| Nope, I haven't. I thought about it briefly and chopping my bike in as p/ex but then thought "no, I've done the ST thing" so my next bike won't be an ST, it'll be a more sporting Ducati. I will be keeping my ST2 though for the purpose it was designed for, putting the suspension and ride height back to 'tourer' mode and putting the panniers back on.
Having said that, the ST3 gets pretty good reviews. It beat the benchmark VFR in a recent sports tourer test in Bike magazine. I reckon that the engine should be a real peach, combining the two valve flexibility and low down grunt with a bit more ability to breath at the top end. On the downside it does seem to have downgraded suspenders from even the ST2 and they're lacking the 3 way adjustable forks. Having said that it seems to handle as ST's should and the test reported that it will handle as well as anything except real track oriented stuff.
It only really got slated for the 'poor' finish, but I wish they would make their mind up. In a test of the ST4S (the previous version) a year or two back, the same magazine said "Forget stories of dubious Ducati build quality, the paint is thick and lustrous and the switchgear is robust", and let's not forget that the ST2 came out top in a test that Ride magazine did on bikes used through the winter - The ST scrubbed up better than any others. Now apart from the new engine, top fairing, saddle and updated electronics the new ST's cycle parts are identical to the old ones, in fact the ST4S is exactly the same (except I noticed that they now have a placcy hugger instead of the carbon one the old models had as standard).  |