The E-900 Ducati is something Europeans would easily understand. It's a
super motard, styled after Paris Dakar racers, with a street survival mission
to handle well, even on badly worn cobbled roads. But I don't think Americans
will understand it, for the same reasons they didn't understand the TDM850,
the Transalp, and the BMW Paris Dakar. But wait, you say, isn't the Paris
Dakar much coveted and worshipped among the jughead Bimmer crowd? Yes it
is, and this bike will no doubt be greatly admired by the Duck lovers, and
that's who it's for. Never mind the general population; the E-900 is a bike
for the experienced, worldly rider who wants a supremely capable bike made
for the real life roads. It's for the rugged individualist who wants a suspension
capable of handling even the worst roads, the ever lovable 900 desmodronic
twin engine and fine precision Brembo brakes.
Before we get into the riding, I should say that I expected it to be absolutely
ignored by the regular citizens of the world. After all, it just looks like
an overgrown dirtbike. Regular people, as we all know, only admire Harleys
and regard sportbikes with a mixture of fear, rage and condescending mirth.
They think dirtbikes are for kids. Even thought it is tall and seemingly
large, I thought people would ignore it. It is extremely quiet, once the
dry clutch is engaged, and the graphics are subdued. But I was on it for
maybe fifteen minutes when a guy in a Ferrari Mondial at a stoplight said
"Very nice." I assumed that he just an Italophile, but sure enough,
some grunge rocker at a sandwich shop wanted to know all about it. The next
day, a woman abandoned her cash register to come out of her store and asked
"That's not Japanese, is it?" I briefly explained the bike, and
she nodded, knowingly. She liked it, an oddity in a world where I thought
women only like bikes with lots of chrome.
But I've said it before, and I mean it; I really don't care what the general
public thinks about my ride. I'd ride a fluorescent pink Zamboni with "Leif
Garrett" painted on the side if it was fast and handled well. I wouldn't
care if it looked like a early seventies dirt brown Dodge Duster. I'm a
performance guy at heart. This one performs.
The E-900 is big and tall, which means that it has lots of suspension travel,
and the bulk to have composure on rough surfaces. It eats up bad road like
nobody's business. You can't feel Botts dots, and in fact, you can run over
curbs and barely even feel them. Hell, I went ahead and climbed stairs with
the bike and it felt just fine. There's a lot to be said for a bike that
can clear curbs. In traffic it was tall enough to easily clear most car
mirrors, but trucks became the problem. I didn't have the bike long enough
to learn how to really abuse it, but I'm sure it would happily run over
errant road trash like mufflers, loose lumber and the ever popular tire
shard.
But the thing of it is, the bike handles extremely well in the curves. Knowing
that pavement ripples don't affect it builds confidence, and I didn't even
think about trying to reach its ample cornering clearance. Flicking a bike
this tall from side to side in the twisties takes some getting used to,
but it isn't as heavy as it looks, and I've ridden a lot of bikes with a
taller center of gravity. Speaking of tall, I could barely reach the ground
with my 32 inch inseam, but it wasn't too difficult to balance without touching
down. At stop signs, I'd just stop long enough for the forks to decompress,
and zip off. I didn't have a chance to thoroughly flog the bike for a full
day in the canyons, and believe you me, I'm aiming back.
In keeping with rich Ducati tradition, this bike wheelies on command in
low gears. First gear is especially low, and I'm pretty sure that the front
tire lifts an inch or so at every stoplight. The power delivery of the big
twin offers high torque low in the revs, and continues fairly smoothly up
to near the redline. This power, geared as low as it is, makes for fine
highway cruising. In the high speed zone the fairing offers surprisingly
nice wind protection. The air hits you on the upper chest, and your helmet
doesn't get much turbulence. In fact, it's a bike I would tour on and be
very comfortable.
But I'm not so sure I'd do much off road on this one. It's a little big
for trail work, although in more capable hands I'm sure it could be done
with fun. Also, let's not forget that this bike comes from a history
of Cagiva desert racers and is built with experience as it's starting point.
It's a fine capable bike for the intelligent Aerostitch real world heavy
mileage crowd. - Paul Peczon
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