SIXTH
PLAC€
77 Poinls
ENGINE
KEY FEATURES:
.
Sho.t-stroke Testastretta
engine
.
Desmodromic valve actuation
.
Twin
54mm
Marelli
throttle bodies
Unlike last year this year
we opted to use
the
7495 instead
of the 749R
Part
of rhe reason
is
that the "R" version
is
prohibitively
expensive
at
$21,995.
At least
the
"S"
version that we
decided to use is
still within the realm of
pos-
sibility for most of those so inclined
to
pur-
chase one, running
$5796
rflore than
the
next
most-expensive bike
-
the Yamaha R6 ($9199)-
One of the bigtest differences between
ahe 7495 and the standard 749 is the ule of
higher-compression
pistons -
12.3: I vs.
ll.7:1, respecrivery
(for
reference sake. the
749R's compression ratio is 12.7:l). The
"S"
version
also utilizes different camshafts com-
pared
to $e standard 749. Ducati claims the
changes
are
good for
eigh(-horsepower over
the standard version,
Just
like the
9995
we tested lasr month
aSainst
the
l000cc
inline four-cylinder
"Open
Class"
bikes, the 7495 begs for
you
to use
a
mellow throttle hand. Rewing
rhe 7495 ro
the moon and bouncing it off the rev-limiter
(l
1,000 rpm) will not lead to a fast lap.
Ridrnt the bike back-to-back wrth the four
inline-fours and the triple made concentreting
on that even more daunting.
we
had former
Pro Thunder champion
leff
Nash
actua,ly
puc
a
piece
of black tape on
lhe tachomecer at
about 10,000 rpm
just
to
give
us a
target on
the
redline-less
tach face to shift at. The hot
ticket
according to both Nash and Sorensen
was to shift the bike at between 9500-10.000
rpm and let the torque pull the twin out of
the corners-
"For
some reason, I
get
on well with this
bike," Carruthers said.
'iqgain.
I can
jump
on
it and
to
fast once I
tet
reacquainted with
the way it makes its
power
Once
you
get
the shifting
points
down, don't overrev it.
and carry a
lot
of
