Streetfighter or Panigale?
Can a super-naked really replace a superbike in Neevesy’s affections?
During the summer of 2018 I lived with a Ducati Panigale V4 S and absolutely adored it, as you would expect.
I grew up riding sportsbikes, so even now I’ll take a bit of discomfort to enjoy a bike that’s not necessarily fast (most big bikes are rapid nowadays) but stops and handles properly and one that makes my knees wobble when I open my garage door. The Ducati had all those things. One of the most aggressively seductive shapes in motorcycling, the Panigale was also built with the quality, precision and reliability of a Swiss watch. I sat and stared at it as much as I rode it.
We got our rocks off together at Brands, Donington Park, Mugello and the Nürburgring, but I remember a distinct point riding through Italy on the way to Croatia - exhausts roasting my spuds and wrists burning in stop/start traffic, where I thought: ‘I wish they’d do a Streetfighter version’. And now, of course, they have.
The Streetfigther V4 S I’ve spend the last ten months with is every inch a stripped down Panigale V4 S with straight bars. It has the same engine, bar a couple of bhp at the top that’s
‘It opens up a whole extra dimension’
been shuffled further down the revs, so it’s still insanely quick and has the same semi-active Öhlins suspension set-up that lets you glide serenely over B-road tarmac or get stuck in around Cadwell with equal aplomb. The Brembos and electronics are all the same, too. A naked will never be as pretty as a faired bike, so its looks don’t captivate me like the Panigale’s did, but with its more upright riding position, thicker seat and extra legroom it’s much more comfortable, which opens up a whole extra dimension to living with a performance bike.
On a superbike every ride needs to be a leathers-and-knee sliders occasion – anything else is a waste of its talents, but the Streetfighter is as much a jeansand-jacket town bike as it a track tool. It doesn’t burn your behind anymore either, because like all 2020-onwards V4s the rear cylinders cut at a standstill. For track riding the Panigale is better, although it’s so stiff it needs talent to do it justice. Its aero helps it slip through the air faster and it carries more speed going into corners with more weight pinning the front wheel down. But for everything else I’ll take the Streetfighter.
LIKES
• It’s easier to live with than a superbike for the everyday
DISLIKES
• Lacks the superbike’s visual beauty and track poise