Just to clarify: I have no complaints about the suspension/handling at all.

It may well only be 10 kg heavier than a 748, but the point is the 748 is smaller, with a lower seat height. As I said, the ST2 is a nightmare to get in and out of my back yard. That may seem like a little thing, but it's not to me; it's a damn nuisance.

Re the lights, as I said, I can't believe they;'re as good as they should be: they are nowhere near up to the standard of the "before" pix on that US site.

I took the car to work today, but tomorrow I'll take that nose fairing off and have a good look at those tilting mechanisms. Also I may lower the ride height a little more.

How do people think the stock lights compared to a 748/916? I found my 748 lights perfectly adequate (with a "20% brighter" dip beam) without being brilliant.

Chris> The ST2 was only intended to be a short-medium term stop-gap. I have indeed been thinking of an 900SS next; I've mentioned that on other threads. And I have put a few miles on one before, so I know what they're like.

jeff> Doesn't the ST4S have a updated lights set-up anyway?

My St2 was silver and my St4 is red and i also wouldn't go back to a 2. I'm really not sure where the gruntyness of the ST2 comes from which is perhaps why i never managed to find it. I think the ST4 has a vastly superior engine at all revs. The only downside are the increased maintenance costs.

Isnt the ST2 based around the old paso engine ?

Just let it rust up a bit Fred and get a few more scratches on her and it will be like an old friend then....lol !!!

Oi! Bloody cheek! ;)

Not sure about different lights, one of the more knowledgeable boys may be able to help here.

When we were out on a night ride, when we got to a coffee stop, I switched my st4s lights on a Roy used his 996 lights and they were just as bad as each others, not sure if they are better than yours.
But I think they are dangerous for quick riding on tight twisty roads, especially when I have a BMW of similar age design and it's lights are far better, so no excuse for Ducati to say there was no better technology around at the time when we designed the bike.

I think it is a case of try normal new bulbs or some modern brighter replacement ones that may be able to drop in place without modifing? Don't know if there are any.
Or it's this American kit for loads of money.

The ST4S I saw yesterday had a completely different nose-fairing and light unit to the ST2/4. I don't know if all ST4S's are like this, or just very recent ones.

Well I've just had another go at it: jacked the ride height up a little more (a bit more accessible than on my 748), and screwed away frantically at those adjusters under the instrument panel fascias. Although I have to say they don't appear to have hardly any effect. When it gets properly dark I'll pop out for a quick spin and see if it's made any difference.

As far as the ride height is concerned, I can now just get the handle of my ratchet under the back tyre with the bike on the centre-stand. Measuring it, that's about 18mm. How does that sound to you guys?

bout right

Yep,early ST4S had the same headlamp as ST2/4,...the later ones were the same as ST3,and used a wider headlight.

To get the bike turning quickly you need the wheel almost touching the ground but you might find it a bit twitchy and unstable and also run into problems like i had with the top of your helmet getting in the way of your vision! It really does lift the back of the bike a lot. 20mm is the ultra stable conservative setting.

I think its only in the last couple of years that the ST4S has had the revised top fairing.

Thanks, Glyn, KeefyB, and rockhopper.

At the risk of labouring the point, I'm more interested in it's effect on the headlight than on handling. Realistically, on cold, dark, winter roads, I'm much much interested in simple A to B transport. I'm certainly not going to be exploring the limits of its handling in rush-hour traffic coming home from work.

But it's a relief to know I'm in the right ball-park with 18 mm.

I'm thinking of braving the cold and shooting over to Bath in a bit; the annual Film Festival is on at the moment.