[James Romeyn]

Mmmmmmm mmmmmmm goooooood!

EICMA = Annual International Cycle (bicycle) & Motorcycle Exhibition, world's largest & most prestigious show of its kind.

Will be lighter than the 390 lb Hypermotard w/ about 60% more power.  Price N/A; based on current standard 1098 Superbike @ $16k USD.   

From Ducati website

[doug s.]

looks sweet.  i can accept the higher hp, but less weight?  hard to imagine, w/the hoh-cooled engine instead of the air cooled iteration...

we'll see...

doug s.

[loki1957]

Sounds looks a good way to die.

[James Romeyn]

looks sweet.  i can accept the higher hp, but less weight?  hard to imagine, w/the hoh-cooled engine instead of the air cooled iteration...

we'll see...

doug s.

Ducati lists the same dry weight of 390 lbs for the '08 Hypermotard & the outgoing '08 liquid-cooled 998cc S4R-S.  As per normal industry practice & absolutely per Ducati SOP the new '09 Streefighter is lighter @ 368 lbs/155 hp vs. the HM's 90 hp, S4R-S 130 hp.

Above picture edited per caption. 

At an independent Monster forum I suggested, & IIRC every subsequent poster agreed, a naked 848-based bike would be preferred over the 1099cc bike Ducati just unveiled. 

A friend worked for Ducati International & is close friends w/ OEM principals in Italy; his daughter was married in Ducati's home town (the pictures of the vineyard-filled countryside hills are, well, splendid is an understatment).  His track bike is an Aprillia RS250 smoker; he states semi-pro racers get better track times on the 848 vs. the 1098.  The 848 is only 11 lbs lighter (w/ a 175 lb load that's only 1.8% lighter weight).  The 848's lighter reciprocating mass makes it faster for mortals 'round the track.  Ducati obviously has financial incentives to not make this a popularly known fact.   

Obviously Ducati has other priorities.  Riders of high-performance nakeds revel in big torque.  Too bad.  Mortals on track days would be quicker on an 848-based bike.  We can only hope it's coming in the future, but that hope would be misplaced.  This has never been Ducati's practice in the past w/ the naked liquid cooled bikes...you'd have to make it yourself from an 848 Superbike.

Extrapolating the specs from those currently available, the non-existent 848 Streetfighter would compare like this to the just unveiled 1099: 
848: 357 lbs, 130 hp, 67 lb-ft
1099: 368 lbs, 155 hp, 85 lb-ft  

Ducati obviously assumes, almost certainly correctly, buyers would prefer the 1099s straightline advantage over the 848's lighter weight & transition/attitude/cornering prowess.  Buyers also prefer the larger number on the decal.  I'd almost certainly prefer the 848, probably by a whopping margin.  The only thing missing would be open-class grunt, but it would still be delicious even in that regard (my BMW R1150GS had decent roll-on power w/ about 70 lbs torque but weighed a whopping 540 lbs sans fuel-almost 200 more than an 848 naked).  The 848 would be smoother.  Track times would be quicker.   

[mcgsxr]

Oh you had to didn't you?  You had to bring up the most glorious 2 stroke creature of them all - the RS250.

I recall well seeing them in Taiwan when I was there, one of the "hot shops" I spent my $ at had an RS Aprilia on the wall.  I swear if I could find one, I would hang that swingarm on my wall as a glorious piece of art.

I once followed a guy for 15 minutes, through Taipei, until he finally stopped at a Pachinko hall, and stood staring for many minutes.  I was walking around it, admiring it for so long he came out and looked at me.  I briefly spoke in Mandarin that I absolutely loved his bike.  He just laughed and went back inside, secure that I was not out to poach it!

Glorious lightweight, high powered 2 stroke wonder, and street legal in some areas of the world.

OK, back to reality, the 1098 naked is nice too, but when you have tasted high power, low weight, acceleration and tossability, it is hard to care about the extra power...

I am sure the guys and gals who buy one of these will love them, they are solid rides, but I will always pine for the socially irresponsible two stroke screamers.  They remind me of my time on the Honda RS125's I raced in Taiwan, and the RZ/RD350's I had here in Canada.

[opnly bafld]

They remind me of my time on the Honda RS125's I raced in Taiwan, and the RZ/RD350's I had here in Canada.

20 years ago (has it been that long?) I had an 84 RZ350 KR signature yellow&black. 
I loved the (not available in US  ) V twin 250 "GP replica" bikes most (all?) of the Japanese makes had.


Here is a 2000 in the Chicago area for you Mark http://www.teammcc.com/new_vehicle_detail.asp?sid=04356195X11K4K2008J4I39I58JPMQ1932R0&veh=818&pov=1048131


Lin

[sbrtoy]

I wish there were more lightweight bikes, my cousin bought a Suzuki SV650 this summer, what an awesome little bike...plenty of torque and quite nimble.  This bike with a top shelf suspension setup would be awesome, but bike makers seem to think no one would pay for it as it is only a 650...they spend all their R&D on the 600 supersports and liter bikes which frankly are not great in a lot of respects for the street but horsepower sells.  I loved the original air cooled monsters because they were really light and had a short wheelbase, now they are all longer/more powerful but somehow not as fun. This bike looks good at least, I haven't been a fan of Ducatis styling direction for a few years now.

[opnly bafld]

I wish there were more lightweight bikes, my cousin bought a Suzuki SV650 this summer, what an awesome little bike...plenty of torque and quite nimble. 

I just sold my '07 last May, really nice bike, love the V twin.

Lin

[James Romeyn]

I wish there were more lightweight bikes, my cousin bought a Suzuki SV650 this summer, what an awesome little bike...plenty of torque and quite nimble.  This bike with a top shelf suspension setup would be awesome, but bike makers seem to think no one would pay for it as it is only a 650...they spend all their R&D on the 600 supersports and liter bikes which frankly are not great in a lot of respects for the street but horsepower sells.  I loved the original air cooled monsters because they were really light and had a short wheelbase, now they are all longer/more powerful but somehow not as fun. This bike looks good at least, I haven't been a fan of Ducatis styling direction for a few years now.

Mega-amens to an SV650 w/ upgraded suspenders; Ducatisti commonly admit to being sucked of the track by guys flying by on well-setup SV650s.  Not fond of the styling; also wish it was easier to install USD forks/radial brakes.  I read through the work & the mixing-matching is more than expected; tons of variables involved.

Triumph unveiled an R-upgrade for the 675 Street Triple w/ USD forks/radial brakes; still not fond of the overall styling excercise esp the exposed plumbing. 

Triumph just unveiled Bonneville SE would be nice if about 50 lbs lighter & had upgraded susspenders/brakes:
 

A rumored non-existent Triumph might be irrestable: a 675-based Tiger similar in presentation to the current 1050 Tiger:

[doug s.]

ro7939, at <370lbs and 155hp, that certainly sounds sweet.     but, i have always liked the sound of the air-cooled ducs, and their simpler maintenance.  i wonder why they cannot make an air-cooled 1100cc duc that weighs <370lbs.  i'd be plenty happy w/the power awailable for the street.  my relatively old buell s2, w/90rwhp/90rwft-lbs torque is all i need.     but, it would certainly be cool to have something like this at less than its 450lbs weight.  buell now is also making a lightweight hi-power naked-style bike - 375lbs, 146hp, but it's kinda funny looking:

i prefer the air cooled buells, but again, they aren't as powerful, which doesn't concern me as much as the fact that they weigh 400lbs, but still not too shabby:


presently, i dream about something like the husqvarna sm610 - 55hp, 314 lbs...


or the ktm 690smc - 65hp, 305lbs... (or 690 duke, -67hp, 327lbs...)



or the aprilia svx550 - 70hp, 282 lbs...


doug s.

[sbrtoy]

I like the retro look of the Duc GT1000 but the bike has a goofy riding position and is quite heavy and not very sporty.  It seems like they keep adding more than people want to bikes, I don't want ABS, giant fairings, or gaudy graphics....keep it simple.  A modern day cafe racer would be awesome, something truly light and powerful, and not just a styling exercise.

[James Romeyn]

The Aprilia 750 Dorsoduro seems great; but I'm extremely scared of the parts/service network.  Dealer just mentioned a couple weeks ago Aprilia USA stocks NO PARTS; all must come from Italy...not inspiring.  The Aprilia 450/550 twins seem very nice except they are only 5-speeds so in spite of otherwise having the size & cylinders to be true freeway-friendly dual-sports, only 5 gears prevents extended high-speed drones.  I sold my Buell Ulysses after only about three weeks; couldn't adapt to the vibration of the Sportster motor & lower refinement/features vs. the R1150GS.  One of if not the first time I got to freeway speed the windshield, fastened only by buttons & rubber grommets, flew off, hit me in the helmet & landed on the side of 101 in Petaluma.  My Petalama friend Eric Woefel (world arm-wrestling champion for several years, most of those years left-handed) had a very sexy over-the-top modified early-generation Buell cafe racer: mean looking, riding, & L-O-W-D.  Couldn't agree more the new 1125CR looks weird. 

If I won the lottery I'd have a new 848 Superbike shipped to Chris at CA Cycleworks or Jason at Moto-Meccanica in Santa Rosa & have them strip it, shave all fairing brackets from the frame & refinished the frame, then re-assemble it as a naked w/ a great, functional triple-clamp mounted fairing (maybe my NOS Rifle Superbike fairing sitting in my bedroom closet, designed by Vetter IIRC).  About the same weight as an RD350 w/ about 3.5x the power & 2.5x the torque...whew!  BTW, that's about the same weight as Ducati's 2006 vintage MotoGP bike. 

Why are so many audio nuts into bikes? 

Look at this amazing, strange BMW Roadster just unveiled within minutes at EICMA; buyer specifies pipe, seat, handlebars etc at time of purchase.  I kinda like it.  You?  BMW is just going flat out nuts w/ modern ideas & hp bikes.  You could have won multi-thousand dollar bets only two years ago that BMW would never come out w/ such bikes as they have lately, including the G450X mx (sorry, CA riders need not apply). 
  

Cafe racer version

[doug s.]

ro7939,

that bmw looks great!     i also love their hp2 megamoto, but at +$20k, it's a bit outta my range.


re: the aprilia 550 v2's, as they top out at ~125, i think crusiing at 80, even w/a 5sp would be ok.  re: the beullies, while my '95 does have the sportster motor, your ulysses' motor is not in any hd bike, but is buell-specific.  i am surprised you had any issues w/that bike; i read only great things about it.  and, i rode the firebolt iteration w/the same powerplant, and found its manners - including smoothness - exemplary.  my old s2 certainly wibrates, but you only notice it at idle; once underway, its mounting in the chassis effectively isolates it from you, and i find it quite comfortable, even cruising at 80-90...   


my old wintage bevel-drive ducati darmah, on the other hand, will buzz a bit cruising at those speeds...   


doug s.

[doug s.]

bmw's supermoto bike is also nice - the g650 xmoto, at ~55hp and 324lbs:


but, how is this, if you have an extra $75k burning a hole in your pocket?  452lbs, 2litre, 6sp, 130rwhp...

http://www.ecossemoto.com/index.htm

yikes!  they also have a "limited edition" titanium iteration for $275k!?!   

doug s.

[JimJ]

...I'll just be happy if I can find a BMW R60 or R75 for a decent price...