[amoslws]

I think we can agree that it is rare to truly understand any bikes capability on a public road.
Yesterday I attended an advanced rider course at a track. Although it's a tight and twisty track I did achieve my objective, which of course was to learn more about the SS. The prescribed max lean angles promoted by ducati are 48 degrees, I would suggest there's some safety in that statement. I used the pirelli diablo app that can be found on android. As expected our model is not listed so I selected the closest supersport it.
The phone was inserted into my flange type tank bags phone pouch and is self calibrating to the horizontal or vertical.

It was not my intention to get around the track as quick as possible but to learn how the bike handles going into the tight bends and how it handles in the bends. Well I was pleasantly surprised at how well this little SS sticks to it's line. The track is very tight and I rarely got beyond 3rd gear. I realised that I certainly need to drop my gear selector down a bit because I got a fair few false neutrals and they were quite unsettling at the best of times. The track has some straights and I sadly report that the DQS frequently let me down on 5th and 6th gears selection.

The ohlins worked wonderfully and the brakes were super. Never once did I feel I did not have sufficient travel on the forks and I never felt uneasy with the braking capacity. In fact there was still plenty of unused braking power, but as mentioned I was not racing against time but learning the bike. I wanted to keep the rpm below 7000.

Admittedly the little tank bag got in the way but it served its purpose by supporting the phone for me to assess the SS capabilities.
What really is impressive is how comfortably the SS sits in the bends without any bucking. It's like it's on rails. I cannot report on power performance because I didn't push it so hard but overall the bike operated quite well. Needless to say I also did not want to crash my 1 week young SS-S.

This bike goes where you point it and contrary to the ducati notoriety it is quite forgiving. I made a few blunders with gearing and the SS kept it's line and never bucked once. That's a big relief.

Happy riding guys !!

 

[titus.sensei]

No gopro video with it ?

Glad you enjoyed it.

I may take my next SSS to the track at the end of july, I plan to take it easy and not crash it but i will probably push it a bit more.

 

[Red Duc]

On my ride last week I felt that there was a touch of understeer. I have a suspicion that this may be due to the suspension setup as I'm 112kg, which is probably a bit heavier than the standard factory setup. I'm going to have my suspension tuned on Saturday and will report back with any differences

 

[amoslws]

No gopro video with it ?

Glad you enjoyed it.

I may take my next SSS to the track at the end of july, I plan to take it easy and not crash it but i will probably push it a bit more.

By then we will both be beyond 7000rpm running-in limit and can have a bit more fun. Learning the lean angles was my objective and for now I am satisfied. I do wish I had more km's on the clock but I try to stick to the prescribed running recommendations. You'll probably agree going fast in a straight line takes very little skill. I would like to see what angles you can pull on the SS :grin2:. Use the pirelli app for consistency if you can. The track I was at has some blind bends with 3 apex's, trying to figure them out and getting the right lines was rather complex.
This weekend the advanced training continues for 3 days in the lowveld mountains, by day 3 I should reach the 7000rpm / 2500km limit and be able to open it up. I am looking forward to that. In fact I am dying to get this bike to 9500 rpm in all gears so I can make a proper judgement. I have been rather patient up to now but the itch is getting worse.

 

[se7en]

Thanks for the write-up. Good stuff. I wish we had those type of courses in my area. Although I've owned street bike for 28 years, there's always something to learn.

In fact I am dying to get this bike to 9500 rpm in all gears so I can make a proper judgement. I have been rather patient up to now but the itch is getting worse.

THIS!! When I was breaking in the Hyper, I struggled really bad while trying to be light on the throttle. The first 600 miles was relatively easy...but getting to the 1,200 mark was almost unbearable!

 

[amoslws]

On my ride last week I felt that there was a touch of understeer. I have a suspicion that this may be due to the suspension setup as I'm 112kg, which is probably a bit heavier than the standard factory setup. I'm going to have my suspension tuned on Saturday and will report back with any differences

Try some counter steer on the inner bar end too, see if that helps bringing the bike around the bend.

 

[rz33v4]

Thanks for the write-up. Good stuff. I wish we had those type of courses in my area. Although I've owned street bike for 28 years, there's always something to learn.

You do have race tracks not too far away where motorcycle "track days" are held - Carolina Motorsports Park in S. Carolina, Barber Motorsports in Alabama, Road Atlanta in Georgia.

 

[psyopper]

What really is impressive is how comfortably the SS sits in the bends without any bucking. It's like it's on rails. I cannot report on power performance because I didn't push it so hard but overall the bike operated quite well. Needless to say I also did not want to crash my 1 week young SS-S.

This bike goes where you point it and contrary to the ducati notoriety it is quite forgiving. I made a few blunders with gearing and the SS kept it's line and never bucked once. That's a big relief.

Happy riding guys !!

On my ride last week I felt that there was a touch of understeer. I have a suspicion that this may be due to the suspension setup as I'm 112kg, which is probably a bit heavier than the standard factory setup. I'm going to have my suspension tuned on Saturday and will report back with any differences

I suspect that you are both describing the same thing, and the benefit of some really nice geometry on this bike, with a little bit more rake and a little less offset than contemporary sport bikes, and especially contemporary Ducati's. I don't see them listed anywhere, but from my test ride and visual inspection, it looks to have very similar geometry specs to the old Supersports from the '90's that were also known for these same great qualities.

In fact, Ducati had a history of making bikes super stable all the way up to the introduction of the 916. Prior to that most of their bikes shared similar long wheelbases, generous rake and shallow offsets to make for bikes that were super solid and stable at high speeds and solid cornering (read- racing) at the sacrifice of slower turn-in - the understeer that Red Duc noted. This also makes for a bike that has no need of a steering stabilizer as the suspension is already inherently stable - the reason you don't see one on the S model, and isn't even available as a Ducati Performance upgrade part. And believe me, if Ducati had a reason to sell you something branded with Ohlins and charge you more for it, they would.

 

[amoslws]

I suspect that you are both describing the same thing, and the benefit of some really nice geometry on this bike, with a little bit more rake and a little less offset than contemporary sport bikes, and especially contemporary Ducati's. I don't see them listed anywhere, but from my test ride and visual inspection, it looks to have very similar geometry specs to the old Supersports from the '90's that were also known for these same great qualities.

In fact, Ducati had a history of making bikes super stable all the way up to the introduction of the 916. Prior to that most of their bikes shared similar long wheelbases, generous rake and shallow offsets to make for bikes that were super solid and stable at high speeds and solid cornering (read- racing) at the sacrifice of slower turn-in - the understeer that Red Duc noted. This also makes for a bike that has no need of a steering stabilizer as the suspension is already inherently stable - the reason you don't see one on the S model, and isn't even available as a Ducati Performance upgrade part. And believe me, if Ducati had a reason to sell you something branded with Ohlins and charge you more for it, they would.

You failed to mention how adjustments such as wrong gearing or additional braking etc made ducatis highly unstable. They are fine if planted correctly into the turn but were not forgiving if it is wrongly entered. The SS is very forgiving and not quite like the oldies. But yes, as I highlighted, this SS sits nicely in the turn regardless of the minor errors in the entry. The oldies would throw a person.

 

[se7en]

You do have race tracks not too far away where motorcycle "track days" are held - Carolina Motorsports Park in S. Carolina, Barber Motorsports in Alabama, Road Atlanta in Georgia.

Oh yes!! Been there done that many times...just not as I think he descried it as a skills course. Actually, I misquoted him on that statement. I should have quoted "This weekend the advanced training continues for 3 days in the lowveld mountains". This sounds like more fun than a standard track day, to me.

 

[steeve]

Ducati claim the same geometry as a Panigale but it has a longer swinging arm for increased stability....

 

[DucatiAngel]

I think we can agree that it is rare to truly understand any bikes capability on a public road.
Yesterday I attended an advanced rider course at a track. Although it's a tight and twisty track I did achieve my objective, which of course was to learn more about the SS. The prescribed max lean angles promoted by ducati are 48 degrees, I would suggest there's some safety in that statement. I used the pirelli diablo app that can be found on android. As expected our model is not listed so I selected the closest supersport it.
The phone was inserted into my flange type tank bags phone pouch and is self calibrating to the horizontal or vertical.

It was not my intention to get around the track as quick as possible but to learn how the bike handles going into the tight bends and how it handles in the bends. Well I was pleasantly surprised at how well this little SS sticks to it's line. The track is very tight and I rarely got beyond 3rd gear. I realised that I certainly need to drop my gear selector down a bit because I got a fair few false neutrals and they were quite unsettling at the best of times. The track has some straights and I sadly report that the DQS frequently let me down on 5th and 6th gears selection.

The ohlins worked wonderfully and the brakes were super. Never once did I feel I did not have sufficient travel on the forks and I never felt uneasy with the braking capacity. In fact there was still plenty of unused braking power, but as mentioned I was not racing against time but learning the bike. I wanted to keep the rpm below 7000.

Admittedly the little tank bag got in the way but it served its purpose by supporting the phone for me to assess the SS capabilities.
What really is impressive is how comfortably the SS sits in the bends without any bucking. It's like it's on rails. I cannot report on power performance because I didn't push it so hard but overall the bike operated quite well. Needless to say I also did not want to crash my 1 week young SS-S.

This bike goes where you point it and contrary to the ducati notoriety it is quite forgiving. I made a few blunders with gearing and the SS kept it's line and never bucked once. That's a big relief.

Happy riding guys !!

Thanks for sharing, very informative