Sportbikes

I've been reading about the ST-2 and thinking about what Frank said. It's true--they're going more "corporate" (I guess that's a silly thing because they've been a corporation for a while, but you know what I mean....) The only saving grace(s) in this is that it appears that they've made the most competent sport touring (and most sporty) bike in history. Very cutting edge stuff in the Sport Touring arena, if a little behind the edge on the sportbike front. The other thing is that they've pledged to never make more than 200,000 bikes a year. If they stick to this it will keep them from turning into a Honda, making cruisers, and doing all those other marketing things. But you're right--"this ain't your daddy's Ducati", times are changing.

Yeah it's a gentlemen's, rather soft, stylin' express-cruiser. I think few will buy and few will modify, but they may give the Guzzi SP and LMIV crowd some pause. Reminds me of Formula Boats' 357 if anyone knows 'em: a totally competent offshore muscleboat but comfortable and not too nasty. How many others compete there? BMW's K12S, the ST Honda, the XX maybe? "GT" bikes, y'know?

I have a different look at the same picture, I feel the ST-2 is "way too much SPORTBIKE" and not enough on the touring side for me. I really liked my old style K100RS but the new K12RS is also too sport orientated for my personal tastes. The ST and the Conncours are what I condsider "real sport tourers". The ST-2 need to be "streached" out a little on the wheel base and the handlebars need 3" of rise and 2 inches back toward the rider for me. See, I don't consider that the new Super blackbird, is not a "sport tourer just the same as a ZX11 is not a sport tourer". These are large, heavy, fast sportbikes. Some call the R1100RS with hard bags a "Sport Tourer" but I consider the new R1100RT a sport tourer as the "true tourer" of the BMW line is the K1100LT model. I guess I prefer a bike that is 55% Touring and 45% sport. The 900SS with Givi bags wouldn't be far off the new ST-2 but it's not a true sport tourer. A sportbike with softbags is "just that", a sport bike forced to do touring duty. Happy Holidays, BJ

it's a gentlemen's, rather soft, stylin' express-cruiser Ah, but BJ's right--it's no BMW and it's not ST-1100. It's the most hard core sport tourer--which is all I'd expect from a Ducati Sport Tourer. They may have "sold out", but as soon as they raise (and pull back) the handle bars about 3 inches, put a 4' wide seat, increase weight by about 100 pounds, and lower the foot pegs, they've *really* sold out. :-) It's also got such trick amenities as the adjustable height muffler. Wanna go touring? Lower the mufflers and put the bags on. Wanna go scratching? Pull the bags and raise the mufflers. Very cool.

Yeah, very "kewl" IMO. I agree with both of you in general. I just always have seen a very definite line between the Japanese configuration and the Euro configuration as a Sport Tourer. The European will always give away comforts (like bar height,etc.) and go touring. The Japanese, who take a more considerate approach throughout, ink up the Honda ST, no adjustments required. Duc won't sell out, just sponge up as much as possible. I personally can't consider ZX's and XX's with the word "sport" anymore, jus too much bulk everywhere for my criteria. Once the novelty goes, they really should add "GT" to the emblems.

I got a chance to ride an ST2 for about 50 miles on some twisty roads a while back and would have to say that it was very much at home there. A group of us took the dealers demo out for the day and played "musical motorcycles" - by days end, we had all ridden everyone elses bike. The bikes were R100S, R1100RS, R1100GS BMW's, Norton F1 rotary sportbike, a Buell (S1?) and my Duc M900. The concensus was that the ST2 was actually smoother than the RS at highway speeds but the RS would be better for multi-day ouring. Everyone was surprised at just how well it handles the twisties - I thought it felt a lot like a more comfortable (and heavier) Monster.

You live in some kind of dream world, Steve. Ducati dealers saying "here's the keys, see you tomorrow"? Wow.

The Ducati dealer here has got to be one of the best around, as well as being a great guy. On the day that we took the ST2 out, I had a mishap on my way to meet my friends. Short version - for whatever reason, the car ahead of me jams on his brakes, the road is wet, my tires are cold, I grab a handful of front brake and am on the ground. No real damage, just some scratches and the sidestand is broken off. I figure it's no big deal, we're going to the dealer's anyway, I'll just order the parts when we get here. It's a Saturday and he's pretty busy but he takes the time to look at the bike, then disappears in the back of the shop and comes out with a box of stuff, like handlebars and turnsignals, that he has taken off his Monster race bike and starts replacing the scratched and dented parts on mine. He doesn't have a sidestand, so he take one off a new bike on the floor. An hour later, my bike is 90% as good as new and ready to go, but when I ask him what I owe him, he says "Your friends are waiting, you g ys go for your ride and we'll settle up later". On another note, you guys in Colorado beware! I just confirmed to take the CLASS riding school in Denver on May 16 and I intend to look you guys up! The plan is to stay at the home of a guy I know from the Ducati mail list who lives in Monument. I'll keep you informed.

Way cool Steve, Monument is between Jon and myself here in Colorado Springs. That is a great weekend as the Formula-USA motorcycles are gona be at PPIR just south of C.Springs on I-25. Let me know and we will hook up. Happy New Year, BJ Ondo

Yeah, let me know too. Monument ain't too far of a commute. Where is the school held?

Tell us more about CLASS. Is that a racing school? What bike do you use? Do they provide one? Lemme know--I didn't know they had one in Denver, maybe I'll sign up for one some day.

To quote Reg Pridmore (founder of CLASS and former AMA champ racer) "Our schools are NOT race schools, they are intended for street riders seeking more confidence". CLASS (and the similiar California Superbike School) make the rounds of the US and Europe, running at local tracks, often just after a major race weekend. They are running it in Denver at the Second Creek Raceway, out by DIA. You ride your own bike with CLASS, with CSS, you can rent one of theirs for the day. I am also going to do the CSS leve s one and two in Phoenix this year (1998) on February 16th and 17th and possibly level three at Pikes Peak International Raceway in September. You can find more info on CLASS at http://www.classrides.com/ and the California Superbike School at http://www.superbikeschool.com/

Wow, those are cool sites. I just may look into one of the classes at Sears Point or Monterey. First up is the MSF advanced course which I've been procrastinating on. Thanks for the URLs Steve.

Yikes. It's a LONG commute to DIA from Monument. Probably about the same as from my house--1.25 hours or so.

What bike are you going to ride in the class? Do big cruisers participate too?

I'll be riding the 944 Monster, the only street bike I currently own. I think that the only restriction as far as bikes go is that they need to be over 250cc. I may wind up staying somewhere closer to the track, at least the night before the class, now that I've looked at a map and see that Monument is quite a ways away. I really don't want to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning and then drive more than an hour to get there.

The problem is the traffic. You'd have to take Monument to I-25 to C-470 West, all the way around to Golden, then back on I-70 towards DIA. Either that or drive straight through Denver on I-25 at the busiest place and the busiest hour. Perhaps you could take I-25 to I-225 and it wouldn't be too bad.

I'd offer to let you use my extra bedroom, but it would probably be only marginally (if any) closer.