Test Rode a Ducati S4RS

[socalrob]

Heard my ticket got dismissed today, and after lunch stopped by Pro Italia, which is about 3 miles from my house. BMW dealership is 40. At Pro Italia I was admiring a Ducati Monster S4RS, which is a drop dead beatiful twin cyclinder, 135HP, 390 lb dry weight, Ohlins USD forks & Ohlin rear shock, carbon fiber here & there, supurb brakes, Ducati RED bike. The quality of the paint was perfect.

$15,800 including whatever markups or assembly / delivery they are charging for.

They photocopy my license, I sign something, I get the keys & off I go on a 12 mile or so ride. The bike was very nice. Just the right amount of vibration, I loved the character of the Ducati clutch chatter, the brakes where supurb, I might even be able to live without ABS. The engine just sings up to about 9,000 RPMs, there is no redline on the tach & I forgot to ask how high it revs. I do know that I could flick it up to 75/80 pretty fast. The fueling was perfect as far as I could tell.

The seating position is very standard & very comfortable. The bars feel just a tad narrower than the RR's, I imagine it would be great for lane splitting.

The down side was shaky mirrors (worse than the RR), the little windscreen thing was pretty shakey, & the bike felt kind of, light. And small. Which it isn't, but maybe the light weight.

Great roll on power, gear choice wasn't essential, but it did seem to love the 6K rpm and up range. In the one curvy street I rode the bike felt like something I could really learn to fly on. Turned easier than the RR, and the shocks really smoothed out any bumps.

This bike would be a fun commuter. No hard luggage, & the position of the exhaust limits it to only one side bag. Not sure how travelling would be, but maybe I could just keep the RR. The Ducati felt like a sportscar to my RR's sedan.

The dealership is also great. I actually get a better vibe there than the BMW shop, which seems to be centered around long time older customers I will probably never be a part of, as I don't go to the weekend rides. The Ducati dealership is almost like a sport bike version of a HD dealership, they are definately selling an image, which may in fact not be all bad. They are very into MotoGP.

The ride to work on my RR, I did like the stability and solidness. Hope that doesn't make the RR a tractor.

[BobFV1]

Rob -

Thanks for the great ride report! Pro Italia is a Southern California motorcycling icon - I like to go up there on the weekends when I visit my Mom in Woodland Hills and see all the rich Beverly Hills guys in their Bentleys and Aston-Martins looking at the expensive Italian iron! My son Nick and I went in there year before last when he rode my Ducati Supersport from LA to Phoenix - all we could afford was the tee shirt! We ran into some other riders in LA who referred to "Pro Italia" as "Pry It Out of Ya"!

I'd love to get a 135 HP Ducati on the track. My 85 HP Ducati would fly around the track!

Glad to see the bad cops on Highway 2 didn't get you again :blbl:

[JCsman]

Geez Rob.

You note the Ferro Roadster is stealthy.
Yet you get tagged for 100+.
Now you are flirting with a RED Ducati (pretty low "stealth factor there, doncha know)!!!

The man knows how to live dangerously. :023:

[GPM]

Sounds like you may need to work out a repeat customer discount with that lawyer.

[Blue Mist]

I got to ride an S4RS on the track at Mid-Ohio. I'm not accustomed to passing anyone on the straights. I left the Keyhole with a supermoto about a hundred yards ahead of me on the long back straight. On my bike I would have no hope of catching him, but on the S4Rs I shot past him like he was sitting still. That was fun - I could get used to that kind of closing speed. The power delivery made it easy to ride fast. Handling was quite good, just a bit of a flex in the fast Turn One, but the tires were always well planted and the ride was smooth. The ergos would be good for the street, but I'd like rearsets for the track.

[supermotoC]

That bike nearly gets me to Ducati, in a big way. It reminds me so much of the '79 Daytona Special RD-400 I never owned, but always lusted for.
White w/red stripe, ooh-la la.
http://img148.imagevenue.com/loc394/th_61086_SR4s_122_394lo.jpg (http://img148.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=61086_SR4s_122_394lo.jpg)

[Road Dog]

Laura rides an S2R and loves it. Traveling at highway speed say 60 - 65 she keeps it in 5th gear to make the engine happy.

Ventura Pack makes a really nice luggage rack that mounts cleanly and securely to the sub frame. We are going to make an aluminum shield to mount soft bags and keep them off the mufflers. If she would have only put the reverse cone megaphones on the bike that I wanted her to use we wouldn't have this problem.

Other than the luggage rack, we have removed the cat tumor which improved the sound of the stock mufflers and put a second set of risers under the handlebars.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i205/middleweightboxer/laurss2r.jpg

[socalrob]

JCsman posted:

You note the Ferro Roadster is stealthy.
Yet you get tagged for 100+.
Now you are flirting with a RED Ducati (pretty low "stealth factor there, doncha know)!!!

The man knows how to live dangerously. :023:


Yes, I did go on that test ride as a sort of celebration. For the last 9 months or so I have been looking at my speedo too much, have been camped out in the slow lane, and really in some ways feel that I have been more at risk riding than normal. Sometimes its safer to go with the flow (might mean 80 plus here) in the fast lane.

That Ducati was actually very controllable, maybe its the twin engine. When I test rode a K1200S I got off the bike thinking that I would be zooming around at 120mph everywhere on every ride. Disaster on many levels. The Ducati was fun to ride at 75, which here is not ticket territory unless the LEO has it out for you. I think its the torque & lower reving motor that makes it easier for me to control.

[fnfalman]

I pay a few visits to Pro Italia in Glendale now and then. I almost bought my first Tuono from them too. Their prices aren't that bad. And they definitely know their Duckies. I haven't heard of anyone complaining about shoddy works from Pro Italia; at least on Ducatis anyway. I heard a couple of bad complaints about Aprilia works, but that's about it.

As far as the S4Rs goes, I test rode it too at Spectrum Motorsports in Irvine (where I bought my 1st Tuono). It had the same problem that I had with the S4R - too much leaning forward for me. I might as well ride a full-on sport bike with clip-on if that were the case. Otherwise, it's a top notch Ducati. But if I were to buy a Monster, I'd still go with the S2R 1000. I like the desmodue engine. It's more fitting on a Monster than a testastretta or the former desmoquattro.