Ducati SuperSport S

Built:2017-202017201820192020

Photos: Dietmar

It's no longer a secret: not everywhere SuperSport is on it, there is a super athlete underneath. Not even at Ducati. Our test explains why this is luck.

Rare, but good

Well, the sport tourers among the motorcycles have a hard time: Everywhere the adventure bikes run off their rank. Their promise of a comfortable sitting position in combination with the adventure look will make the good old genus of sports tourers die out. Only a few people hold up the flag, among them the BMW R 1250 RS. The Kawasaki Z 1000 SX could still be called, but from there it gets thin.

What is a sports tourer? In the original definition, motorcycles are described as such, which have not forgotten the sport, but are superior to pure athletes in everyday life in terms of seating position, driving comfort and practicality, such as with suitable suitcase systems. Or you can put it like our viewer Stefan K., who posted this comment under the test video: "I always imagine this: You do your driving license, buy your super sportsmen, notice that they are impractical, get "back" and end up with tourers. Sports tourers are then such a middle thing for people who still defend themselves internally against this realization. ;)"

First sport, then tourer

Getting on or better entering the SuperSport is also completely trouble-free for short-legged or smaller pilots. The Ducati integrates its driver excellently even in the stand. Everything fits. Forward, the handle to the handlebar ends is not too far out, the sitting position is comparatively upright. Again, it turns out that the Ducati is not a super athlete. And yet: she is a Duc through and through and makes it clear already when ascending that she spells "Sporttourer" first as a sport and then as a tourer.

The fact that the machine is no longer completely fresh (on sale since 2017) is noticeable right after the key turn. After all, there is a key, Ducati dispenses with the sham innovation of a keyless go at SuperSport. In any case, a black-and-white display comes to life, which you wouldn't use today. It is not very easy to read, the operation of the on-board computer with numerous adjustment options for ABS and traction control is not self-explained.

But now, already in the Leeerlauf: What is the whining about displays, if you can produce this sound? I start at Ducati Hamburg, who have provided us with this motorcycle. I meet my test colleague Dietmar at Lake Rantzauer, and this is how it works: A piece through the city to warm up, out on the A23 and after the speed limit the lever is set at full throttle. Thanks to the high volume of traffic, I do not reach the Vmax of 240, but over 200 are in it.

This is possible because Ducati has improved this engine over the years. This engine had very clear restrictions on power output and torque at the beginning, only from 6,000 it really got going. But this would not have fit the character of a sports tourer, so I was curious.

See there: He doesn't like being ridden under 3,000 tours – after all, it's a Ducati – but it's possible. In this expansion stage, the Duc has steam throughout from 3,000 tours and is relenting strongly at the top. A strong start to increase. Everything is now much more homogeneous, much more mobile and tamed than before. So you can throttle at 130 km/h in the sixth and off the post office goes. Our spectator Peter drives the SuperSport and calculated it: "The engine is so strong because it provides 78 Nm from 3,000 rpm. Between 5,000 and 9,000 rpm you have to get over 90 Nm. Up to 8,000 rpm therefore more horsepower arrives at the rear wheel than with the Panigale 959 (e.B. the 959 at 6,000 rpm has about 68 hp and the Supersport 82 hp) to compare the Supersport with a 150 hp super sportsman from the same home."

In this context, wind protection must be mentioned. At about 160 or 170 km/h, of course depending on the respective torso, the point is reached where one is in balance. The hands no longer rest on the handlebars, the ideal cruising speed is approximately here. The driving comfort is good, albeit suitively firm.

Down from the train, out on to the country road. Ducatis have a kind of stableness that not everyone likes. Some drivers feel like they have to force the machine into the bend. Where "force" is too much, you conduct it clearly. Last experienced on the Monster 1299 p. The supersport's long-stretched silhouette leads to the fact that it's trimmed to a quiet straight line. The surprise: This is all nonsense. She loves curves, puts herself almost alone in the right position as if to say: There is still something going on. It does, too, the Duc is in no way inferior to a super athlete in the cornering abilities. This works with smaller radii than they are usual in northern Germany, but this has its limits: serpentines are still going on, but when manoeuvring it is finally clear: Friends, they don't like that at all. The very low steering wheel impact and the voluminous tank prevent better values.

Again to the engine: Thanks to the famous V2 roar alone, you turn up more often, but not only on the country road, a gear step fits higher. With the ideally graduated gearbox, the right gear is always ready. On the other hand, 1b is the Quickshifter of the S version. That was better with the Monster 1200 S – in Supersport there is not much left of its smooth smoothness. It works, but it shouldn't be the go-to.