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New Ducati GT 1000 Touring Model: What’s So Great About Ducati?
For 2009, Ducati started offering a Touring model of the SportClassic GT 1000. It fits in perfectly with the feel of the SportClassic range, since it has all the 70s era touring bits: a big screen, luggage rack, chrome fenders; all that for only $500 dollars more than the regular GT 1000. Great deal. And, of course, it’s a Ducati, so it has top quality performance. The air-cooled twin puts out 92bhp and 67lb/ft of torque. It really is a nice bike if you’re into touring bikes. But I still have the Sport 1000 S on my brain and can’t seem to get it out.
Speaking of the 1000 S, Ducati also started offering it in black in addition to the classic Ducati red it was originally only offered in. Check out pictures of the black Sport 1000 S and the GT 1000 Touring model after the jump:
Ducati, Ducati, Ducati. What’s my deal with Ducati’s? They represent less than 1% of all bikes sold in the US, and I still write more about them than any other bike. Why?
Because they’re the ideal bike. They’re perfection; high quality engineering, high quality design, and attention to detail. They’re the bike to measure other bikes against.
They represent the leader in every class. The $72k Desmosedici RR is the most advanced production bike in the world, and an almost exact replica of the MotoGP bike. The Ducati Hypermotard was awarded “Best of Show” in 2005, and constantly wins awards. The Multistrada, Superbike, Monster… all ahead of their respective competition by yards. And on top of it’s performance, the SportClassic 1000 S may be the best looking bike ever, as in, of all time.
So yea, Honda makes a great bike. So does BMW, Aprilia, Suzuki, etc. But Ducati makes a better bike, and looks pretty at the same time.
What do you think Ridelusters… Black or Red?
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Totally feeling the black vibe over here.
Words by Ryan on October 21, 2008 at 8:28 pm | #
It’s about desmodromic valve actuation. All real “Dukes,” as a pal of mine who regularly writes about motorcycles calls Ducatis, has such a setup.
A desmodromic system uses an extra, inverted cam lobe and a closing rocker arm; thus are valve springs eliminated. The result is an extremely rigid connection between the top of the engine and the bottom end.
Of course, the sound of the engine is pretty soothing to the ears of those of us who value internal combustion for something other than just getting from point A to point B. The sound is different from that of another legendary motorycycle, the Harley-Davidson, a bit more muffled yet with a deep baritone.
Personally, I like blue motorcycles, just because they’re different, especially if they’re Italian made. How many blue Ferraris are you ever seen. (I’ve seen just two, myself.) So if I ever owned GT 1000, the idea of getting it repainted in metallic blue, while not factory correct, sounds good to me.
Words by Terry Parkhurst on October 21, 2008 at 10:53 pm | #
Correction: meant to write in the last “graf” (old newspaper slang for paragraph) of last post: How many blue Ferraris have you ever seen? Makes me wonder how many blue Ducatis there have ever been, from the factory.
Words by Terry Parkhurst on October 21, 2008 at 10:56 pm | #
To answer your question about blue Ducatis – When the S4R Monster first came out (I think in 2002 or 2003), it was only available in blue frame and bodywork, with White wheels and a white stripe. It was more of a navy blue, though, but there is at least one I know of that came in blue from the factory. Additionally, the Sportclassic 1000s was originally only available as the “Paul Smart” which was a light blue frame with Silver fairings (I believe that was in 2004 or 2005).
Words by Noah Leuschner on December 3, 2008 at 5:14 pm | #
Ducatis are like Porsches, refined, to be more than the sum of the parts because they aren’t just slapped together but engineered to feel the parts together. I’ve had English, Japanese, American and now own a 2002 900 Monster in red and a black 999. Bought the 999 because I liked the 900 so much and won’t be getting rid of either for a long time.
Would not take a 1000 mile tour on either but would tour on the new 1000 GT touring! I must confess I do have a 2002 Indian Chief that doesn’t have the performance of almost anything, but it’s my long distance bike. Anyway Ducati also have enough customizing or carbon parts to make then personal like Triumphs were in the 60-70s. The blues were nice except for the white wheels, should have been graphite. most Ducatis need one more color in each model line-up and not the Fly Yellow the Italians usually go for as their standard back-up color. Try blue, green, purple???
Words by Doug J. on December 20, 2008 at 6:30 pm | #
ducatis are nothing like porsches.
my 696 doesn’t equate to german engineering at all.
don’t you mean ferrari?
it’s weird, now the 1098 has been out for a while, the 999 looks cool again.
Words by nutty on April 24, 2009 at 9:31 pm | #
i do like the ‘look’ of the sport 1000s BUT
retro… not a worse word in design.
retro simply indicates a lack of direction, thus a pillage of the past. its easier to copy the past than come up something new.
most of chrysler’s look is retro. nothing worse than it.
the revolting pt cruiser and the prowler which is the ‘gayest’ car out there. and i dont mean good gay but bad gay. desperately overworking a hyper-macho image. all ferraris remind me of magnum pi. bushy moustache hiding the sensitive gay inside.
the hypermotard on the other hand. a stand-up contemporary bike. companies especially engineering nerds tend to get carried away with the technological and thus throw in too much techie crap. and the general public gets sick of all the techno and harkens back to a simpler time. (single-speed track bikes being a prime example).
Words by Alan on October 13, 2009 at 11:20 am | #
The lack of dealer networks, available spare parts and manufacturer support, combined with expensive and frequent service intervals will always be the reason why Ducs will never be serious touring bikes.
Beautiful and mechanically complex – absolutely. Reliable and durable hard core tourers – never.
These bikes seem to be primarily built for and bought by aspiring speed freaks and folks who crave a lot of attention and admiration based on what they ride.
Words by jpooch00 on November 26, 2009 at 5:58 am | #