Mine arrived Hawaii
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I will pick it up early Saturday morning for a ride. My son (19) also a rider is already hinting that I should start the hunt for a better bike so this one can be passed down. My answer was the purchase of a big chain and disk lock to secure the bike from all unwanted advancements upon it. I think he got the hint. I will post a write up with the bike in the standard Hawaii pictures. Sand, Sun, Waves and bikini's.
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Now the last sentence has made us all jealous..........
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Ride report
Ride review. This a red base model.
I have put about 180 miles on the bike as of today and it was raining most of it. The bike was totally dirty by the end of the day and needed a good cleaning. First off very nice bike and it handles well. I had a chance to do some roads that go up a small mountain before it really started to rain.
This bike dips into the corners and grunts out of them. Its a fun ride for mountain roads. As others have mentioned neutral was very hard to find and has improved with time. Mirrors are useless while riding at any RPM above 3000. The frame has a bolt flange that is mentioned a few times in the forum and is noticeable on the right side but not really irritating. The left side flange seems to be more recessed so I never felt it while riding. Heat is a problem for me on the right side when the engine temp gets above 200 F. This happens in stop and go traffic mostly. I'm in Hawaii so the temperature is 80-90 F. this would make the bike get hot faster than other cooler locations.
The console does take a little bit to sort out but once you understand how it work it not much effort to move through the menu's while riding. I had to sit on the bike with the manual in hand to understand what all the Icon stood for and how to change the riding modes.
I thought what a drag it would be to not be able to go above 6000 RPM for 600 Mile as per the manual for the first part of the two part break in periods. I found the bike has so much torque below 6000 that its not even an issue.
The seat is comfortable but you are not going to move around much. I'm not complaining just that you can not move backwards or forward wards it has you pretty much fix to one place. I'm used to moving around some on my other bike. Back a bit for longer rider. Up a bit for corners etc.
The riding height of the handle bars is nice but I did have a small amount of wrist plain. This could just be that I have not spent this much time on a bike in 1 day. It's an Island right.
The brakes nothing much to comment as they do their job well.
No bikini's out today so that picture will need to come another day.
This is a beautiful bike that is really a joy to ride.
Ride review. This a red base model.
I have put about 180 miles on the bike as of today and it was raining most of it. The bike was totally dirty by the end of the day and needed a good cleaning. First off very nice bike and it handles well. I had a chance to do some roads that go up a small mountain before it really started to rain.
This bike dips into the corners and grunts out of them. Its a fun ride for mountain roads. As others have mentioned neutral was very hard to find and has improved with time. Mirrors are useless while riding at any RPM above 3000. The frame has a bolt flange that is mentioned a few times in the forum and is noticeable on the right side but not really irritating. The left side flange seems to be more recessed so I never felt it while riding. Heat is a problem for me on the right side when the engine temp gets above 200 F. This happens in stop and go traffic mostly. I'm in Hawaii so the temperature is 80-90 F. this would make the bike get hot faster than other cooler locations.
The console does take a little bit to sort out but once you understand how it work it not much effort to move through the menu's while riding. I had to sit on the bike with the manual in hand to understand what all the Icon stood for and how to change the riding modes.
I thought what a drag it would be to not be able to go above 6000 RPM for 600 Mile as per the manual for the first part of the two part break in periods. I found the bike has so much torque below 6000 that its not even an issue.
The seat is comfortable but you are not going to move around much. I'm not complaining just that you can not move backwards or forward wards it has you pretty much fix to one place. I'm used to moving around some on my other bike. Back a bit for longer rider. Up a bit for corners etc.
The riding height of the handle bars is nice but I did have a small amount of wrist plain. This could just be that I have not spent this much time on a bike in 1 day. It's an Island right.
The brakes nothing much to comment as they do their job well.
No bikini's out today so that picture will need to come another day.
This is a beautiful bike that is really a joy to ride.
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42 Posts
Congrats on your News bike. Hmm, not even Hawaii has good weather. What is the world coming to. I did my last kilometers today in order to have my 1000 km service done this upcoming Tuesday. 7 degrees C and even some snowflakes in the air. No heat problem from the engine I can't assure you. 
Congrats and thanks for posting some initial thoughts!
Definitely not 80-90F here, so the heat will not really be an issue here for a while ;-)
Seems a few here have mentioned they found finding neutral a little tricky - not sure if they were prior Ducati owners, but I can recall when I got my 2014 Monster new, getting to neutral required a little initial finesse, but it wore in pretty quickly, and also just took a little time to get to know your bike.
Looking forward to a few photos of the SuperSport in the wild in Hawaii!
Definitely not 80-90F here, so the heat will not really be an issue here for a while ;-)
Seems a few here have mentioned they found finding neutral a little tricky - not sure if they were prior Ducati owners, but I can recall when I got my 2014 Monster new, getting to neutral required a little initial finesse, but it wore in pretty quickly, and also just took a little time to get to know your bike.
Looking forward to a few photos of the SuperSport in the wild in Hawaii!
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828 Posts
Did you test ride the S version? I haven't hear much of anyone comparing the two? Suspension is the big thing to upgrade but I don't really need the Ohlins by any means...
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45 Posts
The plan is for more pictures next weekend providing is sunny. Erupting volcano's is not an option. That only happens on the Island of Hawaii and I'm on Oahu.
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45 Posts
Selcier, No I did not test the S version of the Bike as I ordered my bike back in January and it was the first one to come to Hawaii. No track here on the Island of Oahu so I did not go with ohlins and the quick shifter. While both items would have been nice to have I just couldn't justify the purchase price for my situation. I did however purchase the Akrapovic slip ons and the back seat covers. $1600.00. Both are nice cosmetic additions to the bikes and I'm happy with the look. Hawaii does have a mountain with some really twisty hairpin turns call Tantalus and it's my plan once the bike is broken in to test on these hills and adjust the suspension based on my comfort and the handling of the Bike. If I need some modification to improve handling then I will make them over time. More than likely I might find that my ability to ride the bike accurately and effectively will be more of a limiting factor than the suspension. I'm not new to bikes by a long shot but I'm not a seasoned racer either.
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45 Posts
Yes they are a bit quieter than the originals. I purchased them because I liked the look of them over the stock items. Both slip ons stock and akra sound very nice.
We are gonna need a decible meter stat!
I'm interested in the akra slip on also. It looks sweet but I don't wanna buy it unless it's louder. I spend a lot of time splitting lanes in bumper to bumper silicon valley traffic and the loud pipes keep people from drifting into me while they are heads down texted and driving.
I'm interested in the akra slip on also. It looks sweet but I don't wanna buy it unless it's louder. I spend a lot of time splitting lanes in bumper to bumper silicon valley traffic and the loud pipes keep people from drifting into me while they are heads down texted and driving.
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109 Posts
I wouldn't think that the Akra would ever be quieter than stock, that don't make sense to me lol
When there are conflicting reports about louder / not louder, probably safe to assume negligible difference!
Really hoped it would be louder though, Southern California drivers do not see, they only hear!
OTT - there is an sound level measurement iPhone app which has been created by scientific community - and has fair results (just in case, if anyone has access to two bikes with stock and slip on akra!)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/niosh-slm/id1096545820?mt=8
Really hoped it would be louder though, Southern California drivers do not see, they only hear!
OTT - there is an sound level measurement iPhone app which has been created by scientific community - and has fair results (just in case, if anyone has access to two bikes with stock and slip on akra!)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/niosh-slm/id1096545820?mt=8
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