2003 Ducati 999 catches a cold

HAVING THE UNDENIABLY lush Ducati 1299 Panigale Final Edition at RIDE Towers stirred the emotions — and while envy and lust were on the list, there was a fair amount of incredulity over the £35,000 price. After all, lovely as it is, whoever’s lucky enough to own one has paid handsomely for the privilege.

Of course, the price that keeps the common masses at bay has always been a feature of Ducati superbike ownership – there’s an allure to something so exotic, exclusive and expensive. But back in 2003, RIDE staffer Tim Cummins and test rider Des O’connell decided to pit the £11,250 Ducati 999 against a one-year-old Yamaha FZS1000 Fazer that was half its price. Though even a brand-new Fazer, at £7299, would have made the point.

The Fazer was a cunning choice. It had been the most popular bike with owners in the 2002 RIDER Power survey. It actually produced more power than the Ducati – 143bhp compared with 124bhp – and, crucially, the same 78lb·ft of torque… 500rpm earlier than the Duke’s 8000rpm peak. It was, in other words, a made-to-order giant killer and just waiting to take the high-priced Italian down a peg or two.

Not that the 999 did much to help itself. The trip — planned as a sportstouring-style jaunt to the Continent — only made it as far as Thurrock Services on the M25 in thick snow before the Ducati decided it wasn’t going to play any more. Retrieved by van, faulty coil found and fixed by local Ducati-tuning experts BSD, Tim settled instead for riding the bikes on the by-now snowfree but still wintry and tricky roads of the East Midlands instead.

These weren’t conditions to flatter the Italian. “On a sunny track… the 999 is near perfect,” Tim observed, having enjoyed it under those conditions on the bike’s launch. “On the road, in a UK winter, it’s not so good.” At normal road speeds it felt too cramped, too harshly sprung and frankly, too powerful; “bounding forward alarmingly at the slightest throttle movement.”

The Fazer, on the other hand, managed to take everything in its stride (it had even shone on the snowy motorway). “The riding position gives confidence, the engine’s smooth as a kitten when you need yet lunges like a charging cheetah when you rev it,” said Tim.

In the end, despite the weather, he did warm to the Ducati. “Ride the 999 in the right conditions and you’d forgive it anything. But ride the Fazer in almost any circumstances and you’ll fall in love,” he concluded.