2010 Ducati Streetfighter

Soul of a Superbike – Attitude of a fighter

The Ducati Streetfighter scored a round one knock-out when it entered the ring for the first time at the EICMA Show in Milan back in November 2008. Its brutal elegance stole the ‘Most Beautiful Bike’ award and raised the bar for extreme nakeds. The 2010 Streetfighter and Streetfighter S first hit town back in March 2009 and its asphalt-ripping reputation was an instant hit with connoisseurs of sport nakeds. With countless awards around the world already, the Streetfighter is shaping up to be an undisputed champion.

The Streetfighter’s Superbike soul combines fighter attitude and naked sophistication to create pure adrenaline. Stripped to the bare essentials, its combination of state-of-the-art race technology, skeletal styling and contemporary design takes Ducati’s big naked concept to the very top of the fighter food chain.

The true Ducati spirit is captured by an incredibly powerful Desmodromic L-Twin 1098 “Testastretta Evoluzione” engine producing 155hp with an incredibly wide spread of power thanks to 85lb-ft (11.7kgm) of torque. The Streetfighter’s power and precision is further maximised by weighing in at just 368lb (167kg) - S version - and further benefits from technology derived directly from Ducati’s MotoGP and Superbike projects. Ducati Traction Control and Data Analysis, racing-style braking system, fully adjustable suspension and forged wheels all come as standard equipment on the ‘S’ to complete the battle-ready package.

Streetfighter made good

The Streetfighter culture was born on the backstreets of Northern Europe during the late 70s and 80s. If the Café racer movement had taken traditional bikes and transformed them to establish out-and-out sportbikes, then Streetfighters were definitely anti-establishment. They evolved by removing the fairings from sport bikes, fitting higher bars and customising to create high-performance, over-the-top nakeds. Now, Ducati have taken that concept and applied their own Italian sophistication to a stunning, factory-prepared Streetfighter.

The Ducati Streetfighter is equipped with everything that made the Superbike a legend: Awesome L-Twin muscle with brutal, big-bore torque, thoroughbred chassis technology, beautiful single-sided swingarm, planet-stopping Monobloc brakes and pure, sophisticated class.

While the tank and seat shapes leave no doubt as to the Streetfighter’s roots, it is the upright and commanding riding position that really starts to shape the character of this ultimate naked. New, minimalistic controls, instrumentation and headlight design leave the front looking clean and mean, while twin-stacked right-side mufflers at the rear leave the tail-end high and sharp. No other Ducati has ever achieved such an aggressive stance while providing a comfortable, empowering, controllable and enjoyable ride.

Ducati’s ‘S’ treatment of the Streetfighter takes its sophistication way off the scale. Superbike spec Öhlins suspension front and rear with lightweight forged Marchesini wheels add extra street credibility when in town and that all-important ‘feel’ when exploring the Streetfighter’s sports soul.

Add the awesome street-going Ducati Traction Control and Ducati Data Analysis as standard equipment and it’s clear that the Streetfighter S is not just muscle – it’s intelligent too.

Lifestyle

Ducati’s Streetfighter project was inevitable. The passion to build the most successful Superbikes ever, mixed with the desire to create iconic, naked motorcycles was a rush of adrenaline just waiting to happen. Who else would create a bike for out-and-out purists to celebrate naked power in all its forms? A bike with muscle-engine performance, aggressive chassis engineering and intelligent electronics all laid bare to appreciate, respect and enjoy? Ducati build bikes for enthusiasts – for bikers who appreciate the details that come together to make an awesome bike, for perfectionists who instantly recognise excellence when they see it.

Ducati motorcycles aren’t just a means of transport, they enable a lifestyle that set their rider apart from the rest of the world. They’re an extension of character and the ultimate personal statement. The Streetfighter is built with pure Ducati passion and it’s ready to impress, whatever the lifestyle. If you’re riding downtown, the Streetfighter is sure to make the coolest arrival. If you’re out of town carving a line through the curves there’ll be nothing more exciting than the Streetfighter – except maybe the crowd that gathers when you pull into the next diner.

Ducati have captured the essence of motorcycling life with the Streetfighter and it now takes ownership of the naked category. It’ll be a tough act to follow so get ready for Desmo domination.

Take control

The Streetfighter riding position is empowering. The lightweight aluminium tapered bars are higher than on a Superbike, but still flat enough to ride hard, so machine control is enhanced and the relationship with the front-end remains in tact. Considerable study on seat, footpeg and handlebar position has maximised comfort without losing the feeling that you’re aboard an extreme naked Ducati.

Showing attention to detail typical of all new Ducatis, the handlebars are gripped by beautifully shaped clamps that flow sleekly into the bar-risers. Even the switchgear presents minimalism at its best. The slim-line bodies house easy-to-use switches and buttons and feature a unique weapons-like ‘trigger catch’ that slides down to cover the starter button when activating the kill-switch. Symmetrically mounted, remote brake and clutch reservoirs are small, low and compact and feed slim, radial master-cylinders by Brembo to complete the clean and uncluttered controls arrangement.

The Streetfighter’s instrumentation continues that same clean look with a compact shape that blends into the aggressive line of the headlight. Information additional to the default read-outs is managed from the left-hand handlebar-mounted switch gear, allowing the rider to scroll through and select from various menus. The display presents rpm and speed, with the former displayed across the screen in a progressive bar graph. Additionally, the instruments display lap times, DTC status and level selected (if activated on Streetfighter S) time, air temperature, coolant temperature, battery voltage, two trips and a trip that automatically starts as the fuel system goes onto reserve. Warning lights illuminate to signify neutral, turn signals, high beam, rev-limit, low oil pressure, fuel reserve, DTC intervention (if activated on Streetfighter S) and scheduled maintenance. The instrument display is also used as the control panels for the DDA and DTC systems as well as listing lap times recorded by using the high-beam flash button as a stopwatch.

A chassis born to fight

At a class-leading 169kg (373lb) dry weight for the Streetfighter and an incredible 167kg (368lb) for the Streetfighter S, both come to the fight with the highest power-to-weight ratio in their class. The purpose-built Trellis frame, which uses 25.6° of rake compared with the Superbike’s 24.5°, ensures a well-planted front-end, while a 35mm longer single-sided swingarm at the rear ensures the Streetfighter’s acceleration need never be compromised. The longer, beautifully created aluminium swingarm follows the same dual construction detail as the Superbike models and is anodised finished in black.

The lower triple-clamp also gets more muscle development. Formed in a strength-enhancing gull-wing shape for even more rigidity, it maintains a vice-like grip on the fork legs, giving a precise and solid feeling through the bars on fast direction changes.

The revised rake, longer wheelbase and cross-mounted steering damper ensure stability even under the extreme acceleration of Ducati’s incredible L-Twin torque.

Suspension

The Streetfighter is armed with fully adjustable 43mm Showa forks up front and a fully adjustable Showa monoshock at the rear, giving the bike high performance agility and the rider absolute ‘feel’ and confidence from sure-footed handling.

The forks feature a natural chrome slider finish and radial mounts for the brake callipers and are fully adjustable in spring preload as well as compression and rebound damping. On the rear, the single Showa unit operates through a progressive linkage and is also fully adjustable in spring preload and damping, both in compression and rebound.

The Streetfighter S pushes the spec way up with 43mm Superbike-spec Öhlins forks that have sliders treated in low-friction TiN. Fully adjustable in spring preload and precisely adjustable in compression and rebound damping, they ensure ‘S’ feeling and finesse when the fight gets rough.

Taking care of the rear of the ‘S’ is a single high-spec Öhlins unit fully adjustable in spring preload with full adjustment and highly engineered control of compression and rebound damping. The unit is also fitted with a ride enhancing top-out spring which helps maintain rear tyre contact under extreme conditions.

Important attention to performance detail is inherited from its Superbike bloodline with both the Streetfighter and Streetfighter S having rear ride-height adjusters that allow fine correction after setting personalised spring preload.

Wheels

10-spoke wheels in lightweight aluminium keep the overall motorcycle weight down and maintain an all-important control on unsprung weight. This weight is made up of all the components between the suspension and the road and consists of wheels, tyres, brake discs and callipers etc, but when rotating at high speed, it is the wheels that store most of the kinetic energy and offer the most resistance when steering, accelerating or braking. Their weight saving, therefore, is a serious contribution to both the handling and the performance of the bike and the Streefighter pulls out all the stops to be the best.

The Streetfighter S reduces weight even further by using Y-shaped, 5-spoke wheels by Marchesini, forged and then machined in lightweight aluminium.
The Streetfighter wheels are finished in graphite grey and the ‘S’ in bronze with both models rolling out on Pirelli tyres.

Brakes

Both the Streetfighter and Streetfighter S use Brembo’s powerful Monobloc calliper race technology. Machined from a single piece of alloy, the callipers achieve higher rigidity and resistance to distortion during extreme braking. The result not only delivers planet-stopping brake power, but also gives an enhanced and precise ‘feel’ at the brake lever. The twin Monobloc callipers each have four 34mm pistons that grip huge 330mm discs to achieve their spectacular performance. The weight of the discs has been kept to a minimum by using racing-style narrow braking surfaces.

Power house

The world-beating 1098 Testastretta Evoluzione needs little introduction. Debuting in 2007, it went on to form the basis of a motor that powered Ducati to Superstock and Superbike World titles that left the competition stunned. Now, its massive bore, short stroke and incredible torque powers Ducati’s most extreme naked and the results are equally as stunning.

Producing a ballistic 85lb-ft (11.7kgm) of torque and 155hp (114kW), the Streetfighter’s awesome 1098 power house fears nothing of the naked sports competition. The L-Twin, Testastretta Evoluzione engine gives both the best power-to-weight and the best torque-to-weight ratios in its class.

Surface features include enhanced detailing on the cam belt covers and the magnesium dry clutch cover as well as a new black finish for the main outer casings and carbon-grey finish for the crankcases, which employ the same weight-saving technology used for the 1198.

The vacuum die-cast process used to make the crankcases ensures consistent and precise wall thickness and increased strength from absolute material purity while reducing weight an incredible 3kg (6.5lb) compared to those of the 1098 Superbike engine.

Using the Testastretta narrow valve angle, super-straight intake ducts and specially shaped combustion chambers, the Desmodromic motor continues to breathe through MotoGP-derived elliptical throttle bodies and four large diameter valves per cylinder to achieve its incredible spread of torque.

A high performance six-speed box and racing-style dry clutch makes sure the transmission package delivers 155hp as efficiently as possible.

The Streetfighter’s power house is protected by twin coolant radiators, carefully curved in pure naked style for optimum performance and stunning with visual effect. The upper radiator is assisted by lightweight, high flow electric fan assemblies while the lower sits in the front of the belly pan, which also houses a highly efficient oil heat exchanger.

Having more experience and success with twin-cylinder high performance engines than any other manufacturer, the air-cooled L-Twin remains central to Ducati's philosophy of motorcycling. This experience, plus constant investment in quality by design, advanced materials and engineering techniques, has enabled the distance between service intervals to increase to 12,000km (7,500 miles) making Ducati ownership even more enjoyable than ever.

Cannon-style mufflers

The massive Streetfighter 2-1-2 exhaust system is made from weight-saving 1mm thick steel and flows from 58mm to 63.5mm diameter pipes. The system uses two lambda probes to ensure precise fuel mapping for optimum performance and an electronic valve in the mid-section to achieve a wide spread of power.

The cannon-style, vertically stacked mufflers sport the same finishes as the Superbike family: Brushed steel for the Streetfighter and black brushed steel for the Streetfighter S, both delivering the famous Ducati L-Twin sound synonymous with raw, Desmo power.

Lighting

The new aggressive looking headlight is the ‘face’ of the Streetfighter and it leaves little doubt as to its character. While the main lighting source and multi-reflector design provides powerful illumination to cut through the night, its two evil eye strips of LED positioning lights give a striking and unmistakable identity to the bike.

Keeping design matters clean and stylish, the directional indicators remain unobtrusive with clear lenses and coloured bulbs, while the rear light is integral to the shape of the tailpiece, providing unobscured illumination while maintaining the smooth and elegant look to the high and sharp rear-end.

Naked detail

More attention to detail than ever before went into creating the Ducati Streetfighter. Repositioning many of the components usually hidden by bodywork and continuing to keep them out of sight was a major challenge for the design and engineering teams, but they’ve pulled it off with impressive results. Add to this details such as the perfectly formed passenger seat cover, a rear hugger fitted as standard equipment and the pre-minimalised licence plate holder, and it’s plain to see that Ducati have gone that extra step to achieve the highest level of finish.