Ducati Streetfighter S

The typical streetfighter culture was born on the backstreets of Northern Europe during the late 70s and 80s, the pioneers taking high-powered sportbikes, removing the fairings, adding higher bars and customizing to their likings.

Always on top of the latest market trends, the Italians at Ducati revamped this underground concept and unveiled their own production version November 2008, simply called the Ducati Streetfighter. And for 2011, the Streetfighter is available, but there is also an upgraded version, the Streetfighter S.

Besides the standard features - 155-hp 1098 Desmodromic L-twin, trellis chassis, single-sided swingarm and Monobloc brakes - the Streetfighter S lost some weight, down to 368 lbs., and arrives stock with Ducati Traction Control and Data Analysis, racing-style braking system, fully adjustable, Superbike-spec Öhlins front and rear suspension and lightweight forged Marchesini wheels.

The Streetfighter riding position is empowering. The lightweight aluminum tapered bars are higher than on a Superbike, but still flat enough to ride hard, so machine control is enhanced and the relationship with the front-end remains in tact. Considerable study on seat, footpeg and handlebar position has maximized comfort without losing the feeling that you're aboard an extreme naked Ducati.

The Streetfighter's instrumentation continues that same clean look with a compact shape that blends into the aggressive line of the headlight. Information additional to the default read-outs is managed from the left- hand handlebar-mounted switch gear, allowing the rider to scroll through and select from various menus.

The display presents rpm and speed, with the former displayed across the screen in a progressive bar graph. Additionally, the instruments display lap times, DTC status and level selected (if activated on Streetfighter S) time, air temperature, coolant temperature, battery voltage, two trips and a trip that automatically starts as the fuel system goes onto reserve.

Warning lights illuminate to signify neutral, turn signals, high beam, rev-limit, low oil pressure, fuel reserve, DTC intervention (if activated on Streetfighter S) and scheduled maintenance. The instrument display is also used as the control panels for the DDA and DTC systems as well as listing lap times recorded by using the high-beam flash button as a stopwatch.

Streetfighter S: Proven Powerhouse L-Twin

The world-beating 1098 Testastretta EVOluzione needs little introduction. Debuting in 2007, it went on to form the basis of a motor that powered Ducati to Superstock and Superbike World titles that left the competition stunned. Now, its massive bore, short stroke and incredible torque powers Ducati's most extreme naked and the results are equally as stunning.

Producing a ballistic 85 lb-ft (11.7kgm) of torque and 155 hp (114kW), the Streetfighter's awesome 1098 powerhouse fears nothing of the naked sports competition. The L-Twin, Testastretta EVOluzione engine gives both the best power-to-weight and the best torque-to-weight ratios in its class.

Surface features include enhanced detailing on the cam belt covers and the magnesium dry clutch cover as well as a new black finish for the main outer casings and carbon-grey finish for the crankcases, which employ the same weight-saving technology used for the 1198.

The vacuum die-cast process used to make the crankcases ensures consistent and precise wall thickness and increased strength from absolute material purity while reducing weight considerably.

Using the Testastretta narrow valve angle, super-straight intake ducts and specially shaped combustion chambers, the Desmodromic motor continues to breathe through MotoGP-derived elliptical throttle bodies and four large diameter valves per cylinder to achieve its incredible spread of torque.

A high performance six-speed box and racing-style dry clutch makes sure the transmission package delivers 155hp as efficiently as possible.

The Streetfighter's power house is protected by twin coolant radiators, carefully curved in pure naked style for optimum performance and stunning with visual effect. The upper radiator is assisted by lightweight, high flow electric fan assemblies while the lower sits in the front of the belly pan, which also houses a highly efficient oil heat exchanger.

Having more experience and success with twin-cylinder high performance engines than any other manufacturer, the air-cooled L-Twin remains central to Ducati's philosophy of motorcycling. This experience, plus constant investment in quality by design, advanced materials and engineering techniques, has enabled a distance between service intervals of 7,500 miles, making Ducati ownership even more enjoyable than ever.

The massive Streetfighter 2-1-2 exhaust system is made from weight-saving 1mm thick steel and flows from 58mm to 63.5mm diameter pipes. The system uses two lambda probes to ensure precise fuel mapping for optimum performance and an electronic valve in the mid-section to achieve a wide spread of power.

The cannon-style, vertically stacked mufflers sport the same finishes as the Superbike family: Brushed steel for the Streetfighter and black brushed steel for the Streetfighter S, both delivering the famous Ducati L- Twin sound synonymous with raw, Desmo power.

Streetfighter S: Street-Battling Chassis

At an incredible 167kg (368lb) for the Streetfighter S, the motorcycle comes to the fight with the highest power-to-weight ratio in their class. The purpose- built Trellis frame, which uses 25.6° of rake compared with the Superbike's 24.5°, ensures a well-planted front-end, while a 35mm longer single-sided swingarm at the rear ensures the Streetfighter's acceleration need never be compromised.

The longer, beautifully created aluminum swingarm follows the same dual construction detail as the Superbike models and is anodized finished in black.

The lower triple-clamp also gets more muscle development. Formed in a strength-enhancing gull-wing shape for even more rigidity, it maintains a vice-like grip on the fork legs, giving a precise and solid feeling through the bars on fast direction changes.
The revised rake, longer wheelbase and cross-mounted steering damper ensure stability even under the extreme acceleration of Ducati's incredible L-Twin torque.

Streetfighter S: High-Tech Suspension

The Streetfighter S pushes the spec way up with 43mm Superbike-spec Öhlins forks that have sliders treated in low-friction TiN.

Fully adjustable in spring preload and precisely adjustable in compression and rebound damping, they ensure ‘S' feeling and finesse when the fight gets rough.

Taking care of the rear of the ‘S' is a single high-spec Öhlins unit fully adjustable in spring preload with full adjustment and highly engineered control of compression and rebound damping. The unit is also fitted with a ride enhancing top-out spring which helps maintain rear tyre contact under extreme conditions.

Important attention to performance detail is inherited from its Superbike bloodline with the Streetfighter S having rear ride-height adjusters that allow fine correction after setting
personalized spring preload.

Streetfighter S Wheels: Lightweight & Strong

The Streetfighter S reduces weight even further by using Y-shaped, 5-spoke wheels by Marchesini, forged and then machined in lightweight aluminum.

The Streetfighter wheels are finished in graphite grey, while the ‘S' moves to black for 2011 with both models rolling out on Pirelli Diablo Corsa lll tires.

Streetfighter S: Huge, Powerful Brakes

The Streetfighter S uses Brembo's powerful Monobloc caliper race technology. Machined from a single piece of alloy, the calipers achieve higher rigidity and resistance to distortion during extreme braking.

The result not only delivers planet-stopping brake power, but also gives an enhanced and precise ‘feel' at the brake lever.

The twin Monobloc calipers each have four 34mm pistons that grip huge 330mm discs to achieve their spectacular performance. The weight of the discs has been kept to a minimum by using racing-style narrow braking surfaces.

Streetfighter S: Aggressive Appearance

The aggressive looking headlight is the ‘face' of the Streetfighter and it leaves little doubt as to its character. While the main lighting source and multi-reflector design provides powerful illumination to cut through the night, its two evil eye strips of LED positioning lights give a striking and unmistakable identity to the bike.

Keeping design matters clean and stylish, the directional indicators remain unobtrusive with clear lenses and colored bulbs, while the rear light is integral to the shape of the tailpiece, providing unobscured illumination while maintaining the smooth and elegant look to the high and sharp rear-end.

More attention to detail than ever before went into creating the Ducati Streetfighter S. Repositioning many of the components usually hidden by bodywork and continuing to keep them out of sight was a major challenge for the design and engineering teams, but they've pulled it off with impressive results.

Add to this details such as the perfectly formed passenger seat cover, a rear hugger fitted as standard equipment and the pre-minimal license plate holder, and it's plain to see that Ducati have gone that extra step to achieve the highest level of finish.

Streetfighter S: Intelligent muscle

The Streetfighter S was Ducati's first ever naked sportbike to be fitted with their awesome Ducati Traction Control (DTC) system.

Accessible from the left-hand switchgear and displayed on the digital instrumentation, the system offers a choice of eight profiles, or ‘sensitivity levels', each one programmed with a wheel-spin tolerance matched to progressive riding levels of skill, graded from one to eight.

While level eight administers a confidence-building, high level of interaction from the system by activating upon the slightest amount of wheel-spin, level one offers a much higher tolerance, resulting in less intervention for highly competent riders. Once the level is selected and DTC activated, both are displayed on the Streetfighter instrumentation.
The system then analyses data sent from front and rear wheel speed sensors to detect wheel-spin. Should the system recognize wheel-spin above a certain threshold, the DTC ECU instantly evaluates the many possible wheel-spin scenarios before administering two types of interaction in varying amounts.

DTC is able to sense the exact use that the Streetfighter is being put to. From slow mid-corner acceleration with considerable vehicle inclination to high speed corner exits while almost upright, DTC is intelligent enough to react according to each and every situation. It's even smart enough to not intervene if you decide to perform a burnout or a wheelie.

The first ‘soft' stage of system interaction is executed by high speed software that instantly makes electronic adjustment to the ignition by administering varying amounts of retardation to reduce the engine's torque output. During this initial stage of DTC interaction, both outer warning lights on the Streetfighter instruments - normally used to signify over-rev - illuminate to signify that DTC is being applied.

If the DTC software detects that the first ‘soft' stage of system interaction is inadequate to control the wheel-spin, it continues to administer ignition retardation and instructs the engine ECU to initiate a pattern of constantly increasing injection cuts until, if necessary, full injection cut.

During this second stage of system interaction, both outer and central warning lights fully illuminate to signify that DTC has also initiated injection cuts.

After either stage one (ignition retardation) or stage two (pattern of injection cuts or full cut), the system incrementally returns to the original ignition and injection mapping as the wheel speeds approach equalization. This carefully programmed return to full power delivery is the real key to DTC's smooth and efficient operation.

In developing its World Championship-winning traction control system for road use, Ducati continue to demonstrate their strategy of transferring technologies from their race bikes into the production environment, and show how solutions developed for performance on the track really can be applied to enhance safety on the road.

Streetfighter S: Information is power

The Ducati Data Analyser (DDA) - complete with PC software, a USB-ready data retrieval card and instructions - evaluates the performances of the Streetfighter and its rider, and provides a graphic presentation of data from various channels of information.

Normally only available on race bikes, DDA records numerous channels of data including throttle opening, vehicle speed, engine rpm, engine temperature, distance travelled, laps and lap times.

The system also automatically calculates engine rpm and vehicle speed data, enabling gear selection as an extra channel of information. A channel of data is also dedicated to recording the DTC index, which can then be viewed as a graphic trace that shows the amount of DTC interaction during wheel-spin. At the end of a ride or track session, 4mb of data can be downloaded to a PC ready to compare, analyze and get an inside view on the performance of the rider and Streetfighter.

Data can be analyzed in graphic form with options to zoom into detail of specific sections. Dragging a trace along a timeline to reveal individual values of the above-listed channels enables the user to analyze performance in the same way that data technicians can in factory teams.