SeekingFire Ducati Blog
First Impressions: The Chassis
October 01, 2007
The Ducati 900 is so finely engineered and balanced and torqued that you *can* do 90 mph in fifth through a 35-mph zone and get away with it. The bike is not just fast—it is *extremely* quick and responsive, and it *will* do amazing things... It is like riding a Vincent Black Shadow, which would outrun an F-86 jet fighter on the take-off runway, but at the end, the F-86 would go airborne and the Vincent would not, and there was no point in trying to turn it. WHAMO! The Sausage Creature strikes again.
There is a fundamental difference, however, between the old Vincents and the new breed of superbikes. If you rode the Black Shadow at top speed for any length of time, you would almost certainly die. That is why there are not many life members of the Vincent Black Shadow Society. The Vincent was like a bullet that went straight; the Ducati is like the magic bullet in Dallas that went sideways and hit JFK and the Governor of Texas at the same time.
It was impossible. But so was my terrifying sideways leap across the railroad tracks on the 900sp. The bike did it easily with the grace of a fleeing tomcat. The landing was so easy I remember thinking, goddamnit, if I had screwed it on a little more I could have gone a lot farther.
The ST3 is narrow and light, and those characteristics define its essential feel. It’s an ST with the emphasis on “sport” rather than “tour” The trellis frame is part of the Ducati mystique and looks both unique and beautiful, allowing you to clearly see the interesting bits it wraps around. Compared to the large aluminum members that are common on sportbikes these days it looks insubstantial, almost dainty. It works, though, transmitting the “feel” of the road to the rider light no other motorcycle I’ve ridden. [PIC of trellis frame] The forks are adjustable only for preload[PIC of top triple clamp] [PIC of fork lowers] The shock is a Sachs unit [PIC of shock from the top] Shock on the ST3 doesn’t have a separate ride-height adjuster, adjusting preloading is closest you can get. [PIC of shock linkage at the bottom] The steering lock has less range than the Bandit, which can make parking lot maneuvering a bit more entertaining. It’s acceptable but I wouldn’t want any less range. [Measure and include numbers]
