Did we never make a motorcycle thread?

[Kchrpm]

Have fun, be safe, nice bike!

[TheBenior]

Ducati to build cheaper V4

Since Ducati said there won't be a 'middleweight' version, the article figures it'll probably go in a Multistrada, a supernaked, or a sports tourer. The Multistrada seems the most likely to me; as it's been around since 2010 with incremental upgrades since.

[Rare White Ape]

They absolutely need to make a new Steeetfighter. It boggles my mind that they haven’t already made a Streety off the Panigale platform, but here we are.

A V4 Streetfighter would be sex on a stick.

[Rare White Ape]

Huurrrrrrrr!



P.S. the 790 Duke is a sweet little bike. I highly recommend one if you're in the market and think MT09s are well and truly passe.

[Blerpa]

We live in a world in which a 799cc bike is deemed little. Mkay.
Bogus.

[Rare White Ape]

Well, 10 years ago a 1300cc Hayabusa was big, 1000cc was normal, 750cc was mid-range, and 600 was small. Smaller than that was too small.

But we now live in a world where 1100cc Aprilias, 1200cc Ducatis and 1290cc KTMs are the new normal. Both Ducati, Triumph and MV Agusta have moved their mid-range bikes from 675 or 750 up to 800 or 900. 600cc is still small, and smaller than that is still too small.

Performance-wise, the KTM 790 engine puts out just north of 100hp, while an R6 gets to about 120hp. It’s no slouch, but it’s not as fast as a 600cc sports bike. If you venture over 1000cc you’ll find performance figures in the 170-200hp range. So the KTM is little by that definition as well.

It’s also physically small. The frame is tiny, the engine is a compact parallel twin, so as a result it’s packaged incredibly tightly making it light and very easy to flick around. Modern bike design can easily make a big engine fit into a small form factor.

So I conclude that the 790 Duke is a little bike.

But I also live in a country that is bereft of cultural creativity, which means that if you’re not on a 1000cc bike you might as well go home.

[Godson]

That is entirely the case.

We had multiple SF, 1098SF, SFS, which just sat on the dealership floor. I initially went to the dealer to buy an 848 SF and ended up chasing the big bike, like a dumbass.

[TheBenior]

IIRC, Ducati said we never got a Panigale based Streetfighter because a naked Panigale just didn't look good.

However, I'm guessing it was because the SF never sold well. They hold their value well here, but when new, they sat unsold on dealer lots for years. Realistically, most potential buyers just bought a Monster 1200 S/R or a Panigale anyway.

Bah, tried to edit post to include a naked Panigale, but accidently deleted it.

[Blerpa]

I may live in my own world where perfectly fine bikes are small 400cc and 500cc ones, and a small bike would be an XR350 or, respectively to power, an XT600.
Also, where did all the mono cylinder bikes go? Damn hell, I want to see small compact enduro 600cc bikes with barely 60hp and a light mono.

[TheBenior]

Honda has been pretty focused on practical bikes using their 286cc (300 in Honda model speak), ~30hp single and 471cc (500 in Honda model speak), 47hp twins for several years now. In the US, with those engines, you can buy Honda Rebel 300/500 cruisers, CB300/500F modern standards, a CB300R sorta retro standard, a CB500X ADV, CBR300/500R sportbikes. They don't excite many people over here, but they do sell in massive numbers around the world.

We can still get the single cylinder dual-sport Honda XR650L, Suzuki DR650S, and Kawasaki KLR650 in the US, but I'm guessing that they were victims of either European market tastes or Euro 4 emissions. However, KTM sells singles from 250-690cc, and the Japanese big 3.5 still have smaller single dual-sports.