From cruising the highway, to canyons, to cruising the strip, to making a run to get a gallon of milk this Italian machine has all the versatility and character that can't seemingly be asked of a single Motorcycle. On the highways the ST2 is clearly at home. At 80 MPH (4700 RPM) it cruises...
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From cruising the highway, to canyons, to cruising the strip, to making a run to get a gallon of milk this Italian machine has all the versatility and character that can't seemingly be asked of a single Motorcycle. On the highways the ST2 is clearly at home. At 80 MPH (4700 RPM) it cruises so easily along you feel like it's sippin' margaritas during happy hour. The fairings are well designed to keep wind off of your legs and hands, and your chest and head receive a nice even blast that makes touring on a slightly canted-forward sport bike very endurable for the long hauls. The suspension absorbs highway nasties like a Polaris handles snow. I'm most amazed by the uneven surfaces, or shallow-angle ruts that normally cause heart palpitations, but the ST2 nearly ignores even the worst of those DOT indifference marks. Obviously when the Ducati ST2 is opened up in the back roads it is even more at home. The 944 engine has plenty of power and useable torque to come off a hairpin, throttle up down the straightway to 60+ mph, and back-off for the next corner without any gear changing, bogging in the low rpm, or gasping at the top. The hydraulic brakes are very adequate for this 467 pound 2-up cycle, and it shifts (hydraulic actuated clutch as well) as smooth as it cruises on the interstate. One short-coming (pun intended) is the ridiculously small shift lever the ST2 is outfitted with as standard gear. I quickly lengthened mine a whole inch, and now it works how it should from the factory. And dang, if this bike does not like to go into neutral while sitting still. If you don't get the green light on before you stop, then you basically have to kill the motor to hit neutral again. Of course, considering the aforementioned, the ST2 rarely misses gears during normal driving which is what those Italian boys thought was more important, and I guess I can't argue that point. Since I'm on annoyances; the dry clutch when depressed at low speeds or in neutral draws a lot of , "Is that the way it's supposed to sound" from the uninitiated or non bike-o-philes. One Harley friend of mine even told me, "It's loud"! I think it's cool, but maybe the little loss of power you get from a wet clutch is worth not having some people wonder if it's broke, and reduce me to always telling everyone it has a dry clutch before I crank it up, but on the other hand, it does add character. On second thought, keep the clutch, character rules! On the strip this machine draws more attention than Pamela Anderson at Venice Beach. On one jaunt through the canyons I was following a new Mercedes Coupe that was traveling at a good nautical heading, so I left him in front of me. When we finished through the twisties I pulled up next to him at a stop light, and he, and all aboard his vessel were starring at me, my wife, and our machine like it was an Italian made exotic automobile. I don't think it hurt that just a few minutes earlier I let him get about a ﾽ mile out in front me, and on a fairly short straight-away, I reeled him in like a crappie on a bait-casting fishing rod either. As I touched on earlier, this Duc has character. It's even got a cool nickname. How cool is that? When driven slowly it thumps along to the delight of it's pilot and onlookers the same. When people see and hear you coming, they know your not on the usual crotch rocket, and they know your not on some BORING touring bike, and they know your not on some one-dimensional noise-maker on two wheels either, they know your on something different, something cool, something fast, and something loaded with character. My neighbor sums it best; "A Ducati! Nice bike! My friend has a Honda, but it's just not like a Ducati."
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