[stavros]

Some of you have asked me to post my impressions when i got my bike. I picked up my SSS on Friday and went for my first ride this arvo (Saturday). I rode from Sydney's eastern suburbs to Cronulla with a friend who picked up his SS standard this morning, and back, a distance of about 65 kms.
Neutral- impossible to get in into neutral at first even with rolling stops. It then went in rolling up from first after about 5kms, and by the time I had ridden 30kms it was going into neutral even while stopped.
Sound-great sound with my standard pipes, loud and deep, so unless you like the looks of the Akro slip-on, keep the standard pipes.
Handling-outstanding, don't need to say more.
Power-had it in Touring mode the whole time, simply forgot to put it into Sports mode. Doesn't like it much below 3,500rpm even though it revs up effortlessly if you open up the throttle. From 4,000rpm it flies. I didn't take it over 100k/h because I was in an urban environment all the way and didn't take it over 6,000rpm but I loved the power delivery.
Brakes-didn't use them hard at all but liked the feel.
Riding position-great, arms reach naturally to the bars. Very comfortable.
Screen-easy to read and has all the info I need.
Heat-what can I say, it was hot, very hot. It was only about 20 degrees Celsius but at times my upper thighs and backside got extremely hot. I've been told that once the engine gets run in the heat issue should dissipate. Also I rode in some built up areas at slow speeds so that exaggerated the issue.
Looks-for those of you who like that sort of thing, everyone stared at the bike, bikers and non bikers, real eye candy.
Mirrors-reasonable rear view but they do vibrate at higher speeds and revs causing blurry images. Hopefully in time Ducati are able to improve them with a fix-up.
Summary-peach of a bike. My mate thought the same thing. Those of you waiting for yours to arrive, you have a treat in store.
Cheers

 

[steeve]

Brief but great review. It gets difficult to park it up at the end of the day..... infectious.

 

[1lifeliveit]

Some of you have asked me to post my impressions when i got my bike. I picked up my SSS on Friday and went for my first ride this arvo (Saturday). I rode from Sydney's eastern suburbs to Cronulla with a friend who picked up his SS standard this morning, and back, a distance of about 65 kms.
Neutral- impossible to get in into neutral at first even with rolling stops. It then went in rolling up from first after about 5kms, and by the time I had ridden 30kms it was going into neutral even while stopped.
Sound-great sound with my standard pipes, loud and deep, so unless you like the looks of the Akro slip-on, keep the standard pipes.
Handling-outstanding, don't need to say more.
Power-had it in Touring mode the whole time, simply forgot to put it into Sports mode. Doesn't like it much below 3,500rpm even though it revs up effortlessly if you open up the throttle. From 4,000rpm it flies. I didn't take it over 100k/h because I was in an urban environment all the way and didn't take it over 6,000rpm but I loved the power delivery.
Brakes-didn't use them hard at all but liked the feel.
Riding position-great, arms reach naturally to the bars. Very comfortable.
Screen-easy to read and has all the info I need.
Heat-what can I say, it was hot, very hot. It was only about 20 degrees Celsius but at times my upper thighs and backside got extremely hot. I've been told that once the engine gets run in the heat issue should dissipate. Also I rode in some built up areas at slow speeds so that exaggerated the issue.
Looks-for those of you who like that sort of thing, everyone stared at the bike, bikers and non bikers, real eye candy.
Mirrors-reasonable rear view but they do vibrate at higher speeds and revs causing blurry images. Hopefully in time Ducati are able to improve them with a fix-up.
Summary-peach of a bike. My mate thought the same thing. Those of you waiting for yours to arrive, you have a treat in store.
Cheers

Cheers for that mate. If you and your mate decide to ride each other's bikes, can you give us a comparison between the standard and the S version? Would be nice to hear from someone who's ridden them back to back.

 

[Snyped]

Now that was a great review and congratulations on receiving your bike. Glad to hear everything is working well for you but that heat thing is definitely notorious for Ducs in general haha. Any changes that you plan on making yet?

 

[stavros]

Cheers for that mate. If you and your mate decide to ride each other's bikes, can you give us a comparison between the standard and the S version? Would be nice to hear from someone who's ridden them back to back.

My mate bought the standard because he wanted to save some money and because, as he put it, "I like to change gears". He did buy the rear seat cover however. I'm not going to let him ride my bike so I can't expect him to allow me to ride his. For the average rider (which I am) , I doubt the suspension is going to be remarkably different. I think/hope that the Ohlins can be adjusted to be softer if necessary, but on my first ride, admittedly on very smooth roads, I found the suspension perfect. I am 73kgs.

 

[stavros]

Now that was a great review and congratulations on receiving your bike. Glad to hear everything is working well for you but that heat thing is definitely notorious for Ducs in general haha. Any changes that you plan on making yet?

Thanks. The only change I plan to make is to buy a tail tidy from Evotech when it's available, hopefully at the end of June (when Evotech told me it would be ready).

 

[TUC51]

I rode both on saturday the S is very stiff ride, ( rode the S for 30 mins ) from what expert riders tell me endless you do track days or a lot or high speed runs it might not be worthwhile to spend 2K more. Everything else is the same I have 20 miles on with the standard suspension, I weigh 180 lbs. Hope that helps.

 

[stavros]

Thanks. The only change I plan to make is to buy a tail tidy from Evotech when it's available, hopefully at the end of June (when Evotech told me it would be ready).

As for the heat issue, I rode a Multistrada 950 (which is essentially the same engine as the SS) for 3 hours and had no heat issues. The bike had more kms than mine and also I was riding it mainly in the countryside. Hopefully the same will apply to the SS.

 

[1lifeliveit]

My mate bought the standard because he wanted to save some money and because, as he put it, "I like to change gears". He did buy the rear seat cover however. I'm not going to let him ride my bike so I can't expect him to allow me to ride his. For the average rider (which I am) , I doubt the suspension is going to be remarkably different. I think/hope that the Ohlins can be adjusted to be softer if necessary, but on my first ride, admittedly on very smooth roads, I found the suspension perfect. I am 73kgs.

Thanks. I've always been a big fan of Ohlins and have a deposit on the S model, But am slightly concerned if they'll turn out to be too stiff on the backroads, hence the question. Keep us posted on the heat "issue" as well. Probably won't be a problem any time soon as winter is approaching.

 

[stavros]

I rode both on saturday the S is very stiff ride, ( rode the S for 30 mins ) from what expert riders tell me endless you do track days or a lot or high speed runs it might not be worthwhile to spend 2K more. Everything else is the same I have 20 miles on with the standard suspension, I weigh 180 lbs. Hope that helps.

Quickshifter is great, to me that's a huge plus.

 

[fishoutofh20]

For the gentleman (I probably use that term loosely) who asked about the standard/classic model vs. the SSS. I rode them back to back and noticed no difference at all. The quick shifter is a neat thing, I suppose, but for $250 (I believe that's the price) I'd buy other things first. I will say that I rode two up on the S and I noticed very little impact on the suspension, even in the curves (a good thing). Weeks later, I rode two up on the classic model I purchased and it was fine. However I didn't hammer it through the curves like I did with the S. I'm guessing you might notice a difference under those conditions.

I ended up purchasing the Classic model for some of the same reasons that stavros' buddy did: 1. Save $2k for other bike-related accessories 2. no need for the S model's features. 3. I too, like to shift. If you think about it, why does Ducati only make the white Supersport in the S model. My guess is it's to make you spend an extra $2k for features you wouldn't have chosen anyway. Even though I LOVE the white, I didn't think it was worth 2k.

All that being said, I've heard from several people on this forum the Ohlins suspension is more adjustable than the classic model's suspension. If that extends to being more adjustable in the real world riding range (as opposed to just the track range), perhaps it is worth the money. As with most bike purchases, though, it's up to the buyer and his/her priorities.