Ducati Streetfighter Review - Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Pictorial
By, Trevor Hedge

My first few kilometres on Ducati’s new Streetfighter were not all that enjoyable.

Upon thumbing the starter outside the Chifley Hotel near Eastern Creek Raceway, the big twin reluctantly fired into life. But with politically correct standard pipes the charismatic Ducati boom was missing and the machine settled down to a fairly subdued fast idle, rather than a raucous thunder.

Pulling away from the kerb I found the riding position awkward. The first few corners were somewhat of an exercise in frustration as the forks were so harsh they felt as though they were full of treacle.

A couple of hours later, however, and after a run through the Blue Mountains, I am pleased to say both mine and the Streetfighter’s attitude had changed markedly.

It had gone from what was first an unwieldy backroom brawler to something more akin to a purveyor of fine martial arts. Chuck Norris had TKO’d Mike Tyson.

As the kilometres mounted the forks started to loosen up. The stiction in the top shelf inverted Ohlins forks early on in my ride really was quite horrendous.

50 kilometres later they really started to show their potential and after another 50 they started to work the way that quality forks should. The binding went away completely and the handling became more predictable.

The Streetfighter no longer wanted to fight me, instead it started to work with me and a bond was forming.

Likewise the engine was revealing a pleasant side to its nature.

The engine internals are lifted from the previous 1098 Superbike but with the advantages of the vacuural casting advances realised in the latest 1198.

The cylinder head is also straight from the 1098 Superbike parts catalogue complete with a pair of 42mm intake valves that inhale through each cylinder’s oval throttle body before expelling their burnt gases through two 34mm exhaust valves.

The only significant change from the Superbike is the use of different airbox ducting mandated by the naked layout of the Streetfighter.

Ducati boast that overall power is down only five neddies compared to the 1098 Superbike. A claimed 155 horsepower (114kW) and 115Nm of torque both arrive at 9500rpm. The engine will rev 1000rpm higher, which gives you a reasonable cushion of over-rev if you want to save a gear change between corners.

The gearbox is identical to the Superbike and, like the suspension, also improved as time progressed.

On the road I must say the engine does not feel quite as strong as the figures suggest. The test bikes were still quite tight, however, and no doubt will pull much harder with a few thousand kilometres on the odometer.

Ducati Streetfighter Review - Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Pictorial