First Ride: Ducati 749S review

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Following another rider through one of the long right hand corners at the Catalunya circuit in Spain something occurred to me. It's a realisation that I'm sure many other trackday riders have reached at one time or another while on track.

Looking at the 749S in front of me I couldn't help noticing just how far the bright red Ducati was leant over. Without the hindrance of a side-mounted exhaust pipe the rider in front appeared to almost have the footpegs on the ground, which is no mean feat on a Ducati. Then it dawned on me. If he was reaching those kind of lean angles then the chances are I was as well, because I was catching him up through the corner.

But the Ducati 749S makes this kind of behaviour almost compulsory, it is just so easy and confidence inspiring to ride on a track. And it also leans over further than any bike has a right to do on standard tyres.

So what's the secret behind it? Well it's four-fold. First up is the chassis.

The 749S uses the same steel trellis frame as the base model 749. Derived from the WSB-winning 999 bike the 749S chassis has as close to perfect balance as you can get in a bike, but since Ducati has been refining the trellis design since God was a lad this isn't really surprising. So what's changed with the 749S? While the chassis is identical to the 749 the S comes with higher quality suspension, like the 999S compared to the base 999. But where the 999S gets Öhlins front and rear the 749S gets Showa's finest. The 43mm forks are Titanium Nitride coated to reduce friction and with it improve the feeling while the rear is Showa's top monoshock. Why no Öhlins? According to Ducati it was purely a cost thing, and although Ohlins does offer some advantages they aren't enough to justify a further price hike.

So there can hardly be any complaints about the rolling chassis, but does some fancy suspension justify the extra £1000 the S costs over the 749's £8795? Probably not but, the S also gets a higher spec motor to help riders explore the potential of said improved chassis.