End of Sport Touring

[pierrecol]

ST3 disappears from 2008 models list...

[mag-moto]

Claudio Domenicali said there will be 3 new bikes and 8 redesigns in the coming months. I bet one of those will be an ST with the 1098 motor.

[john S.]

All Ducati has to do is make some subtle changes like redesign the exhaust system because its ugly and extend the service intervals. Maybe do a little facelift to update the look since its been around since 98. Thats it.

[Monstaman]

In one of the new captains speeches he quoted that Ducati were going to drop the ST as it was NOT what Ducati was all about i.e. racinng, performance and competition.

[C.H.Luke]

Two reasons why I think it would make sense to do a new ST:
1) I would think that Ducati won't want to overlook the type of customer that doesn't want to need two street bikes to be able to enjoy performance handling in something that works on the highway. Not everyone wants a more narrowly focused track bike. Maybe their 2nd or 3rd bikes are off-road machines or bikes for other family members.
While I have no idea what the demographics and multi-ownership profile looks like when you get inside the industry numbers I do think a brand with Ducati's reputation for overall sport performance would look at the money invested in this segment recently by Kawasaki and Yamaha and ask themselves some hard questions. There has to be room for a lighter weight superior handling sport touring bike in the line.
2) Bike pricing and economics? Thinking back to my '03 ST4S that I still have in 2008 equivalent dollars it's gotta be close to $20k - at least $18k. Ducati has been leveraging new tech in the following few years successfully for a while now. You could say that was a key part of their marketing and manufacturing strategy that help them successfully reinvent themselves as a profitable, growing player.
$15K for a 1098? Why not $17-18k for an ST1098. Still leaves room for an "S" model under $20K. Would it be one of their highest volume models? Likely not, but I'm betting their incremental profits would be up there thereby bringing them a very nice ROI and expand their demographic reach.

[duck853]

Originally Posted by Monstaman

In one of the new captains speeches he quoted that Ducati were going to drop the ST as it was NOT what Ducati was all about i.e. racinng, performance and competition.

This is about the dumbest thing I have read in recent memory. Ducatis best seller is the monster, a street fighter, not known for racing or performance. The newest hottest bike is the supermotard, not much performance when they could have put a 1098 motor in it, you can race it though. What about the multistrada and Supersports, not much performance compaired to the superbikes? Noboby seems to be racing the multistrada either. The truth is the superbike racers with lights are a small percentage of Ducatis total sales and that quote is totally back asswards. Redesigining the ST series would be a very good idea, if they didnt sell well they would have been long gone by now.

[john S.]

What about those of us who can no longer stay in the sportbike position because we are getting older? This is reality, it happens to all of us eventually and Ducati should be aware of this. I see the ST or MTS as the next bike in the evolution of riding. They offer performance characteristics similar to the superbikes, yet a comfortable seating position for long rides. Long rides you could not previously do but wanted to do with your sportsbike. Take the touring subject as one reason to bring back an updated and improved ST. Even as it sits now the seating is not upright enough nor are the accessory options there. As I have said before, the styling needs updating starting with the exhaust design (ugly), the maintenence intervals must be extended even if it might mean going to a V4.

I think Ducati can introduce a kick ass sport touring bike if they wanted too. Otherwise they are bound to loose a large segment of previously loyal customers to other brands. Not all Ducati superbike riders switch over to the ST in time. There are many other brands out there that are better in that role.