..•................................... 83 hp Call pF 01. . . . . . .....•..............................................10.2:1 c.two III .wet>ber/~e1ectronicfuellnjeCtion with one ,njeCtor per cylinder and 44mm throttle bodles I: _I • .. EIectronic GearIIoa 6-speed CI I ...........•........TubulIar steel splicefnlme with swu,golll' piIIot in engine ~ S .. I"I.llaR ......... 43mm fuMy adjustable upslde-down Showa fort\. 5.1-in. travel ..................................Box-section llIuminum swtngann with fully Bdjustllble lIingle Showa shock and r18Ing-rlate ~ 5.8-in. travel rt.uI .24°/102mm ...... I 56.3 In. ............................................................466Ibl1. without fuel I • • • 4 ra-J_ 49151 % ....... « ........ , ................. , ~ Duel32Omm stIiinIeas-steeI chcs with four-platon E!rwt*Jo calipers SingIe 245mm stainIess·steeI cIiac with two-piston caliper ......... . ...........•...120I7OZR17 MetzeIer ME Z4 r&diel on three-spoke alloy 3.5-in. rim . . . _... , .....•.••...17016OZR17 Metz8er ME Z4 .... on lIne-spoke lIIIoy 5.5-in. I1IIl

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