I have lived with the ST2 now for just over the year and as much as it is a great bike out on the open road, it is a complete pig around town and on the usuall poor condition roads we all ride on it scores no better. This could just be my Bike or my lack of ability, but in my defence I have been riding for a few years. The clutch is horrible and heavy and coming into corners or slowing down the throttle is snatchy. I can never seem to find the right gear getting into corners or on roundabouts, is it me or shall I bin the Duke and get a Honda Hornet, sorry I didnt mean that, are 4 values any better ?
My ST4s is my first duke and after 3 years I am getting better on it. I still don't get every corner right and round town it is a pig. The clutch is a constant source of annoyance to me.
On the other hand there is nothing I would rather ride over the alps. Firing it out of hairpins was the best. Get out there and use it for what it was designed for and you'll fall in love.
Have you thought about a few mofifications? I think you get adjustable levers as standard now but they have transformed the bike for me. As has a bit of lower gearing - this has made the revs higher in any given situation and made the negine come alive.
Well, I've acquired the taste. ST2's are very underated in my view. They're not the most powerful thing on the planet, far from it, but they have plenty enough power not to be embarrased on rideouts and they can hold their own in the fast group on trackdays (as long as you're on a handling circuit, not a power circuit).
Basically, they can scratch, they can tour, they're comfy...what more do you want...
Ah yes, the heavy clutch. It's never bothered me unduly but there are aftermarket clutch slave cylinders that you can buy that cut the effort required to pull the clutch in by about 30%.
The jerky response...could be a number of things like the fueling or the timing, nothing that a good service couldn't sort out....or...it could be that you could do with a 14 tooth front sprocket instead of a 15 tooth one. This will lower the gearing, make the bikes response smoother at low speeds and make second or third gear all you'll need for town work...there you go, less gear changing for your clutch hand already.
Of course, I ride in open country most of the time and it's perfect for that, if you're looking for an ideal town bike it depends what your looking for and the Hornet may suit you better. Personally, even if I did most of my riding in town, I would still have the Duke and be damned.
Thanks Howard but I do get rather impatient with the old girl. I just want to enjoy my riding and sometimes I come back from a ride well fed up. I have recently put a performance chip and Pipes on her so she cant go yet, the Wife would kill me.
A well set up ST2 is a great bike to ride, I know having had one for 3 years before the 4S came along...you need a good setup...ring Nelly, he does fuel injection setup for about £40 to £50 ... well worth it. Click here - Cornerspeed for more info.
I have been trying to keep the revs up so as not to overload the engine too much, and the sound from the pipes is lovely, but by christ does it have a big effect on the fuel consumption, it seems to be drinking the stuff.
I had an ST2 then moved onto an ST4. Its a complete pig to ride around town and in slow traffic. The heavy clutch doesnt bother me, its just the lumpyness of it at slow (walking pace) speeds. Get it going a bit quicker though and its superb, by far the best bike i have ever owned. The harder you ride it the smoother it gets. My ST2 wasnt my favourite bike, i could never get it to run correctly and neither could JHP. The main problem was the huge flat spot just above tickover and the occasional spit back through the airbox.
Of course i didnt know Nelly at the time.
I didnt mod the ST2 but i've done the 14 tooth mod on the ST4 and its well worth doing for £25.
I've recently been trying to decide if i should stick with Ducati's but i cant honestly say i could think of another bike that's got the same character, performance and heritage as the Ducati.
Park up somewhere, even amongst a load of UJM's and i can guarantee that someone will come over and want to chat to you about your bike. We parked up at Donington last weekend in a row of jap bikes and loads more people looked at our bikes than looked at the others.
10-Jun-2005, 21:18 
Jools
Linear Mode
