"Ok, I give in, I've gotta try a Ducati" - Little did I know that after muttering those few innocent words after riding a borrowed 916 at a French track day in August 2001 my biking life would take such a turn for the better. Truth is, that after so many excellent, efficient, good value, high performing multi-cylinder rocket ships from Japan I finally wanted to try something a little more 'engaging'. Added to the fact that after working on the twisty French circuit all day my lap times improved by nearly 2 seconds just by getting off my 2001 Blade and onto my trusting (if not naïve) mates 916.
But hang on - aren't Ducati's expensive?, don't you need a trained squirrel to follow you around picking up all the nuts that fall off ? Let's see what I can do with say £5k max............
Next problem, finding one - there just aren't many of these around - 27 copies of MCN later and finger ache on the Internet (that's finger not wrist OK?) I found my candidate. Potentially a recipe for disaster, 1998, 3 owners, no real service history and available for inspection in the current owners 'barn' . Yep, you got it a 'farm bike'. But only 6,500 miles and this victim of the Foot and Mouth Carnage tells me he's emigrating to Australia in three weeks to try his hand at sheep over there !? I smell a bit of a steal coming on. Sure enough, this bike has had little use, covered in stickers, huge wide unmarked strips of rubber on both tyres at the edges (unkindly known as chicken strips). A generous covering of assorted farmyard excreta in all cavities (the bike that is). I rode it, - 'Sound' - wiped it off - 'Pretty' , did a deal at £4,500. Hey presto let's go to Cadwell !
After a nervous week stripping cleaning oiling and checking in the garage this thing turned out to be near perfect. Cam belts changed twice for some reason made me feel I hadn't squandered the family holiday budget for nothing after all.
Replaced in late 1999 by the 748R the SPS is an incredible tool for the money, especially at this price. First impressions on winter roads were that it felt as good as the 916 I rode with a slightly sweeter motor.
Rock steady in the wet, hugely stable exiting corners and just leans, leans and then leans some more. I'm told that unless you are Ruben Xaus it's pretty hard to tell the 'R' and the 'SPS' apart. Leaving aside the gold plated 'R' fork sliders and extra wheel spokes, it gives the same combination of Ducati V-twin grunt and rev-happiness that makes it easy to get the best out of the bike, or at least feel like you are.
The engine quoted at 104bhp at the crank gives an exciting combination of torque and revs that will keep most people happy with a decent midrange output up to an estimated 11,500 rpm red line / rev limiter. But it's more than just tale of a lovely sounding motor, this bike is planted.
Learning the hard way on many a track day, going quickly is not just about power. More about power delivery, momentum and cornering speed. Brakes are plenty for mere mortals and having fitted a set of EBC Race pads this thing would probably do rolling-stoppies all day long if I had the skill !
So to the track............... A little bit of lock wire here and there and a Goodrich Front Brake pipe conversion, (to race spec. separate calliper feeds), I passed muster for a practise day with the North Gloucestershire Motor Cycle Road Racing Club. Not that I've any serious ambitions in this direction (yet), it was just the quickest and nearest way of getting this thing on a track..
A nice warm, sunny day at Keevil Airfield in Wiltshire, and a strange sinking feeling in my stomach, not to mention underpants, wondering why I am suddenly in such exalted company. NGRRC has produced some worthy riders including at least two Manx TT winners - these guys know what they are about.
I won't go into too many details about personal performance as that could get embarrassing, but I did learn a lot about the SPS. Firstly for novices like myself the bike uses it's huge ground clearances to insist that you lean it as far as you dare and you are always left with the feeling that the bike would go further if you let it - knee down or no knee-down. The second lesson was that the 'relatively' gentle and tame power delivery compared to its bigger brothers makes it less stressful to ride. You never get the feeling that dollops of power will bring on a high side, quite the reverse it fills you with confidence and allows you to do novice things - braking mid corner, wrong gear, change of line mid corner all that stuff we don't like admitting to. Simply put - It makes you feel 'safe', it doesn't feel like it will bite back if you get it wrong.
Sure it doesn't have the same 'grunt' as it's brothers' but I'm guessing that's what Ducati intended. For my part Power, Brakes, and handling were all considerably better than I was.
Fuel injection is worth a mention also - silky smooth compared to my previous 2001 Blade. The result is no jerkiness and unruffled speed at unfeasible lean angles.
The title of this piece is 'First Impressions' - that's what I hope I've covered. I plan to update these with a longer-term view as my 'First Impressions' suggest this will be a long and developing 'Family Affair'.
