Bike India

Best Bikes in India | No.1 Two Wheeler Magazine

  • Home
  • News
    • Upcoming Launches
    • Latest News
    • New Bike Launches
  • Reviews
    • First Ride
    • Road Test
    • Comparison
  • Features
  • Our Bikes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • NG Auto
    • AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA
    • CAR INDIA
    • COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
  • Brands

Ducati SuperSport First Ride Review

September 27, 2017 by Team Bike India Leave a Comment

Ducati SuperSport S first ride review
The cylinder-heads and crankcases are also strengthened to allow the engine to form a stressed member of the chassis, by being mounted solidly in the tubular steel trellis frame. This is closely related to the Monster 821’s frame but modified to allow parts, including the headlamp assembly, to be bolted directly to it. The single-sided aluminium swingarm is also borrowed from the Monster, working a shock mounted diagonally on the right of the bike.

The SuperSport isn’t quite as aggressively styled as the Panigales but it still looks sleek and sporty. That impression very much remained when I climbed aboard to find the red paintwork extending inside the fairing, and a neat LED instrument console displaying digital speed below an analogue tacho bar and row of warning lights. Above that was the screen which, like that of BMW’s R1200RS, can be raised or lowered by 50 millimetres simply by pulling or pushing it.

Given the SuperSport’s road focus I was glad to start the launch in southern Spain with a street ride on the standard Ducati, leaving the track-test of the S-model for later. Especially when my group of Italian journalists set off at a healthy pace on the damp road. I started with the bike in Urban, its softest riding mode, but that cuts power and felt boringly flat even in the wet, so I switched to Touring, which gave full power with a relatively gentle throttle action.
In both that and the sharper Sport mode the Ducati was more than quick enough to be fun, giving a respectably sweet throttle response from barely off idle, at least in the lower gears. The motor’s broad torque spread helped make the bike easy to ride in the damp. Ducati say the Testastretta lump produces 80 per cent of its maximum torque output from just 3,000 rpm, and 90 per cent of that figure between 5,000 rpm and 9,000 rpm.

new, bike, india, ducati, supersport, s, launch, price, details, news, latest, sports-tourer

It certainly felt that way, as the SuperSport rumbled forward enthusiastically even when the tacho was showing less than the 6,500-rpm figure at which that peak output is produced. It stayed pretty smooth, too, even up near the 10 grand limit, although the mirrors got blurry at times. When the road opened out, a brief burst of acceleration quickly put 175 km/h on the speedo before I had to slow, well short of the top speed of about 230 km/h.

On the faster sections I was glad that I’d been able to increase weather protection by raising the screen, which was just about possible while riding (though not at high speed). Even the taller setting only took some wind off my chest, but turbulence wasn’t a problem. Shame the higher position only adds about 50 mm, and the screen is pretty slim, but it was useful all the same.

And if the Ducati didn’t offer a genuine sports-tourer’s level of weather protection, the good news was that it also behaved like a sports bike when the road got twistier. Inevitably, the SuperSport didn’t feel quite as sharp as a 959 Panigale would have done. After all, at 210 kg wet it’s about 10 kg heavier, and its 1,478-mm wheelbase is 47 mm longer. With 130 mm of suspension travel up front and 144 mm at the rear, it’s more generously sprung than the Panigale, which gives 120 mm front and 130 mm rear.

(Head to: SuperSport S Review)

bikeonline@nextgenpublishing.net'

Team Bike India – who has written 839 posts on Bike India.


Email

Related posts:

2022 Yamaha MT-10 – First Ride Review
Royal Enfield Himalayan v Yezdi Adventure – It’s All About the Perspective
TVS Apache RTR 165 RP Road Test – The Most Focused Apache Yet
Pages: 1 2 3 4

Filed Under: Ducati, First Ride, Review Tagged With: 1290 Super Duke R, 2017 bike india, ducati, Hyperstrada, India, new launch, Panigale, review

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AlphaOmega Captcha Classica  –  Enter Security Code
 ⟲    ➴
 


MAY 2022

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

MARCH 2022

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

Anniversary Ride to the Isle of Man with Freddie Spencer and Sid Lal

TVS Ntorq Ncounters I – Navigating the Night

BMW G 310 GS Explores Nagaland

SPECIAL Featured Story

2022 Yamaha MT-10 – First Ride Review

2022 Yamaha MT-10 – First Ride Review

Yamaha have made a significant change to the now Euro 5-compliant MT-10 with new technology and rider aids, an increase in power and torque, plus dramatic styling. The R1-derived MT-10 has never looked so tempting

More about this.

Car India and Bike India Awards 2019

Recent Posts

  • Odysse V2 and V2+ Electric Scooters Unveiled
  • TVS Racing Set for One Make Championship
  • First EV Planet Store Launched in Pune
  • 2022 Yamaha MT-10 – First Ride Review

Car India

Car India Magazine - Get your Digital Subscription

Latest News

TVS Racing Set for One Make Championship

First EV Planet Store Launched in Pune

Sarthak Chavan Creates History in Thailand

Royal Enfield Celebrate Association with Indian Army

Subscribe to Car India

Subscribe to our Car India Magazine

Bike India: India’s no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

BIKE India covers the two-wheeler industry in its entirety, both from the local and the international perspective. Also delivers the most definitive verdict on machinery and performance by explaining the hows, whys, and whats on every new bike in a lucid and user-friendly manner. BIKE India is the India’s most authoritative two-wheeler publication, a magazine for people with a passion for bikes and everything to do with their history and heritage.
SiteMap

Copyright © 2022 · BIKE INDIA INDIA’S NO. 1 TWO WHEELER MAGAZINE, BY FAR! ·