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/128176
Intermot 2002, Part I Edwards II (or will he?) and Neil Hodgson to wave the Ducati flag with in the '03 World Superbike series, launched at the Bologna Show in December as a limited-edition racer with lights. Still employing the old desmoquattro pre- Testastretta motor are the ST4 and ST4s eight-valve sports tourers, lightly updated apart from the significant addition of an aU-new ASS option on the specced-up ST4s. Developed as 0 joinhenture between Ducati themselves and Bosch (for the electronics) plus Brembo (for the hardware), the system is claimed to completely remove all the compromises inherent in previous ABS formats for the sportbike rider, and its worth was proven in the month before the show by Ducati's chief R&D engineer ~ndrea Forni, who spent his summer holidays taking the prototype ABS-equipped desmoquattro tourer for a 7500-mile trip through North America, from Alaska to Southern California, via Canada - but the long way around! Moreover, alongside this comprehensive overhaul of its range-topping models, Ducati has also completely revamped its classic desmodue family of traditionally engineered twovalve models, starting at the top of the range with the all- new Supersport 1000DS - DS as in "dual spark," denoting the twin-plug heads 32 OCTOBER 16,2002' cue employed on the bike's new one-liter motor - which replaces the old 900SS. This is powered by an all-new air-cooled 992cc single-cam twovalve engine replacing the decadeold 904cc version dating from the Cagiva days, measuring 94 x 71.5mm and delivering 15-percent I • n e _ s more power at 85.5 bhp at 7750 rpm, as well as considerably more torque all through the rev range. Beneath it are- the single.-plug 800 Sport and Supersport 800, essentially differentiated only by their suspension specification and some styling details, but replacing the old 750SS with an 802cc engine measuring 88 x 66mm and producing 74.5 bhp at 8250 rpm. Propping up the range is a 620 Sport making 61 bhp, using the same 80 x 61.5mm 618cc motor introduced a year ago in the 620 Monster. All these bikes are fitted with Marelli EFI using 45mm throttle bodies, and employ the same latest version of Ducati's trademark tubular-steel spaceframe, fitted with essentially the same styling as the 750SS/900SS they replace - but it's worth noting that Ducati has taken the criticism directed at their underbraked singledisc 750 Sport on board, and all models now have twin 320mm front Brembo discs and four-pot calipers. Well listened, amici. The Monster range has been similarly revamped to feature the new range of engines, though each of them has been retuned and the EFI remapped to give a little less power than their Sport equivalents, in favor of increased midrange torque. There's also an even smaller entrylevel 400S Monster variant for the Japanese market only, while both the 620 i.e. Monster and 620 Sport are also available in 33-bhp restricted versions to meet Euro-restrictions for novice riders, and all Monster models from the M 1OOODS downward are now also available in a less-costly Dark version for the benefit of added streetcred and/or as a basis for customization. However, the most significant new model employing for the time being only the biggest of Ducati's new family of desmodue engines is the production version of the Multistrada lOOODS unveiled a year ago in prototype form at Milan, as Terblanche's take on Yamaha's TDM900 go-anywhere sportbike. Expected to commence production in February, the Multistrada appeared in customerready guise at Intermot, with only a few changes from the Milan showbike, mainly a taller screen (which still, however, moves with the handlebars) and revised frontal styling, featuring a headlamp electrically adjustable for height. There's now a 996-style single-sided swingarm, fully adjustable Showa suspension, and big 320mm Brembo brakes ready to haul down a bike weighing a lean 429 pounds - but gone is the convenient storage space at the back of the tank for freeway tickets or a mobile phone, removed in the interests of increasing fuel capacity to 5.2 gallons. Pity. Still no price yet for what appears to be viewed by observers as an even more controversial Terblanche design than his 999, which at Intermot, however, appeared to be attracting growing approval from people who'd seen it at last in the metal, rather than in photos. General consensus was that it was actually a much smaller, betterlooking bike than it had seemed in print. See -1he camera does lie... Aprilia by contrast was more subdued at Intermot, the RSV Mille featuring only minor styling updates to cre.ate a leaner-looking frontal appearance, plus a very welcome c1ose- ratio gearbox, and radial brakes fitted as standard to both the RSV-R and lower-cost RSV1000 versions. However, the Scarabeo 500 big-wheel (16-inchers) scooter made its expected debut, powered by Piaggio's 460cc Hexagon engine as part of the two