2021 Ducati Streetfighter S Build

Take a Ducati Streetfighter V4 S and throw nearly its entire value of aftermarket parts at it and this is what you get.

Photography by Rennie Scaysbrook

What you’re looking at here is Ducati’s rolling accessory catalog for the Streetfighter V4 S. The super-naked is expensive enough as it is at $24,595, but if you want one of these things jazzed up to this level, you can tack on another $22,973.87 in extras. Let’s just call it $23K, shall we?

Thankfully, I didn’t have to pay that amount (Ducati did) for this test bike. All I had to do was take it for a spin for a week and report. Staggeringly, my license is still intact. No idea how I got away with that one.

This Ducati Streetfighter V4 S in the Dark Stealth colorway is about as close to a WorldSBK machine without a fairing as you’re likely to get. A quick review of the parts fitted makes for pretty eye-watering reading. Here’s some highlights: $5200 for Marchesini forged magnesium wheels that are 10-percent lighter than the stock units; $5500 for the barking-loud and achingly pretty Akrapovic titanium exhaust that drops 12 pounds off and increases power and torque by six percent; $3500 for the dry-clutch conversion kit and magnesium accessory cover; plus a smattering of carbon-fiber parts and exquisite machined rearsets, and heated grips. Hey, got to be comfy when you’re breaking the sound barrier while blowing eardrums to bits down the 405!

That last point is the first anyone recognizes with this motorcycle. I’ve become so accustomed to relatively quiet exhausts that anything non-stock seems to catch me off guard. The Ducati doesn’t so much as catch you off guard as it does yells you off it. Loud is an understatement from a system designed purely for racing—in street use it’s too loud for me, kind of like having someone constantly yelling in your ear while carrying a consistent rpm down the freeway.

The noise is in perfect harmony with the rapidity of the machine. With less weight, more power and far more attitude to boot, this Streetfighter is in a different league on terms of scare-your-pants-off power. It feels 190-200 horsepower at the wheel and is genuinely difficult to hang onto once you pin the gas and wind it out thanks to naked-bike, high handlebar and zero wind protection.

Thankfully, Ducati did not change spring rates on this bike, so the ride retains a degree of civility, which is not something you’d normally associate with something that looks like this.

At low speeds around town, the dry clutch is absolutely superb. Light at the lever, the disengagement is not as abrupt as the wet clutch, which is strange to say as it’s normally the opposite.

I did not take the Streetfighter near a racetrack in the week I had it, preferring to stay in realms of the real world, and it was here I faced a bit of “oh, shit, I’m too old” syndrome. There’s just so much machine that it simply gobbles up the horizon at a rate not normally associated with naked biking. I dearly love the wheels and bolt on parts—they are pretty in that intangible Italian way—but there’s so much go on tap I feel it’s a bit much for the street. When you click into third gear at mid revs and see 110 mph flash up, you know you’ve got a serious, serious machine underneath you. And it doesn’t really work unless you’re at least resembling someone giving it the beans. The bike gets all hot and bothered in traffic, so you need an open road to let it clear its throat. Just make sure there’s no one around.

I remember racing against what was effectively this bike at Pikes Peak with my Aprilia Tuono, and now having ridden one, I can doff my cap to Mr. Carlin Dunne even more so. This bike is an absolute, unequivocal beast, a bit like Carlin was when he pulled down the visor.CN

2021 Ducati Streetfighter S Build List

Okay, so you’re still here? If you really, really want to build one, or perhaps something caught your eye, here’s the list of parts on the Streetfighter V4 S and the green you’ll need to part with.

2020 Ducati Streetfighter V4 S Specifications

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Click here to read the 2021 Ducati Streetfighter S Build feature in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.

 

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