Ducatist3
DucatiST3
New engine new fairing, new life
MARK HOYER
CW RIDING IMPRESSION
SITTING QUIETLY AT THE press presentation for Ducati’s 2004 ST3, everyone seemed to take for granted the fact that its new three-valve desmo V-Twin engine just...exists. But you’ve got to wonder who’s in charge, which Ducati brain says, “I must solve these engineering problems with these answers.”
In the case of the desmotre powering the ST2 replacement as entry-level sport-tourer in the Ducati line, it was the company’s grand old man of engineering, R&D Director Gianluigi Mengoli.
As told by one of his top project engineers over a sevencourse Spanish meal during the bike’s introduction in Barcelona, Ingegnere Mengoli, in this age of CAD/CAM, undertook design and drawing of this engine at home, using pencil and paper, probably just as he did when he was first hired some 30 years ago. Then he brought it in and had the kids digitize it. Parts followed, then testing, and here we are in the Sierra Madre mountains on a cloudy day dodging goats on the road and, ahem, their leavings.
So while you can plainly see that the upper fairing is changed, the powerplant is where the real action is.
The basic idea was to combine the best attributes of the torquey desmodue engine with some of the top-end zap of the desmoquattro 996cc ST4S.
The tre features the same 992cc displacement (94.0 x 71.5mm bore and stroke) of the air-cooled DS1000 engine introduced last year, piled on the same bottom-end bits (crank, gearbox and so forth), but with new heads, rods, pistons and cylinders, plus the addition of liquidcooling as on the ST2.
Like the DS, twin sparkplugs are used for a quick, clean burn, and short ports for the single
exhaust valve were designed to keep head temperatures in check. The two inlet ports and valves allow greater breathing volume at high rpm, while maintaining velocity at lower engine speeds. Which means? A smooth, torquey powerplant that’s very well behaved. It’s not quite as smooth-feeling as the ST4S, but it’s less vibey than the DS1000 mill as fitted to our long-term Multistrada.
Ducati says torque is on par with the ST4S up to 6500 rpm, and ahead of the DS1000 engine across the range, with a claimed peak of 69 foot-pounds at 7250 rpm. The 102-horsepower motor pulls strongly until about 8000 rpm, and if you shift there, you’re right back around the torque peak and the fun surge begins again. It is quite tractable on the bottom end, the 50mm throttle bodies and fuel-injection system wellmapped. Catalyzers are fitted to bikes in Europe, and also to U.S. models.
The ST range has always had a sportbike-with-bags edge, for when Ducati builds a touring model, its starting point is, of course, a superbike. But all STs have been softened this year through the addition of more adjustable levers, and handlebars
changeable in height over a 20mm range. The lowest position matches the ST2/ST4S’s old spec, and goes up from there. Couple this with the wider, taller fairing and-gads!-a soft, reshaped seat. This has to be the softest throne that’s ever graced a bike from Bologna. Still a capable sportbike, just a kinder place to be.
Another cool touring note is that the ST3 is equipped with the Multistrada’s multi-function gauge package (basically a trip computer with fuel and speed averages, distance to empty, gallons of fuel used and such), plus the same type of electric headlight adjustment.
Riding the ST4S and ST3 back to back as we did in Spain showed there is a definite difference in handling between the Öhlins-equipped top model and the Showa-shod, lowerpriced ST3, the latter feeling less planted at high speed. Also, there is no rear ride-height adjustment on the ST3. There is, however, a stepped springpreload collar for the shock (wrench to fit in the toolkit!), although adjusting this is blocked awkwardly by the frame tubes and shock reservoir. It can be done, but it isn’t easy.
Both STs have the new fairing design, which functionally is excellent at protecting the rider and providing smooth airflow around the helmet. But visually, well, it’s sort of like a bike with a big forehead now, the larger upper fairing slightly out of proportion with the scale of the rest of the bike.
Best news is the bike’s $11,995 MSRP, which includes the excellent color-matched saddlebags. That’s less than the $12,495 intro price of the ST2 back in 1998!
We forgot to ask whose idea it was to lower the price... □
