2003 DUCATI 999 - Motorcycle.com
By now you've read the race-track reports from the bike's Misano press launch in the print magazines--the infamous launch to which MO was somehow not invited (and for which Ducati will pay through the nose but let's not go into that now). Here now for your perusal, the first real road test of the new 999 (far as we know), by our own Despondent Correspondent, the one, the only, ladies and gentlemen we give you YOSSEF SCHVETZ LIVE FROM ITALY! Take it away Yossef... --JohnnyB
Here I am again exactly one year later, passing the same spot on the 999 and not even thinking about stopping at the roadside cafe where I nursed my aching wrists last year. I feel like gassing it some more for another hour or two. This 999 intruduces a new concept into sport bikes--riding position adjustabality. After experiencing the unbelievable change in feel, comfort and handling that the new Duc allows via its adjustable saddle/fuel tank unit and footpegs--the fixed riding position imposed by all other sport mounts feels plain dumb. Period. In my book, this is a mini-revolution.
When you produce a motorcycle that in (heavily) modified form can lap a track less than a second off MOTO GP pace (check out SBK vs. MOTO GP times at Assen this year), then there isn't much wrong mechanically speaking in the first place. And in various interviews Terblanche acknowledged the fact that in the remaking of Ducati's flagship, his main target was to improve upon "rideability," or even more precisely, that of allowing anybody between 6' and 5'4 to find his perfect riding position. This has been achieved by leaving the trusty tubular frame--the front portion at least--alone, and redesigning the rear part. By narrowing the rear subframe mounting tubes, lowering the rear shock mounting point by 1-1/4", and having part of the fuel tank under the seat, Terblanche transformed the early nineties arse-in-the-air ergoes of the 916 into something much more up-to-date and humane.
What about those new curvy bits? My first impression upon seeing the 999 in early photos, like so many critics, was one of total unbalance between the huge surfaces of the front fairing and the vast emptiness under the seat. But the 999 is one of those cases where perfect side views don't do the real thing any favors. As I pull into the Ducati factory parking lot, the red and glistening 999 awaiting me does not fail to induce compulsive smiling. First there's the sheer compactness. Think of the narrowness of a two-stroke 250 roadracer in the critical tank/saddle junction and you're there. The rear part of the tank, next to your crotch, can be grasped between thumb and middle finger; try that on your CBR/GSXR/what have you. More important in the face of the design masterpiece the 999 replaces, is the fact that from standing height, the whole plot starts to make sense, quite a lot of sense. The lack of side panels lets you peer deep into the most intimate parts lurking inside, and the naked rear cylinder head becomes a beautiful, mechanical focal point. The huge fairing lowers somehow become a much less imposing, while the aggressively sculpted tank and tail urge you to get physical with the thing, right here right now. Then there's that face.
Life stinks: I'm sitting behind a desk, so are you, and Yossef's out galavanting around Modena on a 2003 999. Collective hatred for Yossef!
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