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/127970
1999 Ducat; 5T4 By Mark Hoyer Photos by Kinney Jones A 8 ~ 00 0\ 0\ ...... u-) N I-< (J) .c E (J) > o Z 14 { . _ . ome nu tter in an Aerostitch su it ~ muscle d his way by on the ou t~ side under brakes for a hard lefthand er at the end of the back straigh t. Ther e was no choice bu t to ease u p on the lever a bit , to so rt of "ou taccelerate" him into the corn er. Only, he let up too, a n d got h alf his b ike out in fro n t o f min e. We we re both perilously close to the turning poi nt for the corne r..At the speed we were running and since I was now entering the turn a lot tight er than I'd planned , I was going to have to really slow down or dri ft wid e an d knock this fiend .off the track on the ex it. Havin g tra shed eno u g h fai rin g panels for th e yea r and dragged off half a pou nd of the cen terstand already in the many lefts on this s hort ro ad course, I d ecid ed th at d iscr etion was the better part of pa llor (t ha t's : g o t scared ) a nd hit th e front bra ke with a big, healthy, semi-panic ind uced sque eze. The lever wa s a little soft, bu t the power and feel were there, a n d th ou g h th e front en d go t real1y vagu e (we were a lot close r to hitti ng the pavement tha n my rival knew or I cared to ad mit), I go t the bike slowed down and turned and no one got hurt . Were we a t a press in trod uction for a new Ducati 916 replacem ent ? The latest version of an 996cc SPS World Superbike homologa tion special? Nop e, it was for the lo ng-awaited ST4, th e 916 otto valvo le- po w ered ve rsio n o f Du ca ti ' s sport touring platf or m . Jud ging by the spi r it of th e in tro d uctio n - held a t Ducati's factory in Bologn a with a highspeed trip nor th on the autostrada to the l.l -mil e Aut od rom o Riccard o Paletti in Veran o - a cras h w hile ra cing a 500 p ound s tree t bi ke wo u ld o n ly ha v e (Above) The 5T4 takes some muscle to ride aggressively, but t he chassis is rewardingl y capable. (Below) The ST4 uses the same excellent chassis Ducati debuted on the ST2. The whee ls , like on the new 90055, are lighter due to a new manufacturing process. The big story, though, is the 916 engine and the 103 hp that comes w ith it. ea rned me th e r espect of th e Italian . mechanics. An d, lookin g back, even if I'd go ne fu ll Ca p irossi on th e du d e, I prob abl y could hav e blam ed him an yw ay, based so lely upon his reput at io n fo r kissin g th e pavement m or e ofte n than the Pop e. An yw ay, th e broad compet en ce of thi s motorcycl e ca n be und erli ned by the simple fact that we weren't absolutely terrified by riding it on a race track on the stock sp or t touring Metzeler MEZ4s. Good tires, yes, bu t they ain 't race ru bb er. Still, there w e were in th e pits, ad jus ting da mpi ng , se tting th e spring