Shawn Roberti, the most accomplished rider in our group, felt totally comfortable pushing the high limits of the Ducati 999S.
Anyone looking to flog three superbikes in the summer heat had better have a solid set of tires, and luckily we were able to secure the services of both Bridgestone and Pirelli. The first day we fitted our bikes with a set of
Bridgestone BT-014s, and on the second day we mounted a set of
Diablo Corsas; the same tires we fell in love with during our
Superbike Smackdown test.
Comparatively, they were both outstanding in their own way, with the Bridgstones showing slightly less adhesion but definitely holding up better to the abuse of 120-horsepower Twins over the course of a Summer day at Thunderhill. The Pirellis were just the opposite, giving us the most stick early in the day, then falling off as the day wore on. Take your pick, but we'll take both, please.
- Excellent pull from bottom to top
- Best mid-corner stability
- Exculsivity
- $22,995.00
- Extremely hot
- Slow turn-in capabilities
During the street portion of our test we were thoroughly impressed with the Ducati's excellent mid-corner stability, but bemoaned its inability to get leaned over as quickly as the Mille Factory and the RC51. Once we no longer had to deal with obstacles on the street we were able to fully concentrate on the subtleties of each bike. The Duc turned out to be a mite quicker to steer than we originally reported.
Powering down the straight at Thunderhill, we reached speeds topping 135 mph before leaning the 999 into the high-speed left hander. Much to our surprise the S turns in quickly, but it takes a little more muscle than the other two machines, which is further complicated by it's slight build. At times it felt like we were making love to Laura Flynn Boyle, aimlessly searching for something to hold onto as the pace increased.
