Death of the air-cooled SS range
 

Only the 1000ss is made now

The 620 sport, 800ss etc. have all gone now. The Classics are far too expensive albeit nice.

How long before the 1000ss is extinct? There'll be no reasonably-priced sporting Ducati left. It'll be Monsters or the ugly and overpriced Superbikes. I'm not really interested in either.

Interesting discussion.

I'm also a big fan of the air cooled two valve engine.

At a pinch I'd consider owning one of the new S4Rs Monsters :devil: But I'm not overly interested in a Superbike.

I'd like to see the Supersport redesigned, at the risk of another 749/999 divided camp situation. A redesign could appeal to a whole new range of customers.

With all the recent development that's gone into the 1000DS I can't see it being pensioned off just yet.

New 1000SS for 2007 ? :)

I think the SS has suffered in the shadow of the limelight attracted by the superbikes. If most of us were honest though - we'd all realise that we don't need/can't use the power or complexity of the superbikes.

I really lament the death of simple, easy to maintain sportsbikes with useful amounts of performance that don't cost an arm and a leg to buy/run and don't depreciate like a lead balloon.

Maybe they are waiting to develop DS engines for the lower cc models. Would be nice to see a 1000DS Superlight for 2007.

What has gone into the 1000DS motor? It's unchanged since 2003 as far as I can see - not that it needs changing anyway. 85bhp is enough.

That would be nice but, I guess it still probably wouldn't sell which, might be the issue. I'm really impressed with my 800ss - light-ish, good punchy power and enough performance for the real world. Who needs more than 135-140mph?

I think the 2vlv air-cooled motor will be pensioned off in favour of the 3vlv jobs. I don't think we'll see an SS range again.

[Edited on 17-3-2006 by twpd]

twpd - I agree with you - but I thought it was just me getting older :) . I have really seen a massive difference in the hard cash to run the 900SL over the 996S. And although the 996 was massively quicker, i'm still having just as much fun on a lower powered bike - just slower fun.

If you put yourself in the Ducati engineers shoes, what are they thinking ...

"What can we do to the old air-cooled motor to make it more upto date and sound quicker.... what about dual spark .... yes, that sounds good, 2 sparks ... must mean faster ... no-one will know the difference. Marketing will love it."

Or it might just be for emmissions but apart from being more efficient dual spark can't be that great otherwise the 999R would have it.

I'm getting older - so it may be that too. I also realise I don't need 100+ bhp to have fun either. I can go as fast on my 800 as most people can on a Gixxer thou on the roads up here in the wild north - so just what is the point of paying for more?

I've decided that I am never likely to buy a very high performance bike ever again.