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I’m still trying to get over the giddy lump in my throat after three days that have passed since we fixed up to feature the Ducati 999. For the past two hours, my sweaty palms have underscored my excitement in salty water... I am finally going to ride a Ducati!
Horrifying visions of embarassing slow speed dumps have left fetid scars on my imagination. I’ve dreamed of this ride for as long as I can remember, and it’s finally happening. We’ve touched Ducatis before, but the 916 (July 2001) evaded all attempts at saddle time and the Cagiva Gran Canyon (October 2002) did have an air-cooled Ducati motor, but it was, after all, a Cagiva.So that slinky yellow blur heading quickly towards me is as close I’ll ever get to manna from heaven.But before I have a chance, Bijoy’s already snagged the keys and I see the compact 999 pull out a massive gap over the car I’m following him in. Driving a sedate 77 horse cage, I cannot help but imagine the torquey 124 bhp Testastretta engine that throbs to Bijoy’s throttle hand.
If you’ve seen the Testa... word before, that is because the narrowhead engine first appeared on the 998, which became the awesome finale to the decade long reign of the 916 family. The same 998 CC engine, with changes to the piston stroke, airbox,lube system and an unprecedented unequal length exhaust system with the distinctive underseat box was to power the 999.
When Bijoy finally gets off the bike, I leap into my faded riding jacket and Shoei and onto the machine. And I am instantly at a loss to describe just how tiny the 999 actually is. Our Hero Honda Karizma is a larger machine physically. For instance, the tank slims down to just five inches at the crotch-end – distinctly odd when you first hug the tank but it brings a feeling of control that inline fours with their inherent girths will be hard pressed to match.
We’ve all heard countless stories of Ducatis and their genetic relationship to torture racks. So you notice when most 999 road tests in foreign glossies rate the 999’s ergos between ‘pretty civilised’ and ‘useable everyday.’ It was, hence, quite a surprise to find yourself almost bum over head as you tuck in for the first time. The reach to the bars is not excessive and the rearsets are not as high as say an R1.
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