i miss the st4

do you all remember the ST2 - ST4?

it was the best. classic Ducati. dry clutch, noisy valves, clicky clack.......with a true thump thump from the exhaust....

why doesnt Ducati take a 1199 engine and throw it in a upright frame and put a comfy seat on it

yes i know you all say go look at the Multistrada.

NO!!! I am gonna put my foot down and I want a full fairing sport tourer like in the 90's with a engine from the Panigale...

Ducati are you listening?

you make the monster, and street fighter, a diavel (so ugly) and i cant tell the difference. please make a ST5, and quit fooling around with these other weird models.

thank you (i will now get off my soap box)

No market for a light sport-tourer these days evidently. You either buy a 600 lb behemoth that has a "Sport Tour" tag on it or you go Adventure bike (neither of which appeal to me).

I bought a Speed Triple R a few months ago and will be making/turning it into my long distance Sport-Tour over the winter. If you want the equivalent of a ST2-ST4 these days, find a good sport bike, research the add-on possibilities (luggage, long distance comfort, tank capacity, etc.) and convert it to your purpose.

I had an ST4. Checked all the traditional Ducati boxes. Especially with the airbox mod (drill a hole in it), the roar during acceleration was massive. It was a true sport tourer - fully faired, and sat at a normal ride height.

It was also hard on my wrists and forearms. For some reason for me, it has to be either clip-ons or a truly upright position. Like any dry-clutch Ducati, traffic jams were a nightmare.

The headlight sucked. I put in 55W HIDs and could finally see something in the dark.

The ST4 also to this day remains the only bike to throw me into an injury-inducing highside. I still remained attached to the bike after our lovers quarrel, but my wife forced its sale, deciding that the bike had bad mojo. It was replaced by a brand spanking new Multistrada Granturismo.

The Multistrada is an interesting bike. It's unnecessarily tall (because it can't go offroad for ....), but its center of gravity makes it incredibly fun to ride and more nimble than you could possibly imagine...once you learn to ride it. It wants to be ridden in a certain way, and if you don't, it'll start to wobble like it's hinged in the middle. There's also a LOT more power and the 11 degree Testastretta does what it's supposed to do - be very smooth. I have the dual spark version, which makes it unquirky, if that makes any sense. It doesn't have bad or cranky days. And the VERY upright seating position says ride me to the horizon and then some.

What's ironic is that BMW wasn't afraid to make a new true sport touring bike (the R1200RS), but the bike that REALLY needed to be made into a monster sport tourer (the S1000RR), got turned into an "adventure" bike.

A Panigale-based sport touring bike would be cool. But I have a feeling it wouldn't sell, either. I've been told that the Granturismo (giant luggage, giant raised bars) was a flop and Ducati is unlikely to offer that package anytime soon - which is why I haven't upgraded to the latest generation. I'll have to hang onto that bike for quite a while.

Which is exactly what the Ducatisti in love with the ST series have had to do.