Witchcraft
So how did I fall under the Ducati spell? As I said the other day, I finally rode the Hypermotard from Ducati. Uninspiring. Boring. Uncomfortable. Disconcerting. I got off the bike thinking there were a host of things I’d need to change if I was to buy one. In short, it just didn’t suit me.
Last night, the woman woke up at 2 coughing. She joked that she had swallowed a hair ball. The cats are usually in our face most of the night so that isn’t a wholly unreasonable idea. So she woke up coughing. I woke up. She went back to sleep. I stayed awake… until about 6:30 this morning. I was surfing around trying to figure out what I want in a bike. Ideally, I’m looking for an alternative to the FJR for commuting. I need the power to do the 75 mph assaults in the morning and crisp handling to survive the stop-n-go for my ride home. I’d also like something that I can play with on the weekends. I’m not looking for super-slab performance or off-road capabilities. I want something that works for me.
KTM SuperDuke?
I needed to drop off the FJR today to get the ignition switch replaced, per factory recall. I stopped off at Portland Motorcycle to look at a Speed/Street Triple and maybe a Beemer. Nothing grabbed my attention. The 250 SM from Kawasaki looked amusing but that wouldn’t meet the desired goals.
It was time to head east. On Marine Drive, the rain started coming down with more gusto. I was in jeans and leather but the vest was cranked. This is when it really hit me that the spell had been broken. I have been stuck on the idea of a Hyper for so long that I stopped looking at alternatives. Time to rethink and keep an open mind. Maybe something would jump out and the very idea of dropping $17K for another Ducati made me twitch. $15,500 for the bike + $2,500 for the racing exhaust. Yeah. $17K if I bought it in town (which I wouldn’t). We already have one Ducati in the garage and it rarely gets ridden. So why would I want another high-maintenance Italian? Maybe something German or Austrian would be better fitting? British? I didn’t know of anything Japanese that interested me. Time to go see what KTM has to offer.
I met up with the woman at the Yamaha dealership then she drove me over to the KTM dealership in Gresham. They had an orange SuperDuke sitting out front ready for demo rides. We talked. We looked. I kind of like the look of the white SuperDuke. And of course the R is wicked looking. Her comment was, “It’s too angular. I keep expecting it to transform.” I like it. It kind of suits my linear, edged view of things.
The rain had stopped and the roads were almost dry. She suggested that I take out the orange one. I honestly hadn’t even thought about doing that. The sales dude said it was clear enough if I wanted to give it a spin. So I did. I got three blocks away when the rain restarted. What better time to test ride a bike than in the rain? Wet weather manners matter especially when living in the Pacific Northwest.
Whack the throttle and see what’s inside. Shall we?
Easy.
Manageable.
Comfortable (until I slammed my left testicle into the tank scrubbing speed for a hard right).
It stops on a dime, even when the road is damp, and tracks straight in the process.
It corners great. (Let’s not talk about my aching gonad.)
I like the gauges. I can actually see them without having to move my head. I had to intentionally look down to see the speedo on the Hypermotard.
The throttle is a little jumpy, but that’s just part of owning a V-twin and it may be correctable. The clutch pull is a beast not unlike the S2R. I wonder what I can do about that. New clutch springs? Slipper? The mirrors didn’t stay in place, but I already knew that was an issue. Fixable.
The negatives are minor, all things considered. I think it would be a great bike for what I want.
So there is it.
Something jumped and I am listening. Today is not the day and I wanted a discussion with the significant other. At this point, I’d rather buy the 2007 (orange?) with a big markdown than pay closer to retail for either of the 2008s (white or the R). So I am waiting. Thinking. Seeing what comes in the next few weeks.
The spell is broken.
