This is the Ducati Streetfighter 848 … is a bigger brother waiting in the wings?
We’ve already discussed the fact that naked bike performance has gone off the charts, blowing through the displacement limits for superbikes. Ducati, on the other hand, discontinued its Streetfighter 1099 over a year ago, and hasn’t been playing this game of late. It offers a large displacement Monster (with a liquid-cooled, 1198 cc engine), but that bike only puts out 145 hp in its highest state of tune, and it is the Streetfighter chassis that has the chops to go toe-to-toe with the latest super nakeds, as you can see in our ride review of the Streetfighter 848.
Which brings us to the rumor that Ducati may be ready to introduce a Streetfighter 1299 featuring the 1285 cc v-twin found in its 1299 Panigale. This motor makes 205 crank hp in the 1299 Panigale S. We hope to have more on this rumored machine before the annual new bike launches this Fall. Stay tuned.
I currently have a new Triumph Rocket 3 Roadster and have ridden about 600 miles in the last 4 days, just cruising the twisty roads of Southwest Missouri’s and Northwest Arkansas beautiful and famous country roads, looking for a good breakfast stop! I’ve had the V-max, Suzuki 1200S Bandit and my last little fast scoot, a 2010 Buell 1125R toy and I have never thought that I was in danger of too much power since that decision is left to my well trained and experienced right hand:) I have been riding for 53 years and have had 79 motorcycles/ scooters so far:)
Ducati has designed some technologically advanced and beautiful bikes to meet a market demand for diverse types and styles of bikes and I applaud them for their effort. The new Scrambler alone has increased their portfolio by 30% since it introduction. I’ve had two Duc’s and loved them.
I do feel that a European tiered licensing system for new riders is becoming a must, when anybody with more money than sense can buy a bike that only riders with very considerable experience should ride. On one of the forums I’m on, a Newbie was going to buy and new Panigale and had never ridden before and of course we tried our best to show him the error of his ways.
I would love to have this Ducati but the dealers are few and far between in the Heartland.
I had a new 2010 Triumph Scrambler and I truly believe that my 1963 Honda 305 Superhawk would have easily not only out ran it but performed better in almost every way:)
It seems like there’s always some “newbie” on the forums asking whether he’ll be okay if he starts out on a 150hp bike. I sometimes wonder how many of them are for real, and how many are just trolls looking to get people riled up.
Who are you going to fight with 205 horsepower? Death?
KTM, BMW, Aprilia, MV Agusta, etc………
“Who are you going to fight with 205 horsepower? Death?”
Ennui.
For how long???
Extended doses are not necessary. Just grab a handful for a few seconds to pass a slow-moving vehicle or just roll on and off the throttle every now and then between 50 – 80 mph just for kicks while on a lonely back road. Repeat as needed. Refill your prescription at the nearest gas station. Good stuff.
For serious cases, sign up for a track day.
Jeremy you don’t need 200 hp to pass a slow moving vehicle, after all it’s moving slow … and you also don’t need 200 hp to run it up from 50-80 just for kicks
but on a racetrack with similar machines, a bike like this would be the cat’s meow.
Mickey, “need” has nothing to do with it.
And to roll from 50 – 80, no you don’t need it for that either, but it is a much different experience with a 150 – 200 hp bike than an 80 – 100 hp one.
And when you do roll up for that track day, well, there is just no replacement for excessive power.
That was my point Jeremy, the power this bike is capable of is wasted on the street, but it would certainly make a sweet track weapon.
Maybe it’s where I live, but here in SW Ohio there are PoPo everywhere. On a 30 mile ride I might pass 6 of them, Highway Patrol, Sheriffs and local LEO’s. You just never know, around the next bend over the next rise, I probably have 2 “oh Sheeit” moments on every ride I take and I ride like the reasonably quick old man that I am.
Law enforcement isn’t that bad around here in my opinion. My admittedly anecdotal experience has been that as long as you aren’t in a busy or heavily residential area and aren’t acting like a complete loon, the LEOs are pretty tolerant. But then we have skinny, two-lane, tar and pitch roads around here with 70 and 75 mph speed limits, and even faster in some parts of the state. So speeds that could get someone sent to jail on similar roads in other states incite nothing more than minor worry over the chance of a speeding ticket here. (One such road goes from a 70mph speed limit to a 45mph speed limit as soon I cross the state line into Louisiana. Who knew it was so much more dangerous to drive in Louisiana than it is in Texas?)
I’d like to say that the power of bikes like this isn’t completely wasted by a street-only rider, but I’d be lying. Bikes like these are dual-sport bikes, just the other side of the spectrum. If you don’t go to the track, it’s kind of like owning a DR650 that you never take off-road. Still, just knowing what a bike is capable of often provides more than enough value to buyers.
Lol we don’t have 70 speed limit anywhere in the state I know of, even on the expressway. We have to hit the expressway in N Ky to see 70 mph speed limits.
As I. Said 6 spottings on todays ride, 3 Highway Patrol, 2 Sheriffs and 1 township car. Our State Highway Patrol have a saying..over 9 you’re mine…and they mean it. The locals are a little more forgiving but 12 over would get you a ticket for sure.
The Horsepower Nannies were saying the same thing in 2000 about 150 HP Superbikes.
Get over yourselves.
Update the old ST line with this motor and chassis. Great bikes!!!
I like them. But the high pegs and low bars gets old. I’ll take a scrambler 1299, though, truth be told, winding up my Honda CB500F motor suits me just fine after owning larger bikes (750, 1000, 1200). It does the highway (unlike my 250’s which barely did) and is a perfect backroads motor. – A 1299 would be FAST!!! I ride my brother’s 07 1100 Multi and that thing is illegal in no time. You can’t REALLY use a 1299 on the street, but, it’s FUN, so hey, if you like the naked SPORT bike with a flat bar, nice machine.
Imagine 10 years from now… We’ll be talking about Ducati’s 2.0L Superbikes and 3.0L 4-Cyl upcoming Hayabusa.
Ducati’s flagship used to be around 900cc, now 1,300ccs! Sheesh…
Ducati should design it with a small fairing. Upright without any wind protection can get old fast and aftermarket gear rarely looks good.
Does this mean, if Ducati wanted, they could build a street legal 649.5cc single with 105hp at the crank?
If yes, then THAT’s a bike I want to know more about!
The Panigale motor seems even more impressive when you put it that way. Can you imagine a reliable 650 thumper putting out 100 hp? That would be the Baja or Dakar weapon of choice for sure.
Imagine it, but not reliable. The best supermonos might have just touched that power, but maybe a bit under it. Bikes like the Ducati Supermono, AMDM720…
I suspect I’d prefer the measly 848 SF. Did you guys see the modern Ducati mid size twin with one piston and cylinder removed, the hole plugged, and the bike converted to a modern Supermono? Sweet!
I thought that was a photochopppd rendering until I read the article. Damn, Thats ugly! Then again, I’d take a Panigale on looks alone..
“Only 145hp” I have a 03 GSXR 1000 streetfighter. High horsepower nakeds are just silly because the wind blast is just crazy at higher speeds. A lot of that power is just unusable. I like the GSXR 1000 because of the low end pull of the motor, the top end though goes pretty much unused.
So, will it come with an expanding plastic fuel tank as standard equipment, like the 1098 and 848SF?
I tough it was a feature… some goggling reveals it’s a flaw related to expanding/deforming of a plastic fitted fuel tank.
some of the alternatives are almost a work of art:
http://motowheels.com/i-13996784-ducati-streetfighter-1098-848-aluminum-tank.html
I wonder if there is a exposed welds option?
You say that like it a BAD thing…
I hope so! I got an extra 30 miles of range out of my Monster thanks to that sweet feature.
In all seriousness though, I thought that got that sorted with their supplier a few years ago?
Bikes like these are for all the immature people out there that think more power will actually make you a faster rider.
Bikes like these are for people with disposable income who want to buy them. It’s no more complicated than that. It’s like making light of a middle aged woman who cruises around in a 500hp Porsche while never exceeding the speed limit. To criticize her is nothing more than a display of envy.
Todd…
Listen to TF, he knows who the bulk of the buyers are and then he tells you the source of your frustrations
Says Grumpy Grandpappy!
“Get off my lawn!” Darn kids with those hooligan machines…
More power just means more fun! You don’t use it all the time, but when you can let it rip, there is nothing else that can make me giggle in my helmet like a schoolgirl at a One Direction concert (or whoever girls Google at nowadays?)
Every bike i have ridden, eventually i have wanted more power at some point…
Smoke ’em if you got ’em!
Darn right. I’m not worried about getting through a set of curves faster; I’m looking for that Star Wars “making the jump to light speed” feeling you just don’t get without serious thrust! People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for supercars that can’t even accelerate that hard…we should feel lucky that we’re able to access this kind of performance for comparative pocket change.
He must never have felt that
More power makes you a faster accelerator. That’s what people want from a bike like this: the rush that comes with grabbing a handful of throttle. The vast majority of people don’t care if they can ever ride it like Valentino Rossi.
I just get annoyed riding behind bikes like these. Their riders pull away from me quickly exiting a turn only for me to nearly crash into the back of them while they’re hard on the brakes for the next one. I see it all the time.
I see it often here too. And we don’t even have curves. However, cruisers are much more of a problem in these parts if an exciting ride (or even a leisurely ride at the speed limit) is your desire since they travel in impassible herds often well below the speed limit. Fair enough as it is a public road, but it is still frustrating to the point that I almost never ride the “motorcycle” roads around here.
Two hundred and five horsepower. Naked. Does it come with a three-point harness to keep you from being blown off in the hurricane wind?
The more I look at this bike, the more I see a sports tourer…naked.
Anything that puts out that much power and is that densely packaged will throw off serious BTUs. Great for the racetrack, but it looks like it will slow-cook the rider in city traffic.
It won’t put out any more hp at idle than will a 5-hp machine.
I think you are wrong about that, guu.
Seriously that is a ridculous amt of space between the tire and rear fender . Duc made the same mistake with their GT1000. That’s just plain goofy looking IMO.
Mistake? Have you tried to buy a GT1000 or Sport Classic lately? Anyone who has one and is selling it is likely getting more than they paid for it.
I think it’s not so much that space, but the lower/wedgy-lookin’ front. It’s just not a well-proportioned motorcycle.
Apparently I’m a tool. This was supposed to be a reply to mickey.
I mean, see this:
http://www.bcsportbikes.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=100096&stc=1&d=1343628729
TF no I haven’t tried to buy one lately and I didn’t try to buy one when they were new because the rear end looked so goofy. I bought a Bonneville T100 instead.
Wonder how many they could have sold if it had looked more normal?
Probably less. Nobody buys Ducatis because they look normal. They buy them because they look extraordinary. The street fighter look is very high in the back and the customers who buy them want them to look this way.
“I didn’t try to buy one when they were new because the rear end looked so goofy.”
Good move. In order to avoid that “goofy” gap you had to sacrifice so little. Only 25hp. Oh, and dual discs and a USD fork. Er, and a 6 speed tranny. And an oil cooler. Rear shocks that actually worked. And a comfortable seat. And EFI, assuming comparable production years.
But look at it this way, you *did* gain something…90 lbs.
All the stuff you mentioned didn’t mean squat to me. I thoroughly enjoyed
the Bonnie and wan’t embarrassed every time I looked at it. It was a beautiful motorcycle, especially compared to that pig ugly Duc.
All in the eye of the beholder. You don’t enjoy your Bonnie any more than those who chose to buy the GT1k or Sport Classic enjoyed theirs.
Just ride your bike. Be happy that people choose to ride bikes, even if you don’t care for the bikes they choose. There’s always room on the road for more bikes.
It does look like it has air shocks filled up to 150 psi
I has one shock, filled with nitrogen. And 150 psi would be about right. 😉
TF hit the nail on the head
In refererence to the multi strands motor
I own a 2011 Multi with the 11 degree 1198 engine which has been an awesome (and very reliable) street bike. And yes, I use all six gears and all 150 horsepower quite frequently, especially out on the highway loaded up with my better half and all our luggage. I consider it a safety feature knowing that you can out accelerate just about any four-wheeled vehicle you are likely to encounter. I fell in love with the Testastretta engine after riding the 1198 superbike (41 degree) but it was not near as useful on the street as the 11 degree motor used in bikes like the Multi and Diavel. When I rode the Multi for the first time I thought I would never use all of its available thrust. Now, I wish I had more at certain times and in certain situations.
I have not ridden the DVT Multi yet but am targeting a 2016 model to replace my 2011. Everything I have heard and read is that it is a considerable improvement over what I am currently riding……..very smooth with a broader spread of power.
“Now, I wish I had more at certain times and in certain situations.” How true that is…Mark Donohue replied when asked if the 917-30 had enough power, that it would have enough if he could spin the wheels all the way down the straight
Lol! I rode a 1290 Superduke last summer shortly after they were released. It took about 20 minutes to bond with that bike and realize that “too much power” is actually just about the right amount. Modern bikes are so well mannered and predictable that the threat to your well-being is your right hand and what’s between your ears, not the piece of machinery you’re sitting on.
“that bike only puts out 145 hp”… okay…
interesting the photo shows a trellis frame not the actual… whatever is called frame on the Paningale.
anyone else who will prefer the under-seat exhausts a la 996 instead of the monster-like ones on the photo?
way to much power for the street….
The photo is the current 848 Streetfighter.
lol hahahahaha… I didn’t knew there where a 848 streetfighter…
Dirck… this is your fault…. we need a review of that fine bike…
http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2011/10/2012-ducati-streetfighter-848-md-first-ride/
“way too much power for the street” you say…
Nobody told KTM with their Super Duke 1299 or Aprilia with their Tuono V4 1100 RR
They’ve entered into an “All-Out-War” in HP / Performance Dominance for the Unlimited Ultimate Holligan Naked Bike.
You think the execs @ Ducati can stand idly by and not Kick Ass?
Still waiting to hear how many units of KTM Duke 1299 and Tuono V4’s are selling, or if these brands believe the presence of these super-nakeds buoy the sales of their other models with positive brand image.
“Nobody told KTM with their Super Duke 1299 or Aprilia with their Tuono V4 1100 RR”
both have waaayyy to much power…. but that probably makes them ridiculously fun to ride… I wonder if owners of these bikes use anything but the first three gears on the street.
I’d rather have the DVT engine from the new Multistrada in a street fighter config. That would be more practical for street use (as the name implies).
And to think that I was completely happy with my 1982 Suzuki GS750EZ. What would I do with 130 extra horsepower?:0
With an extra 130 hp you can power a flux capacitor and travel 35 years into the future.