Old School SS

[OTB]

Boring?

I know that my affinity for "slow" bikes irritates some of you. What's exciting about an 85-90 hp "sportbike", eh? When the modern 600's are putting out 120hp at the rear wheel and weigh almost as little as my 17 yr old piece of iron, right?

I've gone through more than a dozen modern sportbikes so far this year, from GSXR's to ZX10, to R6's, R1's and a bunch in between...and haven't been tempted to keep a one of 'em.


The Ducati L-twin format fits my riding style. I seldom superslab it, preferring meandering backroads, small sleepy towns and the joy of discovering tight, surprising roads in out-of-the-way places.

Air-cooled, two valves make for simple service. The simple addition of MBP collets and keepers for the valves make valve service a 12-15000 mile thing, just like "modern" bikes....'except I don't have to pull camshafts to do service. Pop a cover, check the clearance, slide the rocker out of the way, switch the shims (only 8 between openers and closers and usually only one or two may be out-of-tolerence), button it back up and I'm done. With practice, you can be done with a major service in 4 hours from Dzus fasteners to finish.

The Ducati trellis frame is a stiff, forgiving thing. It's "old school" geometry of steep rake and long trail gives the rider a rock-stable platform in long sweepers, but requires a bit of muscle in the the tight stuff. A fair trade-off as the bike has no steering damper, but doesn't need one. After 6 hrs of a mix of tight, technical roads in WVA along with high speed sweepers through the parks in Southern PA, the bike really was a hoot and i didn't want to think about going home.

Some bikes go FAST, but you are worn out after 2 hours. If you like to do long miles on a mix of roads, the DUC can fill the bill. I mentioned earlier that many bikes make more pure topend horsepower, which is great on the front straight at Summit but if you are into keeping you license, you'll likely never need all of that.

What I didn't mention was the quality, or spread of the available power, or the massive amounts (74 ft/lbs @8200 rpm) of torque available from just off idle all the way to 9250 rpm. With relatively tall gearing, the Duc cruises in 6th gear showing 78mph on the Veglia speedo (76 by GPS) with just turning a lazy 3800 RPM.

By the same token, spinning the motor up nearer the torque peak starting around 7kRPM nets you 3rd gear wheelies exiting turns, aided by the more rearward seating position compared to other bikes.

Mine is equipped with a Corbin Gunfighter saddle and stock bars and pegs. I managed three tanks of gas without leg cramps or a sore butt.

Braking is big Brembo disks and calipers which afford perfect feel and one-finger lockup if so desired, but modulation is easy and there is tons of warning.

Mileage for the backroad farting around was 42.

I know... you'll clean the Duc's clock on long straight runs and long sweepers.
The Duc is the kind of bike that can make a mediocre rider like me look like a good one when the going gets tough.
Works for me.....