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/128640
Ben Bostrom 's NCR Oucati 996 Ita lian circ uit of Ma gione , it had underg on e a rad ical transformation. Not e ng ine wise, though - for the '99 trip le- inje ct or des mo V-twin, with d iffe re nt ia l fue l-injection mapp ing bet ween front a nd rea r cylinders, still has jus t t he sam e meat y pu nch a s before fro m as low as 6000 rpm out of s low tu rn s , with an e xt ra dose of powe r above 9000 rpm as th e engine note ha rdens , acceleration be c om e s even mo re vivid , and th e fig ure s o n the digital dash sc ra m ble into five -fig u re re alms faste r tha n the e ye ca n keep up with . It's th e perfect powe rp lant fo r a tig ht, tw isty c ircu it lik e Magi on e , especi a lly one cove red with a la y e r o f dust d ep o s ited the d ay be for e b y a tor rent ial t hu nderstorm born th e re by sand -lad en rain clouds from North Africa . In othe r words , the pe rfe ct cond itions to try out the Ducati in Bostrom m ode - too bad he wa s n ' t th ere o r else he wou ld have felt right at home on a ta rma c -based dirt tra c k. But th e prog ressive if still pote nt power deliv e ry of the Duc a ti mea ns that , whe n you get the re ar wheel spinn ing , it does so co ntrolla bly - before th e rear 16. 5 - inch Mic hel in h o o k s up a nd delivers g reat drive d ow n th e n e xt s h o rt s t raig ht , ac comp an ie d by th e sound of thunde r from the NCR bike 's Leo Vinci exhausts . Unlike Bostrom, I'm not norm a lly bra ve e nough to try to sp in a Miche lin By A LA N C A T HCA RT P HOT OS BY KEL EDGE id ing th e NCR Duc at i 996 in Ben Bostro m setup mode is an educatio n in two contrasting styles of road raci n g t e c h n iq u e - the dirt t ra c kderived Am er ic an Way now seeming ly out of fashio n at world lev el, and th e c la s s ic , c o nstant -rad ius, high wide -and -ha nds ome E ur o pe a n c ornering so lution fav or ed by the majorit y of t h e wo rld ' s top road racers in both Wo rld S uper bike and Gran d Prix racing. For th e bike Bostrom was demoted to ridin g a fter fo u r round s of t h is year' s World Su perb ike s e ries wa s Troy Corser 's 19 99 fa ctory desmo Vtwin , a ma chine I'd ridden jus t one year e a rlier at the e nd of th at season alongside the similar 9 9 6 Superbi ke on which tea mmate Carl Fog arty had com pleted h is quartet of wor ld tit le s for the Italian firm . Foga rty and Cors er have different preferences in setu p, but th e y both s ti ll h a ve the s ame basic tarma c-derived technique , eve n if each year I've te ste d Corser 's b ikes I've a lw ays been im presse d h o w ultra -stable a nd bala nc ed th ey a lways fee l - e ven to a fa ult when it com e s to getting them turn ed into a tight ben d , or the midd le of a c hica ne . Howe ve r, by the t ime I c a me to test Co rse r' s ' 9 9 b ike in its bla ck b o rn - a g a in Bostrom NC R live ry at the c e n t ra l R 16 N O VE M B ER 22 , 2000 ' Ie U Ie I e n e vv s rear tire delibera tely, be c au se I s t ill have the scars fro m when they dig in and h ighside you - but a little loca l assistance in track preparati on fro m Moth er Nat ure m ad e the tas k so mewha t eas ier and le s s fra ug h t at Mag ione , ev e n if I foun d it n e xt t o im poss ible to progress to Stage Two , and sta rt steering it into the turn with the ba c k ';"heel sl iding to make it turn faster, like Ben does. Peak pow e r of around 17 0 h p is d elivere d at 11 ,500 rp m - but th e re 's s t ron g over re v all t h e way to th e 12 ,500 rpm re v lim iter , wh ich NCR tea m ma nager St efan o Carac ch i says Ben uses a ll the t ime . As in , re v it u nt il the re a in't no m or e to com e then sh ift. When yo u do ho ok th e next g e ar on th e one -u p , race- pa tte rn gea rbox (as a m a rk of Bost rom's eagerness to learn to Do It Righ t, he 's jettison e d th e street -sh ifte r layout from his H-D/ Sup e rSp o rt da ys) , yo u appre cia t e how p e rfe c tly NCR has set u p t h e wide -open pow ershifter, which m a kes upwa rd changes more smoothly th an when I rode the same bike in facto ry guise . Little thi ngs mean a lot. Downs hifting under b ra k ing while sq ue ezing har d o n the p o we rf u l Br e m b o fro nt dis cs with thei r rad ial-mounted c a lipe rs , there 's the trademark clic k from th e slipper clu tch as you h it the next ge a r lowe r - a re m inder how we ll thi s wor ks in h el p in g yo u u s e t he The author was educated in the American dirt track-style road-racing technique on "n IIostrom's rearsteering reeket. , e ng ine bra king on tap from th e meaty 98 x 66mm e ngi ne's pist on s . But, even wit h t he 42m m O h lins for ks set up pretty soft on com press ion d ampin g , the NCR Duc a t i is pretty unstable when yo u bra ke hard, eve n tho ugh t h e weigh t t ransfe r do esn't seem ex cessive, and the back whe el st a ys close to th e gr ound. This makes it hard to p ick a line in turns a nd ho ld to it, when th e bike moves a ro u n d so m u ch wh en you stop it ha rd. But this is the American Wa y. T he NCR Du cati 's hand l in g is be st desc ribed a s "loo se," so tha t even at m y g entler pa c e c ompa red t o the fu ll- o n Bo s t r o m b litz o n Vict or y Lane , I fo u nd t h e b ik e cons tant ly moving around bene ath m e - even in a s tra ight line. Bo s t ro m us e s re la t ive ly little steerin g da m pe r on th e Du c ati - he can' t use more o r e lse it' d d e st ro y his respo nse le ve l whe n he gets the t h ing si deways into t he turn - so t hat d o wn t he Ma g ion e ma in s tr ai g h t h ard o n in fift h gea r (like on severa l s horter t racks , e ve n Mis a n o a n d Val e ncia w he re m an y Du c ati riders p re fe r to g e a r to use o nly five gea rs , NC R h a d gea red it no t t o u s e sixth for o u r test). it