Taipan wrote: Sat Jul 04, 2026 1:14 pm
What did you think of it?
OK, so I rode my 2016 Duke down to the shop, so my first impressions were.....
Wait, no, what, no wait, THOSE are the handlebars!! WTF, I thought they were the cross brace, they are not going to suffice at all!!! I actually had to have little word with myself and remind me that Ducati sell lots of bikes, there's no way they sell one with handlebars that arnt up to the job!!.
Bike was all good really, it didn't work well with my sidi SM boots but that's understandable... Or is it, they work OK with the Duke!? Your feet are a little further forward on the monster, but there are also boots that are better suited.
I wasn't going to push too hard as it's not my bike, but it went where I pointed it, the brakes and suspension worked as expected and I was even able to confidentially ride it down the track home including the deep downhill gravel section.
For me, personally, with where I ride, it's too sportsbike. Little bit too unstable at really low speeds, little bit too "let's do 140kmh", and I don't know, but for me, at 140kmh, I felt like the brakes, suspension and those poxxy little handlebars... They are at their limit
