Modern Vespa

Well, with the exception of my wife's Honda Accord hybrid, we now have an all Italian garage with the addition of this:



Yes, it has 7x the HP of my GTS, but actually is quite pleasant to ride. Never fear though, the GTS will still handle the bulk of the daily riding to-and-fro, grocery fetching, commuting, etc.

Looks evil...

Devil Bike. 8)

Is that the Streetfighter? Nice.

Yes, the Streetfighter S, which has the usual "S" bits like Ohlins and light wheels. What is unusual is it also has traction control, which I thought I'd never use, but which turns out to be very nice. If you get a bit exuberant with the throttle it'll gently dial back the power a little bit to keep you from squirting yourself off, or flipping over backwards.

Cool! Have fun.

Bet that looks badass when it transforms into a robot.

I'll be more than happy to borrow that...

jealous...

Must be getting crowded in that garage. I would be happy to help by riding your GTS till you tire of shifting. I will be right over to pick it up.

d r o o l

Congratulations .. that is a wicked looking bike ... enjoy

Thanks all, it is molto fun.

It's a bit strange going from the GTS to this beast. I find myself on the GTS trying to twist the throttle beyond the stop, and on the Ducati, giving it GTS-like gas to get on the freeway and then realizing the cars are rushing at me at an alarming rate and having to re-calibrate the right hand.

Damn, you beat me to it.

Whew! For a sec there I thought you might have trouble keeping the front wheel on the ground.

\\osc

Actually, doing an inadvertent wheelie was where I first really noticed the traction control. I was passing a couple of cars and forgot for a moment I had 155hp under me, and whacked open the throttle. The front came up a few inches, and then gradually let itself back down. Nice. It's not abrupt or jarring like hitting the rev limiter, it just almost imperceptibly slows things down just a bit.

wicked cool 8)

oooh! That 'fighter makes me a little breathless just looking at it.

Nice purchase 8)

very nice... planning to grab my self a cb600f hornet 09.. heheh

Delicious!!

Still ride safe though, please.

... and to be consistent with your Vespa stable, you'll now have to get a "Streetfighter-V" for your wife.

Michael,

As SuperCool as it is, I think you got your Streetfighter too soon!

I just read on MCN that there is a rumor that Ducati is coming out with a SCOOTER ("High- Performance", of course!). Sounded like it was originally scheduled for 2010, but is "simmering" on the back burner now. No pics or anything.. just a note in MCN.

I would consider that too, but I just replaced my Ninja 650 R with a more laid back Vulcan 500 cruiser. Gives me the easy going "vibes" of the GT200 in a nice MC. Not Italian at all, but it at least begins with a "V".

I somehow doubt the Ducati scooter will have 155 HP.