Ducati Streetfighter - Roadtest

Performance

Handling

Comfort

Looks

Equipment

Value

Overall

Technical summary

List Price:

£13,995

Insurance:

Group 19

Engine:

1099cc V-twin

Performance:

154mph top speed

Power:

155bhp

Weight:

167kg

MPG:

N/A

Range:

N/A

Review

This is the most powerful naked superbike Ducati has ever built. It's fitted with a whopping great 155bhp V-twin engine but weighs just 167kg, making it the lightest bike in class. And that means the Streetfighter is a bit mad.

With a modified frame and a longer wheelbase, it rides like a cross between supermoto and superbike. Its looks drip with attitude and the S model we tested comes with uprated suspension, traction control and a data analysis function. There's some seriously high spec equipment here, including carbon fibre bits, Ohlins suspension and a full Brembo race-spec braking system. Not surprising, when you look at the wince-inducing price tag!

But the Streetfighter is massively desirable. We expected it to be a low-down grunt monster, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact peak power is delivered through quite a narrow band, somewhere between 7000rpm and the 10,250rpm red line, and the effect is furious, lunging, monstrous acceleration.

Lucky, then, that the Streetfighter has a very fine chassis, which works with you should you enter a corner with a little too much enthusiasm, allowing you to adjust the bike's line easily and without fuss. Of course the reality is that it takes a very serious rider to explore the limits of what this bike can do - there's often much greater reserves of grip or stopping power than you imagine there might be.

The brakes - some of the most powerful ever fitted to a production bike - are also a real revelation and inspire massive confidence. But the ride is very firm, and can become unsettled on a rutted or bumpy road. Sometimes the Streetfighter can be a little too hardcore; it really does make something like a Honda CBR1000 RR feel soft by comparison.

We absolutely love it though - the looks, the power, the name. Everything. There's just one problem and that's the price -accomplished naked rivals like the Triumph Street Triple cost nearly half the money. You won't get the quality, or the last nth degree of performance from the Triumph, but you're paying a big premium to own Ducati's daddy of naked superbikes.

Verdict

Highly recommended. Naked Italian superbike is brilliant, but half price rivals run it close