Ducati St4s-Abs
DUCATI ST4S-ABS
Quick Ride
What price peace of mind?
PETER EGAN GOT A lot of flack when, in his May Leanings column, he stated that he chose a standard Ducati ST4S over an anti-lock-brake version to save money. “ABS has saved my life twice, but $800 is still $800,” he joked. Sarcasm notwithstanding, more than a few readers put pencil to paper to point out his flawed logic, one even offering to take up a collection to help buy Peter an ABS bike, thus bettering the odds of there being future Leanings columns.
My personal philosophy on ABS is this: Do what you want when you’re alone-ride hard, take chances, die young and leave a good-looking corpse, if that’s your mantra. But as soon as you invite a passenger along, that decision is no longer yours to make; you’re obligated to keep things safe.
That’s where the $15,995 Ducati ST4S-ABS comes in. The first truly sporty sport-tourer to be so equipped, it ups that sporting quotient in more ways than one. Though it employs the same basic Bosch-Brembo system that has graced many BMWs over the years (before the German manufacturer adopted its current controversial linked brakes with servo-assist), it has a much higher threshold. That is, you get closer to outright lock-up before ABS kicks in. The result is consistently mind-boggling stopping power as you brake harder than you normally would, confident that you’ve got an electro-hydraulic safety net.
Add to that one other feature that few other ABS bikes have: an on/off switch, activated by a button on the left handlebar. BMW GSs are the only other machines with that feature.
Available since 2003, the ST4S-ABS was updated one year later to include some of the changes wrought in the creation of the ST3. Thus it has a softer seat, adjustable handlebars and levers, and a taller, more protective upper fairing. Beneath that fairing is a two-wire CAN-line electrical system and, new this year, a wet clutch that greatly reduces the rattling and squawking that plagued the previous dry-clutch versions while also easing lever pull.
Aside from those updates, this is the same fine sport-touring bike that we’ve loved since 2002, when the 916cc ST4 received the 109-horsepower Desmoquattro engine from the 996 Superbike (which begs the question, where’s the 998cc Testastretta version?) to become the ST4S. It still boasts top-shelf Öhlins suspension with remote shock-spring-preload adjuster (every two-up bike should have one) and standard hard saddlebags that come off in a cinch, after which the mufflers can be swung up to increase cornering clearance for Sunday-morning rides or track days.
Now, about the $800 price difference Egan wrote about: That pertained to the leftover 2003 model he bought; the difference for the 2005 model is $1000. Whether your life is worth that much is a decision you’ll have to make. -Brian Catterson
