Tested: 2017 Ducati SuperSport S on road and track

Sports bikes. Have they got just bit too much? Discuss. Time was back in the day that Ducati’s 916 was making around 113bhp, and the world loved it. Admittedly that was a very long time ago but it’s still held high as an iconic sports bike. Now we’re up to 200bhp and for most people they’re just too nuts to use on the road. And rightfully so.

The Ducati 1299 Panigale makes a claimed 205bhp, even the diminutive but mighty 959 Panigale makes a claimed 157bhp. That’s great for some riders, but for others it’s a turn-off.

With some of the world looking for a practical sports bike that you can use every day, chuck down a back road with aplomb, and do the occasional track day, Ducati has created this – the new SuperSport and SuperSport S. It even does 9000 miles between oil services.

The new SuperSport leads on from the long lineage of Supersport and/or SS bikes in Ducati’s range. It reaches right back to Paul Smart’s famous Imola 200 winning bike in 1972, and the great SS models of the Seventies, the later 900SS, Superlight, 750SS and 600SS of the Nineties, and the later Pierre Terblanche designed pointy nose Ducati SS models. It has a lot to live up to then.

With a 937cc L-twin Testastretta 11 motor making 113bhp and based on the engine from the Ducati Hypermotard and Multistrada 950, a sporty chassis with fully-adjustable suspension, and styling derived from the Panigale – Ducati’s SuperSport S is one sexy mother. And then you get to ride it. Don’t worry, it gets better.

In this engine tune, the same as the Multistrada 950 but with different crankcases as the motor is mounted directly on the frame, makes 80 per cent of its torque from just 3000rpm, peaking at 6500rpm and with maximum power of 113bhp at 9000rpm. It has a flat power delivery but feels like it hangs on to revs longer than the Multistrada 950, but that may have just been my brain.

The basic trellis chassis is taken from the Monster 821 but features new mounting points for the front headlights. Essentially the motor is the chassis as it’s rigidly mounted to the engine.

On paper, 113bhp may not sound like a lot but actually it is plenty. For the real road, and even the occasional track day it’s a good balance.

On the pipe, approaching near flat-out on track, it has a motor with enough punch to hit 140mph down the back straight at the Monteblanco circuit near Seville in Spain. Even in soaking conditions (admittedly on wets on track) the traction control never gets in the way of compromising the sports nature, even in the wet and on level seven out of eight. You can feel it cutting in, saving you from harm, but it’s subtle and perfect for greasy, wet roads in the UK. Switch to Sport mode and the bike picks up cleaner, the map is more aggressive but gives you better feel and it pulls out of fast corners with the traction control light flashing when on setting three. It’s a fantastic safety aid.

It’s massively comfortable on track too. Our track bikes had a higher touring screen fitted for extra wind protection, and an aftermarket Akrapovic titanium and carbon end can, but other than that, the wets (we’ll come to those), and a softer suspension set-up, the bikes are standard.

There’s none of the harshness you’d get riding a full-on sports bike in the wet on-track where you’d be feeling for grip through the stiffness of the chassis. This is pure sports adrenaline in a rider-friendly package.

It’s sheeting it down with rain when I first get to ride the Ducati SuperSport S at Monteblanco, on circuit and I’m nervous as hell about it.

Because the conditions are so bad, and for safety reasons, Ducati has ditched the standard Pirelli Diablos Rosso III tyres, and fitted racing wets. You could argue that it’s not a true test of the bike. I’d argue against it, because the extra grip of the tyres lets you feel the delicate chassis movements and low speed throttle control in some of the tighter hairpins.

The standard up and down quickshifter on the S version is sublime. It means you never have to use the clutch except for stopping and pulling away. Just tap the lever up and down. Up sees a seamless shift and constant power. Hit the lever down and it auto blips so the engine matches the revs.

Even with wets you can’t ride it like it’s dry, and that means you hit revs as low as 3000rpm and wind the gas on, feel the softened up rear squat but drive hard. The front has been softened so it feels light under power but is stable as hell. Hit the Brembo brakes on track and they have bags of feel and power. It dives a lot, but this isn’t a track bike and you get good feel from the front. Those handlebars are designed to be comfortable rather than track-focussed, but the riding position lets you hang off the bike and feel where you’re at.

But this is still a sports bike. It’s not a big, soft, floaty sports tourer.

2017 Ducati SuperSport technical specifications