I wouldn't believe the journo's either tbh, it's been the tail wagging the dog for a long time now. They are terrified of saying anything even slightly negative. I do have this as fact, I know an ex editor of one of the mags, he went to work for a manufacturer because he said they couldn't say what they wanted to anymore, or even close
All of them are basically part of the big marketing campaign for new bikes. There are no issues with new bikes until there is a replacement model out. Then they mention the common issues that never existed before. They will point out a few minor things and spin them so they are a positive/not really negative to allow themselves to have their shoot outs. The basic rule is: New bike = amazing. A few years old/previous model = flaws, common issues
No, because if he said they didn't think a 959 was worth the premium over a 899 for example, or a new R6 was just a slower version of the same bike and they didn't see the point. They got emails informing them they wouldn't be getting invited to future press events. It's exactly the same with 44T, they were truly independent when they were just borrowing bikes from dealers and good contacts, but when they started getting loaners on Ducati press fleet you will notice the shift. I don't really want to sound like I'm anti-establishment or naïve, just reporting what I was told. A lot of industries have gone the same way in terms of the marketing. To prove the point, look back over some bike reviews from the 90's. A perfect one is when one of the mags reviewed the V-Due. An extreme example, but not only did they rip it to pieces, they showed their email exchange and the responses of Bimota basically to say to customers 'this is what the bike is ACTUALLY like'. Thinking about it the last time I saw a 'Negative' review was probably as far back as the SP-1 or TLR1000 which actually got a pretty hard time in the press.
Have to agree with the above, they all big up whatever bike they are given, sure they may call out a few minor details but no one will say the bike is crap these days. This year has been the first year where I've watched so many bike review videos you can see it on every one. Not long ago I watched one of lamb chop rides for example reviewing the current Super naked's... I think the SFV4 came top, then the Tuono then the SDR. Roll forward a month or so and he's back on an SDR back tracking, saying when he returned the SFV4 he changed his mind, too highly strung for the road... decided to take the SDR back out and that's suddenly the best naked. Personally the reviews mean little, if I like it based on looks and if it rides OK I'll buy it, you can sort stuff out, gearing, suspension to make it your own.
A good review, but nothing that is unexpected. Until it’s used in the real world any review is pointless IMHO. The suspension will be shocking on the road and the heat will be unbearable. Both of which can be sorted. I’ll probably end up buying one but not sure if I’ll buy new or wait for a low mileage used bike. My 848sf may have to last another year.
I have a lot of respect for Michael Neeves, but I feel this review is rushed driven by the necessity to get something out, and it's mainly reciting facts. I look forward to his more considered review. I will say that, at that price point, it should be compared to the Speed Triple 1200 RS (only £500 more), rather than than the Street Triple 765 RS. That said, no surprises, and I'm now set on a Speed Triple in the spring. SF riders can expect "What if?" glances from me though...
The trumpet 1200rs does look to be a great buy compared to the v2sf and others such as the v4sf. I just don’t know if I can put up with the hideous headlight arrangement.
I genuinely really like the headlight appearance, and may prefer it without the additional small bikini fairing option accessory, but as I don’t want to be picking flies out from behind the clocks, I’ll be adding that. I liked the looks from the start, but I’ve grown to like them even more. The worst aspect of the Speed’s looks for me is the exhaust which hides the single-side swing-arm, and I do think the SF V2 / V4 both do a better job with that.
I really wanted to like this V2 SF , but the more I dig into it , I just feel like it’s not a very complete offering compared to the competition, to my mind it needs about 2 or 3 grand spending on it to bring it up to scratch, if I was going to buy one, I’d want to do the following to it - Single seat cowling. £310 Tail tidy. £160 ish Better rear shock. £1,000 roughly - standard one is pretty poor tbh, hence £80 on EBay! Bin Euro5 exhaust. £2,700 for Akra cans ! Or s/hand 1299 system. £400 ish ? And that’s just a start before you look at things like rad guards, paint protection kit, new grips etc? So you could easily spend a couple of grand on it and to me that gets you into 1200 Speedy or V4 Tuono territory, both of which are better specced bikes,..cruise control, full Ohlins all round, electronic on the Tuono, or you could get the Bayliss V2 including the full Ohlins. But one of the worst bits I think of the V2 SF is this electronic torque management in the first three gears, just look at this dyno chart… Just look at that massive dip in the torque curve, how’s that gonna feel on the road? and how do you get rid of it,..throw more money at it getting it custom mapped?? Reading between the lines, I think Neevesy’s review was a bit “ meh” …just seemed a bit underwhelmed by it? Looks wise I think it looks nicer than the V4 SF without the wings, but if you just have to have some carbon wings on your V2 SF , Ducati will sell you some, a cool £1,107…ouch ! Not for me thanks
I’ll tell you how that torque curve feels on the road having owned the V2, it feels like you open the throttle, it starts pulling, and then put your foot on the rear brake for 1000rpm as it accelerates and that’s what it’s like. I got flamed for saying it, people saying ‘just ride it above 6k rpm all the time’ but when I got back on a 959 even with stock exhaust I couldn’t believe how nice it pulled through from the bottom.
It’s a toss up between this and the new Monster for me. I’ll need to ride both back to back, but both look like great bikes.
https://www.asphaltandrubber.com/reviews/ducati-streetfighter-v2-review/ This seems to make the same point as many are thinking. Great bike but expensive for what it is.
The V2 panigale is like night and day with the stock exhaust and map against the full system and t800 upmap I did on mine. The standard setup is pish on the road but now it pulls cleanly from low revs and has a stronger mid range too. I’m sure the v2sf will require all of the mods I have done to my V2 panigale which makes it a very expensive naked bike, but it looks great.
Totally agree, except you don’t need to go nearly that far before you’re in Speed or Tuono territory. A Speed with full Ohlins, cruise control and SatNav is £500 more. Hefty discounts are available on Tunono, and I was offered a brand new Tuono V4 Factory (with electronic Ohlins) for 16K without even haggling. Both these are another league. I’ll be going for the Speed.
I think if you look at the latest 3-4 Ducati launches, the prices have stepped up a notch, Ducati is starting to lookout of my price justification window for sure. I was just looking at monster 950’s and they are £11k, and they don’t do it for me for that money….
