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/1542345
- SHOOTOUT 2006 Open-Closs Shoofouf --' THIRD PLACE 104 POINTS DUtrAT! 9995 VITAL STATISTICS Measured wet weight: 468 lb. Peak horsepower: 129.03 hp Peak torque: 72-95 ft.-lb. Weight-tcpower ratio: 3.62 lb.,/hp Fastest lap time: 1:27.65 lSorensenl Ouarter-mile time: 1O.15 @ 136.OO mph Price: $22,995 ffiP,E CNGING XEY TEAIUEES g99cc Testastretta, deep-sunp, [-twin motor Jitanium connecting rods Termignoni exhaust system included in addition to stock unit T The oucati gives away 30 horsepower to the (awasaki, 22 to the Suzuki and almost 20 to the Honda. So how does it stay in the hunt, you ask? Handling (which we'll get into in a minute), and the ability to open the throftle much earlier with- out worrying about spinning !p the tire and highsiding. Wh€n doinq our laps for the timod sessions, each rider had to cleartheir brain and approach riding the Ducati in a completely differont lash' ion. lt just can't be ridden like the fouFcylinder bikes- once again, Puet2 hadn't tasted ltalian lare before and had to adapt his riding to the 0ucati and not vice versa. The 0ucatidemands that you run a lot more corner speed and use the torque of the engine. The biggest mistake that can be made is to shitt the bike at redline and expectto make a quick lap. The Testastretta likeS to be shitted 1000 rpm before redline, as the overrev is vinually useless, and when the limiter hits the earth it practically stops rotating (l messed up my bestlap by hittinq the limiter twice on my fastest lapl. lt really takes disciplino, b!t if executod prop€rly it pays hugs dividonds. Eocauss of the gearinq lhis som€times r6quir€s that the bike be chugged out ot corners at 5000- 6000 rpm. lt matters not, as there is still a ton of torque in that range. 0f course knowinq where redline actually is, is a nightmare to remember, as there isnt an actual "redline" on the tach. By the time the shift light flickors, its too late. Th€ shift light needs to be sst up for the peak horse- power mark 1000 rpm earlier to synchronizs shifting perfectly. We just didn't take the time to set itthere. "l shouldnl give the Ducatisuch high marks for the engine, because I would like more poweL" Sorensen said. "But I lovethe character of the enqine, like a super tractot with tons of tun torque." Another area that is more noticeable when ridino the Ducati back to back with the other four-cylinder bikes is the transmission action. Part of the issue is that the lever has a long throw which is quite different than the other bikes. Th€ biks also r€quires a firm off"throftle shift nearing redline or it hangs up. no gettinq away with lazy shifts on the 0ucati. With those two huge 100mm pistons fighting you on down- shifts, itwould be nice il it had a slippgr clutch to bumps that seemed to unsettle the other brkes. Another advantage ro the gggs is that the tront-suspension geometry is adiustable, The rake can be changed from 23.5-24.5 degrees by changing the fork otfset, which allows the bike to be set up spocifically lor each track. This is a huge advantage that the othsr bikss don't havs, but at $23,000 it had better have some trick com- ponents that set it apart. The g09S turns into corners much better than might be expected with the long wheelbase. lt takes a bit more muscle to get it into $e tjqht stutf, but is wellworth the added stability. "The 9995 is the only chassis that is a true racer," Soronsen said. -The more corner entry speed, the better." Midcorner stability was still affected by the wind, but it wasn t as bad as the othor bikes, allowing the rider to stay in ths throttle. The 9995 also holds ils line with the best ol them, sticking to the traiectory with ease. Not that Willow Springs requires lots ot hard braking, but the gggs has excellent brakes. This was even more apparent on the street, where the brakes almost seem like overkill. The radial- mount Brembo c6lipers with stainless lines and a radial-pump master cylinder make them the best ofthe group. lt would be interesting to see how much bettsrths MV Aqusta would be with thess brakes on it. When it comes to disclrssing the ergonomics ot the oucati, it! a discussion of compromise. lvlost would agreE that the bike is extremely comfortable on the track, and the subjoctive rat- ings backed this up with three testers picking it astheirlavonte. The street on the other h6nd, is flip.flopped 180.degrees, with the Ducati getting bashsd Ior its bad minors, painful clip-ons, hard soat and drsaded br6adbox muffl€r "bun-warm- ing" stfect. At a track like Willow Springs where corner speed is crucialto attaining a tast lap, good sus- pension is extremely important. lf this was pokeL the Ducati has a royal flush when rt comes to suspension. The awesome 43mm ()hlins inverted fork was key to guiding the bike around lhe lrack wrth unflvaled conposure and teel. 0ut back rs a fully adiustable 0hlins shock with provisions for ride height adjustment, which is also excellent Wh€n it came to comments about the suspen- sion the teste15 gushed with praise. "Best ot the bunch, plush, active and lots of leedback," Sorensen said. "Awesome. The bike was super-stable," Puetz said. "Allows you to run way more corner speed than the other bikes." Whal makes ths 0hlins suspension so nice is that the volving still feels plush even when the bike is sot up for the racetrack. This n0t only qivss the rider a better sense of exaclly what is gorng on up front but also allows the bike to sat up a@ ::i !!! ex..lo..wsr.= ! 39..9t- Max iorque != 72.i5 Outratr 3395 140 80 60 40 20 100 120 EL .t i o c tt q, F Engine Speed {RPM x1000} 45678 s 10 11 FC,EI]TIVEEI Top-shelf suspension Best brakes Excellent stability NEG'A?IVEA Tachometer doesn't have redline Harsh rev-limiter Most expensive in test 34 MARCH 15, 2006 CYCLE NEWS ) keep the rear end from chattering entering cor- ners,which is one of the fewtimes the bike feels unstable. 0ne of the best attributes of the 999s Testastretta engine has to be the excellent Ma relli fu el-iniection system. lts not only perfect on the track, but is one of the smoothest on the street. The crankshalts inertia helps keep it smooth while the delivery is oxc6llent Montano also noted that the engine is extremely smooth and has minim€l vibration when riding on the freeway due to the low revs used in thatsituation. CHASSIS/HANDLING XEY FEAIUEES Eracsd-aluminum swingarm Four-pad, lour-piston radial-mount calipers 0hlins suspension front and rear dhlins damper .3'. , (: tl, 7t I F- L espire rhe lact rhat the 999S' torque is on p6r with most of the ioLrr cylifder bikes n lhe cofilp;rison, il qets buried in terms ol outright horsepower. ,' I t