| I agree completely with twpd.
Until I got the 888, my ST2 was the only bike I owned for 4 years or so. OK so it's not aircooled but it's still a 944cc 2- valver that puts out around 85bhp at the rear wheel (thanks to my tuning mods of DP pipes and a JHP chip). I love 2 valvers, the power and torque is spot on for a road bike and I love it to bits.
It is a numbers game. People think that they really need 160 bhp that the latest rash of 2006 bikes have, but they're kidding themselves. There are only a small percentage of people that can use that kind of power on track and still fewer people who can use that power on the road. To be honest 85-100 bhp is more than most people can manage.
If proof were needed, despite various journos looking down their nose at the ST2 (quote: this month's SuperBike saying that the ST2 is "a wimp of a bike only suitable for non-sporting rides") I've never been left behind on a rideout and only get passed by the occasional Jap superbike - and then only on the straight bits.
One of the best feelings that I've had was regularly going around the outside of assorted R1's, ZX's, GSXR's and Milles on that long left hander before the dash down to the hairpin in the fast group on a Rockingham trackday and having a couple of the superbike guys come over to me and say "that ST4S doesn't half shift for a sport tourer". The look of pure disbelief on their faces when I told them that it was only an 85 bhp ST2 was priceless - one of the guys had to peek at the engine to check that it was a 2 valver 'cos they thought I'd just got ST2 fairings on a four valver.
My mate Glyn is even quicker than I am on his ST2, so there is plenty of life in the real world for the humble 2 valve lump.
I've also ridden Fordie's old 900ssie and it seemed even more eager. The engine span up beautifully, and if you just surf the torque you can fire yourself from corner to corner on a big wave of usable power.
2 valvers - I love em, and I can quite believe that a well ridden 800 can see off Gixers in the real world on the road.
The only thing that I would like to see from Ducatis 2-Valve development is attention to the chassis, update it a bit from an essentially 20 year old design, and the weight. A lighter 800 or 1000 with between 85-100 bhp and weighing around 160 kg would have me digging my hand into my pocket to buy one.  |