| Hi Steve
If you're not careful, that bike of yours is going to float away!
My impressions are purely subjective, of course, so I can't claim to know for sure. I can only say how it feels. (The 31lb difference I've quoted above comes from the 'official' Ducati workshop manual - which also gives SP4 and SP3 as the very same weight).
I once queried this point on the US 851/888 message board, and the 'gurus' on there told me that the components allowing for pillion accomodation on the Strada add 12lb to the bike's total weight. (ie. if all of those components are removed from the bike, and are replaced with those of the SP, it would reduce the total weight by 12lb). How true it is - and how much of this is down to the steel subframe itself - I don't know.
I can appreciate your point regarding set-up, and how this can create an impression of weight loss when riding - but even in pushing the bikes around the garage the weight difference feels massive. The Strada feels like a heavy old lump indeed!
As an aside: I've an RC30 too now, and its quoted dry weight is 407lb. That makes it only seven pounds lighter than the SP. However, to say that it feels waaay lighter is an understatement. Ho hum. The water muddies! (Lies, damn lies and statistics, eh?)
Steve  |