Thank you for allowing me to join your community. My daily is a Z1000SX but I like a winter project. I pick up this year's on Thursday - an unseen ST2. Having looked around here, there appeared to be mixed opinions on this model but I hope to have some fun with it. I'll continue to look around here and, inevitably, will be asking the odd question over the coming winter.
I have a 1999 bog-standard ST2. It's done about 14,000 miles and right now, I am trying to do a valve shim check and I know that at least a couple of valves need adjustment. I rate the bike and took it to Europe at least once. I bought well-secondhand job, as I had taken my Monster S4r abroad with mates before, and they always moaned at me for having to stop for petrol after about 120 miles! he tables turned when a BMW rider tried to take the piss by not putting in any petrol in his bike when I stopped. He was trying to show that his piece of BMW shit could do one petrol stop, compared to my two. And then he ran out of petrol - the dick! The next time in Europe, I could do over 200 miles per tank. It is not mad fast, but fast enough and a good tourer.
Thank you for the welcome. I yet to find out whether I've bought well but time will tell. And I love a challenge. My other bike is a Sport Tourer so I don't know what I'll do when it's done but I'm sure I'll enjoy the experience whatever happens.
Here is an ST2 in 851/888 clothes, just so you know what is possible with an ST2 that has a virtually indistinguishable frame to 851/888 once you fit their fairing/tank/ seat
Welcome. Electrics and lights are shit: others bullet proof. Great motor, wheelies easy, gobbles miles in relative comfort - only issue I even had was a bit of tennis elbow when more than an hour in the saddle. Probably did 8k miles over the summer owned it.
@Borgo, you know I normally bow to your knowledge, but are you sure that's ST2 based and not Monster? The Monster and 851/888 shared the hoop type rear suspension that bike has, the ST range had the more conventional type. I worked out how to change my later M1000 with the ST type suspension to the earlier Hoop type, but it was a lot of work involving cutting and welding the frame, so I left it for when I was planning to strip it down to a bare frame. If it is ST based I'd be interested in seeing some more images so I can compare how I planned to do it.
You’re right Simon, I have mislead the forum! Pepo Rosell (Radical Ducati, now XTR Pepo) had been commissioned to build an 851/888 and called me to ask if I could keep an eye out for either an 851 or 888 frame. Thinking it would be virtually impossible to find either against a deadline, I suggested the ST2 route to him (which was the route I’d taken), something he hadn’t considered, so he went off to look at the feasibility of a substitute frame and to discuss it with the client. He obviously looked into it more closely than I had and came to the exact conclusion as you. It is a Monster frame and not an ST2 for the reason you stated, that you can’t have the rear ‘hoop’ with the ST2’s rear suspension. So my apologies to all! The build can be seen on his YouTube channel
