Cycle News BOOee Sportbike Shootout 2000
No comprom is es : Either
you like the Ducat! 7 48
or yo u like to look at the
Ducati 7 48. The Italian
twin is a capable c arver
in skilled h ands, but
less experie nced riders
w ill flound er on It.
the five -sp oke rear wheel (the st an da rd mod e l now
uses th e three -s po ke wheel a nd a Sachs s hock) , just
as last ye a r's 748 did .
TRACKSAV V V
The ch a nges that were made to the 748, for bette r
or worse, seem to have ma d e little difference in th e
way that the machine work s on th e track. The botto m line is that th e blood -red Duck goes like st ink
whe n ridden ha rd, bu t mu st be ridden .ha rd to be fully
a p pr eciated . The fu e l-injected V-twi n pumps out
copious powe r puls es practica lly right from the ba sem ent, and pu lls c o m p e t e n tly toward its redli ne .
Tractability is a sta ple in the 748 's rep ertoire, as its
s m oo th -firing m ot or co ns pires with the chassis to
provide exc e llent hook-up upon exit from a comer.
Ahh , Ita ly! The splendor of Rom e . Th e fa shion of On the track, sh ifting and c lutc h action feel plenty
Mila n . Th e roma nce of Ve n ic e . Th e Du cks of smooth, and you will not find a more powerful -fee lBologn a.
ing - if no t a bit touchy - fron t brake on a ny bike in
With well ove r four decades worth of de velo ping this gro up .
interesting motorc ycles a lread y be hind it, Duca ti' s
The trellis -fra med 74 8' s ha ndling is, once ag ain,
in tro d uc t ion of th e c u rvaceo us 9 16 in 19 9 4 is qu ite brillia nt, so long as you ca n co me to g rips with
arg uabl y t h e propell a nt b y
a fe w small qu ir k s - a t le ast
which the company has roc kwhen co mparing the 748 to th e
White Brothers R&D Dept.
ete d from c ult status to world res t of o ur field. First, the s ho rt90
c. M R~)w1 R.
- 90
wide ico n in the m otorc ycling
coupled c hassis , higher cg of the
~ M .~ R E 41. 15.'
F
t-- .../ 1=
com mun ity, not unlike a c~r
80
80
powerplant a nd lack o f fee l a t
ta in long -s tandi ng Am e ric a n
fthe front bra ke lever mea ns th at
70
70
motorc yc le com p a ny t ha t
yo u' ll want to get most of yo u r
(/J
Q;
/
y o u 've heard o f. S u r e , t he
so 1\; s lowing don e before yo u get into
~ 60
c..
fo u n d a t io n w a s lai d in t h e
the turns. Second, yo u ha ve to
co
~
e;t
/
SO
50 .0
ma rque 's history and also in
deal wit h the bike 's stre tc hed II
if" r-,
c:
~
::r:
lco
the fun ctional wizardr y of Mas /
out erg os , w h ic h res trict the
40 ~
w40
simo Bo rd i' s e ig ht -val ve
'7
