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/128638
160/60 - 17 rear sta rts to let go . Th e se are much b etter le arn er sp ortbi k e tires than the Mich e lins yo u normally find on a Duk e , becaus e they' re mor e forg iving - th e m ore s o sin ce th e Showa fo rks fitted to the 750S a re completely non -adjustable , so you 're re lying on th e tire m o re than o n another bike where you can dial in the front end to suit your weight and riding sty Ie. Cost was obvious ly the fac to r here , a n d c o s t m ust also ha ve b e e n an iss ue be hind th e ca libe r of th e si ngl e 320mm Br emb o d is c fitte d t o th e front of th e 750 Sport, whi ch has a ll th e feel a nd sto ppi ng power of a lump of wood , with a bo ut th e sa me amount o f b ite . You h a ve to s q uee ze very ha rd on the le ve r to get the bike to sto p at a ll - and that's o fte n a cco m pani ed by an unpleasant no ise a s it comes to rest. There a lso is n' t m uc h response at all if you just finger the leve r lightly in a turn to cram off a little excess speed. Either Bre m bo ha d this stuff sitting on the shelf for a few years and gave Duca ti a grea t price to be rid of them, o r else this rea lly is a properly developed set of b udg e t Bre m bo braking hardware , in wh ich case Ducati n e eds t o get ho ld o f Nissin 's phone nu mber and get them to qu ote on the stuff they fit to budget Ja p a n e s e bikes like the Kawasaki ER-5 , which work far be tte r. Thi s dead-fee ling concoctio n ha s no pla ce on a bike a imed a t neophyte ride rs , a nd while doub ling -u p on th e num b e r of d is c s woul d presum abl y do the tr ic k , it ought not to be neces s ar y o n a V- twi n weig hi n g 4 0 2 po un ds dry, q uite apart from the negat ive effect doing so would have on t he nim ble, agile steer ing . J ust as we ll, the back 245mm brake works (Above Left) T he singl e front Brembo disc provides IltUe in the way of feel or stopping power. (Above) The author wasn't overly impressed w ith the performance of the Ducati 7 5 0 Spo rt. (Left) The fi ve - spe ed, fu elinje cte d desmodue engine is ai r-cooled and produces 64 horsepower at 8250 rpm , according to Ducati . pretty well - except th at with no s lipper cl ut c h fitted, you ca n't af fo rd to ge t to o ov er -e ag er wit h t he e ngi ne br a k ing a nd re a r brak e p ed a l, e lse yo u'll , ahem, get the rear wheel ho p pi ng on the way into a tu rn. Fa iling to slow down as much as yo u 'd inte nd e d for a bend certainly puts a bike's handling to the test, and though there's quite a bit of dive from the softly-sprung forks when you do get the brakes to work, the damping . settings on the 750 Sport felt qu ite good . The ca nt ileve r re a r sh ock is an adjustable Sachs with remote caniste r, wh ich again was well set up for me - I did n't feel the need to fiddle with the sett ings, with in the limita tio ns o f t he link-less setup . A little more re bo und damping a t both ends m ight ha ve b e en n ice - t he Du c at i te nds to bo unce out of d ips , tak en at s pee d, a nd takes a wh ile to sett le d own aga in afterward . But th e ca n tilever re ar end is more compl iant tha n I' d expected, even with what m ust be qu it e a budget -conscious s hock at the rear. leave the e ng ine idling on th e stand to wa rm up wh ile yo u put o n you r he lm et. S illy: why not? However , a t th e e n d o f th e d a y wh at really counts is whe the r the 750 Sport represents Rout e One into the desmo sportbiking frate rnity. O n the basis of my afternoon with this bik e , I h a ve to say we ' ll be going back t o Pla n A whe n m y so n Andrew finds himself a ble to ride a desmo V-twin in te rms of both his lice nse a nd rea sonable ins ura nce costs in anothe r seven months , s ix days ("I'm co unti ng the s econds, Da d .. .!"). To find out what that is , let 's look at the used -bike price section at the back of Ita ly 's monthly m a g a zine In Moto - where for the same price as the new half-fa ired 750 Sport, a newcom e r can buy a yea r-o ld 900SS with 25 percent more ho rs e p o wer a n d torque, an extra gear ratio, a full fairin g , proper brake s and less than 6200 miles o n th e odo m ete r. Or , for the same money, if he 's pr epared to gamble a little on getting a go od o ne , a 19 ,OOO-m ile , ' 9 6 748 Biposto desmoquattro . Ducati's in tenti ons in la u nc hin g the 750 Sport are very la uda ble, but at the end of the day it's not as good an op tio n for yo ur desmo wannabe to buy one of th es e new, as it is to tra de up into a different c a libe r of second hand sportdesmo , with more performance and a better le ve l of equ ipmen t - in c luding brak e s that wo rk prope rly. But th oug h t he 750 Sport has a smooth p ic ku p from low down , its power delivery is too progressive and , frank ly, ponderous t o satisfy th e s portbike customer. Even if it can be coaxed up to a top s peed of just over 120 mph , it isn 't very enjoyable rid in g so fast on a bik e like this, on w h ic h 75 -85 mph se e ms less str a in ed , m ore approp ri ate . The en gi n e fe els happie st runn ing a t a ro u n d the 7000 -rpm m ar k , a nd th er e 's less windblast - though para doxica lly , th is he lps ta ke th e we ight o ff yo u r wrists wh en leaning forward into th e wind . You a ls o appre ciate th e fact th at Ducati ha s finally do ne away with its most infa mo us fe a ture , the le gen da ry su i-sid e sta nd si ngle-handedly responsib le fo r keepi ng th ei r bo d y work parts su pp liers wo rk in g overtim e . The o ne fitted now (no center stand , though) not on ly has no return s pring and has to be retra cted positiv ely: it a lso has a n e ng ine cutout even in neu tral. Th is is frankly a nu isan c e , becau s e it mean s yo u ca n 't c u e . e n e vv S • NOVEMBER 8 , 2 0 00 17