Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127862
998Ducat; ST2 RIDING IMPRESSION 7 touring form - bags fitt ed a nd packed full - the capab ility o f th e chassis exceeds the available ground clearanc e, the pipe and centerstand being the first thi ngs to tou ch . T hi s ha ppens a t a n ad mitted ly very aggressive pace, bu t it is precise ly th e kind of pa ce th e ST2 induces you to ma intain . Howe ver, with one of the more novel features of the ST2, this can be rectified - ' o n ly at th e ex pense of th e ca r r y in g capacity. Th e black frames that baIt to ' the chas sis to hold the bags in place are remov ab le (a bo u t 45 minutes with a few ha nd tools ), w hic h in turn a llo ws th e pipes to be ra ised to a higher mounting point on the passen ger-foo tpeg bracket. With the pipes higher, the centerstand 's rubber stop attached to the left pipe also m o ves up, a n d voila - m ore gro u n d cleara nc e. In addi tio n to maki ng th e hi ke a mo r e ca p a b le s por tbik e, th e rem ova l of th e brackets also cleans up the rear of the bike and reall y lets the (Right) Ducati', ST2 is th e mode l with which the Italian company hopes to broaden Its appeal. It Is a very appealing motorcycle. (Below) Even with the bag s fully loaded, the ST2 encourages sp irited riding wit h it s agg res siv e frame geo metry an d well controlled s us pension . (Right) In an effort to differentiate t he ST2 from ot her models in the Ducati lineup. the b ike w on 't be offered in red in the United Stat es. Th e detachable hard bags come sta nd ard. Not ice t he us e of the cent ers tand .. despite trying to acclimate ou rselves to the spring-Joaded s ld esta nd, we never go t comfort ab le with using It. Bes ides, it w as impo ssi b le to put down while sitting on the bike, and if you 've go t t o get off the bike , why not use the centerstand? By Ma rk Hoyer Photos by Kit Pa lme r he und er st a tem ent-of-th e-pressintrod u c t ion aw a rd g o es to An d rea Forni, the man in cha rge . of pro du ct tes ting and developmen t at Ducat i in Bologna: "I think that we build a good spo rting motorcycle." A simple, straig htfo rward statement th at happen s to be qu it e true. Ducati does indeed build a very good spo rting mot orcycle. And the new ST2 Spo rt Turismo is a very good sporting mo torcycle . But wi th its ST2 - the firs t new model since th e significa nt eq uity investmen t by Te xas Pacif ic Group - Du cati was aim ing at so mething much broader . It aimed to make the ST2 rig ht for tou ring, too , and th at mea nt add ressing thin gs th e It alian co mpa ny didn' t normall y co ns id e r wh en m akin g a m o torcycl e . Luggage, for instance. Or a riding posiha n that d oesn't tum you in to Pret zel Boy after more tha n 20 m inutes in th e sadd le. So Du cati made some com promis es, but aimed to make "compromise" mean some thing different. Rath er than losin g so methin g from each intended a rea of use, Ducati sought simply to expand th e bike's capabilities, to wid en the circle to I T r-, 0"\ 0"\ ...... N' N .... ClJ ..0 o .... u o 16 en compass not only all the elem ents of sport ridi ng fo r which the Italian marquee is so famous, bu t also to add th e touring eleme nts to ma ke it a bike fo r all rides, long or short, straig ht or (preferably) twisty, agg ressi ve or relaxed - and ma ke it so vou ca n ta ke a fr iend and some of you ~ stu ff, too. In the sp irit of bui ld ing a very good sporting motorcycle, Ducati started with a known quantity in des igning the ST2' s chassis: the 916, on whi ch the sp or t toure r's s teel-t rell is fra me hi. based . As a r esult, th e fra me g eometry is ve r y aggressive for a bike that comes stock with hard, detacha ble sad dlebags. The rake an gle for the ST2's frame was set at 24 degrees - half a degree steeper than the street setting on the 916'.s adjustable steering head . Accord ing to Forni, there was sim p ly no reaso n to kick it ou t. Th is is, after all, a tru e sport tourer , and the aim was quick comer entry. This a im was ce rtain ly ach ie ve d. With or without bags, the ST2 flicks into a comer as a Du cati sho uld , and quick transitions ar c hand led wi th equ al composure. In fact, th e ST2 is a bike th at takes your min d off the road immediately in front of you a nd ma kes yo u lift vour he ad and concentra te on th e tarmac that lay ahead . Why? Because you s tart to go very fast. Also becau se yo u begin to "see" the road wi th your hands, via the g rips and this wo nderfu lly comm unic ati ve fro nt end . It' s lik e having nerve endings in the sticky MEZ4 Metzeler . Co u pled wit h this agg ressive ra ke ang le is a trail of 102mm - 5mm longer . than that of the 916 - to aid in straightline s tability for touring co mfort . Also, th e add itional weig ht of the passenger a nd lu ggage pu ts less we ig h t o n th e front wheel, and th e lon ger trail helps compensate by kee ping the bike stable. Th e wh eelbase wa s also lengthened (by fitting a longer swingarm ) by .8 inch to 56 .3 i nc hes, s o that th e p a sseng er wouldn't be sitting behind the rear axle, something less than id eal fo r handling a nd w eig ht d ist ribu ti on. A bene fit of th is longe r swinga rm was a slight gai n (I percent ) in forwa rd weigh t bia s - now 49 percent front, 51 rear. So even w ith a load in the well-in tegra ted an d easy-to-use sadd lebags, one su dd enly find s o ne se lf draggin g hard parts in fas t a nd slow tu rn s ali ke, a nd kn owing exactly w hat's happenin g at bo th end s of the mo torcycle. W hic h brin g s to li ght one of the shortco mings of the bike, if "shortcoming" is the right word . In its tru e spo rt beau tifu l styling treatmen t of the tailsection co me throu g h. Th e rea r tu m signa ls are a ttache d to the bra cket s, so when these are removed, it is necessa ry to fit the alternate short stalks (provided ) that attac h to the rear fender. It is in teresting to not e that for the rest of the world , the bags on th e ST2 a re o p tio n al, w h ile h ere in the St a tes t he y come s ta nda rd. Ducati No r th Ame ri ca wan ted to d iffere n ti ate thi s Ducati from the ot hers on the showroom floo r, a nd so ma de the bags sta nda rd featu res . Th is. is also w hy the American market will no t be getting the bike in red, a color available else w he re in the world. This is a new Ducati , a di fferen t Ducati - and they want you to know it. A nd it reall y is a ne w Ducati, one mea nt to d o more for its owner in more wa ys tha n an y Du e to co me be fo re it. And so, knowing tha t the ST2 was hoping to sa tisfy its owner by playing many roles, Ducati felt it necessary to fit fully a d ju s ta b le suspensio n fr on t a nd rear, a n d to e n sure that the components offered a wide range of adjustability. At th e fro nt is an in.verted 43mm Show a with 5.1 inches of travel. The sprin g rate is fairl y firm, as is compression damping, but fork action is in no way harsh . As mention ed before, you feel every bit