12/24/2022 0 Comments Master cylinder 1968 el caminoIt feels like a living, breathing organism, not just a machine that gets switched on. Riding it provides satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment, perhaps akin to riders older than I who enjoy the challenge of riding a bike with a foot clutch and hand shifter. It’s cantankerous, kinda slow, has horrible electrics, and a sloppy transmission and grabby clutch sure to embarrass its rider several times during a ride.īut, although it’s been a couple of years since my Supersport last rolled down the road under its own power, I vividly remember exactly how it responds to my inputs and how it made me feel to firmly coax it into action. Judged against contemporary sportbikes, it would fail miserably in terms of refinement. My 900SS is certainly a throwback to simpler times, and to someone like myself who has ridden most every motorcycle built in the past two decades, its advancing age is extra apparent. Its traction control is limited to the analog IMU in a rider’s brain transmitting signals to a wrist, not to digital processors from Bosch and Continental.Īsk MO Anything! Do We Really Need the IMU? For some younger riders out there, the Duc’s carburetors and air-cooling hold as much relevance today as photography with print film. The few nods to modernity consist of only an aluminum swingarm, inverted fork and Brembo 4-piston brake calipers. Since buying my Ducati 22 years ago, my contemporary dream bike has drifted into vintage/classic status. The 元4 in mine was a step up from the 325-horse base version. In 1968, the SS396 El Camino was available in three states of engine tune. I could cut my upper-body workout time in half just by driving to the gym, assuming I actually went to one. Then imagine not having any sort of power assist to the steering, which is what the fool who originally bought my car a half century ago chose for himself. Imagine how placing nearly 700 pounds of engine over the front wheels of a truckish car can affect steering effort. To own this motorcycle is to be a master of creative rationalization.” We ignore a stiff clutch pull and a near-stadium-sized turning radius that rakes knuckles against fairing exiting the driveway. Of the pre-EFI Ducati’s cantankerous starting ritual, he once wrote: “…the air-cooled desmo-due Twin demands full choke, followed by half choke, followed by much positive thinking and an attentive throttle hand… We turn a deaf ear on percussive pops and coughs from the airbox. John Burns, as is pleasingly (and aggravatingly) typical, can put into words descriptions of motorcycles that humble my own. It truly feels several generations behind contemporary sportbikes, and it’s an experience not dissimilar to barging down the road in the 49-year-old El Camino. Riding the 900SS, first introduced in 1990, requires some recalibration if you’re familiar only with modern motorbikes. Yes, the cast-iron Chevy motor alone weighs 200-plus pounds more than an entire Ducati! The 900SS weighs about 420 pounds, while the 396 scales in at about 650. Ducati claimed about 84 ponies at 7000 rpm. Each 104.0mm x 95.5mm cylinder in the ElCo displaces 811cc the Duc’s 92.0 x 68.0mm cylinder yields just 452cc.Ĭhevy claimed 350 hp from the 元4 big-block in my car. Yet the 904cc V-Twin in the SS feels more like a torque pipsqueak relative to the torque monster that is the 6486cc BB Chevy. The architecture and tuning of both motors are intended to punch out torque, with each delivering incredibly strong responses at low revs. The Chevy counters with liquid cooling to the Duc’s archaic cylinder finning to shed heat. The 900SS was born about 25 years after the 396 cubic-inch Chevy, so it brings belt-driven overhead cams to the party while the big-block V-8 uses old-school pushrods. They stimulate me in deep and visceral ways, both dynamically and aesthetically, and they share more things in common than simply occupying space in my garage and driveway.įirst off is the first part of motorcycle – motor – each having engines with 90-degree vees, two valves per cylinder and throaty dual exhausts. I adore my 1992 Ducati 900SS and 1968 El Camino SS396.
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