I've been riding a 2003 ST4s for years and it came from the factory with panniers. They don't stay on the bike full time but are great to have for trips. As to reliability, it's been very good. The bike has almost 17,000 miles and it's never stranded me. Not once. Yes, I keep it maintained but the cost has been reasonable. Why would a guy who is reviewing a motorcycle say "he's heard some rumors of reliability problems"? Do your research!! Good thing almost no one has seen this video...
My dad had one of these, and from what I remember, he’d be out in the garage like once every two months finding a gremlin in his bike Lol. I still miss it.
I still have my Sienna edition and love it. It turned out to be a great choice at that time. I wanted a Sport Bike but needed to get wifey's buy-in so the ST4s was the deal. Added a seat with a slide-in passenger backrest along with the panniers help her feel much safer and she loves the ride. I turned 61 recently so added a bar riser, a taller windscreen almost perfect. Have the LeoVince exhaust. Perfect for our vacation home in Western NC. I live in ATL so the commute is always fun. Oh btw, it has over 30k hard miles without an issue. Never left me stranded. Like anything else, take care of it, change the fluids, check valves and replace the timing belt. Oh, the dang service manual cost me $180 but is nicely done and well worth it. I did go change the front gear to make it quicker and more responsive down low.
My dad had one of these when I was a wee lad. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I still like the BMW f800R he has now, but there is a great attachment to this bike. :)
Owned an ST4s for a number of years while living in south east Queensland , pretty much the best environment I have experienced for biking many wonderful days spent riding up and down the east coast of Aus. There wasn't much out there in its class to match it.
What a poor review... First there is the factory pannier option that keeps the style, colour and lines... The panniers have enough room for a decent amount of storage... Mine also has a ventura pack rack and I can load even more with no issues. I have done some huge tours and long rides on mine in all sorts of weather, fully loaded. I have found it to be more comfortable than many other sports tourers on the market... hence why I still own it... It has been as reliable as any other bike I have owned in the past... "he's heard some rumors of reliability problems" I have heard the same with many other bikes and brands, but when you do a little research it is nowhere near as bad as they say... If you maintain it you should get a lot of use from it...
Terrible review, I own a ST4S you can get a great pannier system that looks great on the bike. The pillion hand rail I think she spot on with, it is too small. The seat very comfortable. Better than any bike I have even own! What you need to understand about the ST is the gearing is very tall meaning town work is first and second only and you will be surprised at how much first gear can do. Handles brilliantly, you almost forget about the weight. Brakes are excellent. I have the Ducati performance sport exhaust on mine and the theatre of noise and vibration is not annoying but infact very intoxicating. I would advice all who are thinking of buying one to make sure you buy and use ear plugs. The first time I took mine out I didn’t and wow I won’t be doing that again, it was like a rock concert in full swing lol 😂. If would highly recommend this bike. People will laugh at your for buying one, but you will sure get the last laugh back as it amazing to ride, it beautiful to look at and the attention you get from other people when you just out and about is incredible. You get instant coolness, I never had so many bikers nod or wave at me and when you pull up to the light the amount of people who look across in approval rather than than look of discussed because your a biker is very surprising. I think it most be the engine note lol 😂. Also this Ducati model has some very nice little details than I’ve never seen on another motorcycle before. When you remove the seat you get a Ducati bike lock which has been design to perfect fit into the seat underside. The motorcycle as a park option on the bike so the light can stay on at the side of the road at night if the engine is off. Now here the down side. The head light is terrible! It not the light bulb its the cone design for reflecting and focusing the light, the electric are Italian and to get to the battery which is mount at the bottom of the bike at the front you have to take off the fairing. The bike takes a big amount of electricity to get it started so make sure you buy a really good quality battery. If you do that you will have no issues. Just clean it and rider it regularly and it will be you best mate. Just don’t buy one if you want to store them for long periods of time they will complain to you in Italian about it as you ride along! Lol 😂 Also if you gonna buy one make sure you get a full service history and honesty go for a high milage one as it been use regularly! I know that last piece of advice seem odd to many of you but getting a high miles one you know too thing. One it works and too it reliable lol 😂. I bought mine with 40000 on the clock and it amazing. Buy one they will only go up in price in my opinion!
This bike is so underated esp in this review. its got the 996 engine which pumps out 117 bhp. its got a quarter mile time of 10.7 seconds which is plenty fast enough. 7 out of 10 on performance should of been 8 or even 9 out of 10. i would say 7 out of 10 suits the ST 2's performance but not the ST4 s.
+funkyrimpler +funkyrimpler so the ST4S is not actually making the same power as the original 996 and has a down tunned motor? i never knew that. with a 10.7 quater mile time for the ST4S surely deserves at least 8 out 10 cause thats what they can do acording to the specs i read. on dyno the 916 only makes 100 hp and the 996 makes 112 hp. they claim 117 hp for the ST4S in this video so must be closer to 110 hp depending on how much they down tunned the 996 motor.
Are they talking about the same bike Jeff Stone did a review on the same bike for MM and loved it and it had the panniers on?? LOL. Check ot Jeffs review...th-cam.com/video/EVCKRq7hls0/w-d-xo.html
Agree, him complaining about the wind on his face? That's one reason why we ride a bloody bike in the first place. Give the idiot a car instead or a bloody vespa
+smith2781 Sounds like some service technician messed up due to the timing of the engine blowing. I seriously doubt it was an inherent problem with the Ducati itself.
I've been riding a 2003 ST4s for years and it came from the factory with panniers. They don't stay on the bike full time but are great to have for trips. As to reliability, it's been very good. The bike has almost 17,000 miles and it's never stranded me. Not once. Yes, I keep it maintained but the cost has been reasonable. Why would a guy who is reviewing a motorcycle say "he's heard some rumors of reliability problems"? Do your research!! Good thing almost no one has seen this video...
My dad had one of these, and from what I remember, he’d be out in the garage like once every two months finding a gremlin in his bike Lol. I still miss it.
The whole review was stupid
I still have my Sienna edition and love it. It turned out to be a great choice at that time. I wanted a Sport Bike but needed to get wifey's buy-in so the ST4s was the deal. Added a seat with a slide-in passenger backrest along with the panniers help her feel much safer and she loves the ride. I turned 61 recently so added a bar riser, a taller windscreen almost perfect. Have the LeoVince exhaust. Perfect for our vacation home in Western NC. I live in ATL so the commute is always fun.
Oh btw, it has over 30k hard miles without an issue. Never left me stranded. Like anything else, take care of it, change the fluids, check valves and replace the timing belt. Oh, the dang service manual cost me $180 but is nicely done and well worth it.
I did go change the front gear to make it quicker and more responsive down low.
My dad had one of these when I was a wee lad. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I still like the BMW f800R he has now, but there is a great attachment to this bike. :)
WTF Franesca.. "Panniers wouldn't look right" Ducati designed some lovely pannniers with colour matched panels specifically for the ST.
Owned an ST4s for a number of years while living in south east Queensland , pretty much the best environment I have experienced for biking many wonderful days spent riding up and down the east coast of Aus. There wasn't much out there in its class to match it.
What a poor review... First there is the factory pannier option that keeps the style, colour and lines... The panniers have enough room for a decent amount of storage... Mine also has a ventura pack rack and I can load even more with no issues. I have done some huge tours and long rides on mine in all sorts of weather, fully loaded. I have found it to be more comfortable than many other sports tourers on the market... hence why I still own it...
It has been as reliable as any other bike I have owned in the past... "he's heard some rumors of reliability problems" I have heard the same with many other bikes and brands, but when you do a little research it is nowhere near as bad as they say... If you maintain it you should get a lot of use from it...
Terrible review, I own a ST4S you can get a great pannier system that looks great on the bike. The pillion hand rail I think she spot on with, it is too small. The seat very comfortable. Better than any bike I have even own! What you need to understand about the ST is the gearing is very tall meaning town work is first and second only and you will be surprised at how much first gear can do. Handles brilliantly, you almost forget about the weight. Brakes are excellent. I have the Ducati performance sport exhaust on mine and the theatre of noise and vibration is not annoying but infact very intoxicating. I would advice all who are thinking of buying one to make sure you buy and use ear plugs. The first time I took mine out I didn’t and wow I won’t be doing that again, it was like a rock concert in full swing lol 😂. If would highly recommend this bike. People will laugh at your for buying one, but you will sure get the last laugh back as it amazing to ride, it beautiful to look at and the attention you get from other people when you just out and about is incredible. You get instant coolness, I never had so many bikers nod or wave at me and when you pull up to the light the amount of people who look across in approval rather than than look of discussed because your a biker is very surprising. I think it most be the engine note lol 😂. Also this Ducati model has some very nice little details than I’ve never seen on another motorcycle before. When you remove the seat you get a Ducati bike lock which has been design to perfect fit into the seat underside. The motorcycle as a park option on the bike so the light can stay on at the side of the road at night if the engine is off. Now here the down side. The head light is terrible! It not the light bulb its the cone design for reflecting and focusing the light, the electric are Italian and to get to the battery which is mount at the bottom of the bike at the front you have to take off the fairing. The bike takes a big amount of electricity to get it started so make sure you buy a really good quality battery. If you do that you will have no issues. Just clean it and rider it regularly and it will be you best mate. Just don’t buy one if you want to store them for long periods of time they will complain to you in Italian about it as you ride along! Lol 😂 Also if you gonna buy one make sure you get a full service history and honesty go for a high milage one as it been use regularly! I know that last piece of advice seem odd to many of you but getting a high miles one you know too thing. One it works and too it reliable lol 😂. I bought mine with 40000 on the clock and it amazing. Buy one they will only go up in price in my opinion!
5 points for reliability because after riding for an hour or so..... I've "heard" of some issues. lol
This bike is so underated esp in this review. its got the 996 engine which pumps out 117 bhp. its got a quarter mile time of 10.7 seconds which is plenty fast enough. 7 out of 10 on performance should of been 8 or even 9 out of 10. i would say 7 out of 10 suits the ST 2's performance but not the ST4 s.
+funkyrimpler +funkyrimpler so the ST4S is not actually making the same power as the original 996 and has a down tunned motor? i never knew that. with a 10.7 quater mile time for the ST4S surely deserves at least 8 out 10 cause thats what they can do acording to the specs i read. on dyno the 916 only makes 100 hp and the 996 makes 112 hp. they claim 117 hp for the ST4S in this video so must be closer to 110 hp depending on how much they down tunned the 996 motor.
What would this Nancy boy know about performance the bloody moped riding knob
look at the guy they choose.. gsx600 rider with c90 second bike and work bike as gsx is heavy in traffic
Are they talking about the same bike Jeff Stone did a review on the same bike for MM and loved it and it had the panniers on?? LOL. Check ot Jeffs review...th-cam.com/video/EVCKRq7hls0/w-d-xo.html
Actually, I thought the panniers made for this bike were fine -
It looks great with pannies
I've heard some rumours? Not very objective.
Got the most boring lifeless couple ever to review this beautiful bike. Guy has no clue what he’s talking about
That couple Martin and his wife look so boring.
"I`ve heard rumours"...FFS!
What a terrible review! This guy has no idea what he's on about.
Agree, him complaining about the wind on his face? That's one reason why we ride a bloody bike in the first place. Give the idiot a car instead or a bloody vespa
That's a weekend away tripper for a solo rider. If you want touring two up, get a proper tourer. Not a sports-tourer. Simple
Absolutely not. Only if you weigh 150 kg and your Helga 95 kg. Me and my wife, 1200 km in one day without of problem.
roman atwood
LOL, bike looks great with panniers
My Dad had one and the engine blew apart (literary) on its way back from just getting it serviced.
+smith2781 Sounds like some service technician messed up due to the timing of the engine blowing. I seriously doubt it was an inherent problem with the Ducati itself.
You are lying.