900ss vs V11

[Kane]

5 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

....They came originally with satin black paint and lower spec suspension and steel instead of alloy swing arm.The SS had the higher spec suspension and red paint.....

Phil, thanks for posting the info and photos. Really sweet looking bikes. What do you think of the lower spec (non-adjustable?) suspension and steel swing arm? I like the look of the half fairing non-SS bikes as you can see the neat engine. Did you change the swing arm to an alloy one? It looks like alloy.

[Lucky Phil]

3 hours ago, Kane said:

Phil, thanks for posting the info and photos. Really sweet looking bikes. What do you think of the lower spec (non-adjustable?) suspension and steel swing arm? I like the look of the half fairing non-SS bikes as you can see the neat engine. Did you change the swing arm to an alloy one? It looks like alloy.

Well the suspension seemed fine to me but I'm a bit of a ride what you got guy to some extent. Some of my bikes have got some pretty exotic suspension on them like full race Ohlins (not the OEM Ohlins) and my track Gsxr1000 has a Wilbers rear shock as does my V11 and the 1000SS has an Ohlins. I dont remember the 900 Sport suspension being bad that's for sure. It's a funny thing as a good mate of mine has a Ducati 750 Sport which would be close to 20 years old I guess, it was bargain basement Ducati of it's day, steel swing arm and single front disk and plain Jane suspension. It's the same style as my bike. He's always laughing at the bike mag tests of his bike back when it was new about how bad the brakes and suspension were. Believe me when we ride together I'm working to keep up with him. He was an A grade road racer here in Australia back in the 70's and he's still pretty quick even on the road on a Bargain Basement 750 Ducati with "crap" suspension, at 72 years old! LOL.   

Yes the 1000SS came with full fairings and I bought some 3/4 fairings as I like the look. I also fitted Magnesium engine covers and valve covers and different disks and Titanium fasteners etc. It came std with the alloy arm, Its nice.

The old 900 Sport had the steel arm painted silver.

Ciao

[LowRyter]

I have to say those Gen 1 half fairing SS models were probably as good looking as it gets for a classic Duc.  Always my fav.

[KINDOY2]

Not a great pic but its all I have ,this was my favorite of 3 I had back 25 years ago..I had many good flat out runs from L.A. up to Monterey with the boys. I loved everything about these bikes just basically stock..How they Handled and how they performed. They made me a much better rider.

[KINDOY2]

I loved my little 750's as well, I had a couple back in the day....This one would do almost anything the 900ss would do.you just had to ride it differant..light and nimble ..I just finally sold it last year....cant keep em all.

[NicoNZ]

Yep ridden a SS 1000 and what was really remarkable as other have said is how fast they spin up! Really impressive. I was not expecting that even owning the St4s at the time, which I still do. The 4s is a great bike, going slightly off topic again, it does everything. Its my super fast slick touring machine. 

The Cafe sport does not have anything like the oomph of the 2 valve Ducati which is strange given the similar power numbers. That's a seat of the pants feel. The Ducati feels like the power runs away from you with the V11 needing you to consciously open the throttle to get the power down and when you do its there alright.

Owned the 4s for 14 years now 

[Kane]

I like your testimonial for the 2V Duc. I like the idea of air cooled 2V twins, and if it’s out-oomphing a Moto Guzzi V11, that’s pretty impressive.

So, how about the air cooled 2V Duc against your 4v liquid cooled ST4S?

[NicoNZ]

15 hours ago, Kane said:

I like your testimonial for the 2V Duc. I like the idea of air cooled 2V twins, and if it’s out-oomphing a Moto Guzzi V11, that’s pretty impressive.

So, how about the air cooled 2V Duc against your 4v liquid cooled ST4S?

I used to ride with a mate that had a 1995 model 900ss. It could pull away from me when accelerating from low speed. As soon as I hit around 5-6k rpm the 4 valve took over. The 2 torque of the 2 valve helps it spin up faster than the 996 4v.