Which 2025 Ducati Streetfighter Should You Get?

Cycle World

Ducati has two new Streetfighters for 2025: the Streetfighter V4 S and Streetfighter V2 S. We Ride both to find out which one is right for you!  Check out the V4 S story at https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/ducati-streetfighter-v4-s-first-ride/  Check out the V2 S story at https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/ducati-streetfighter-v2-s-first-ride/  Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6CLI74xvMBFLDOC1tQaCOQ Read more from Cycle World: https://www.cycleworld.com/ Buy Cycle World Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cycleworld

Transcript

00:00I just got to Elmeria, Spain. I'm here for two days, and I'm going to ride two new Ducatis.

00:22We're going to be riding the Street Fighter V2S, and we're going to be riding the Street Fighter V4S.

00:30This new V4S has got 205 horsepower, Ohlins fully adjustable suspension, same double-sided swing arm.

00:41It's got the same frame. It's got almost exactly the same stuff as the Panigale, but it's just naked.

00:47There's only a few changes to the chassis, and one of them is the steering angle is a little more relaxed,

00:52and it's got a little bit more trail just to give it a little bit more streetability.

00:56But other than that, it's basically just a Panigale V4S without the bodywork on it.

01:06Before we get riding, we have to go to the press conference and learn everything about these bikes.

01:10We know a lot about them. We've done a first look. We've done a buyer's guide.

01:13We know the details, but now we're going to talk to the engineers.

01:16We're going to talk to product planners.

01:18We'll get the backstory for both bikes and see if there's anything new we can learn.

01:23And then, get up in the morning, go hit the track.

01:38Alright, so last night, unfortunately, I was fed a undercooked, dang near raw chicken sandwich.

01:48So now, I brought my stunt double, Adam Child, a.k.a. Chad.

01:54I've seen him on a lot of tests. You know who he is. He's better on camera than I am anyways, but he's faster too.

01:59So, he's going to be out here riding as well, so we are going to team up on this review

02:03because I may not be spending a lot of time on the track. We shall see.

02:07210 horsepower, one of the hardest tracks in Spain, 20 degrees. It's a perfect recipe for food poisoning.

02:12It's perfect when you're sick to be doing that on one of the hardest tracks.

02:16So, anyway, you've got a fast guy, you've got a big guy, small guy, slow guy, old guy.

02:23I'm oldish guy.

02:24Is he older?

02:24I don't know.

02:25Older?

02:2549.

02:26Oh, you're a little bit older.

02:27Yeah, see? Young guy, old guy.

02:29Anyway, so get a good cross-section of who this bike is for and what it's like for different skill levels.

02:34So, he's going to check in with me later and we'll go over the bike.

02:36Cool, man.

02:37Cool, man.

03:07Okay, first session done.

03:17As much power as it has, it's so easy to ride.

03:20It is surprising.

03:23I mean, it was in sport mode, but they upped the power to full power in the settings.

03:28And even with 214 horsepower, it's rideable.

03:31It's really linear power.

03:33Like, it doesn't ramp up at the end or anything.

03:34It just pulls all the way through.

03:36It's super nice.

03:37Brakes are pretty strong, but they don't have a ton of, like, initial bite, which is good.

03:41They're really progressive.

03:42They're super powerful.

03:43I got in deep a couple times accidentally.

03:46This track is really deceiving.

03:47You forget where you're at.

03:48First impression is amazing.

03:49Really comfortable, actually.

03:51Not uncomfortable whatsoever.

03:53So, next group's going out.

03:54And then I got 15 minutes and I'm on again.

03:57I got 16 minutes and I got 15 minutes and I got 16 minutes and I don't really want to go.

04:18I got 16 minutes and I'm running away.

04:21okay it's the end of the day on the v4s street fighter overall from previous version to this

04:40version what's your take it's really difficult because we rode the v4s the previous one two

04:45years at this track and i remember finishing that track session going jesus that was hard work my

04:51arms are pumped i've got forearm pump you don't need any more power that is the most extreme radical

04:56badass naked bike on the market and then you come in and go giving you more yeah we've given it we've

05:02given you more badass we've given you more power it's even more powerful the panigale that we've

05:06ridden extensively in vallalunga and other tracks in italy they've made it so much easier to ride

05:11than the old panigale and i think what they've done with this is made it the chassis more forgiving more

05:17accessible but also given us so many rider aids and this ec3 suspension that you can you know i

05:24would say bite the screen but there is no screen you know you can bite the bars you can really push

05:29you can scare yourself an ama racer or a tt racer will come off this and go jesus but another guy can

05:35take it to a track or a track day change all the modes put some rider aids on and in theory we haven't

05:41done it it should be a good road bike i've never been here so i'm learning this side of the track and

05:46had it in sport mode had everything kind of cranked up to the mood levels yeah of protection and it

05:52was like this is easy yeah yeah yeah and then as you pick up the speed and you get faster and get

05:58faster then you realize the veracity of the bike and how hard it can be if you turn it to race mode

06:04and you turn everything yeah yeah yeah then it gets fast and crazy but it can also be very easy to ride

06:11when i went full power and turn the rider aids down i was like i couldn't make full use of it

06:19yeah so i had to short shift in places so i was like you know throw another gear on it yeah and then

06:24when i pulled the power back to medium but left the suspension in race and the rider aids in race

06:29then i didn't have to short shift yeah so actually going to the higher power modes was making me go

06:35slower so even like some of the best riders i think would still go faster in the medium the weird

06:41thing is with this model is it never stops accelerating no it's just like there's another

06:47gear another gear another gear i am going so fast and you brake 50 meters too early oh yeah i was i was

06:52over braking all day long it never i never broke myself because these brakes are phenomenal and they

06:58they're not super grabby at the beginning they're just they have power immediately but it's not a

07:03it's not a bite it's no no it's a and then once you get into it it just yanks the thing down

07:09it'll be interesting to see how this goes against some of the competition yeah so what about any

07:19rough spots or complaints for me the only one is the price but that that is with every decadence that

07:24yeah i i think for anyone that's interested in ducati price doesn't matter it it's it's all

07:29relative yeah tomorrow we're going to ride the v2 which is not quite as spendy yeah so you know

07:34you've got that but i think value i think 30k is is okay like i don't know if kids put posters on

07:40walls anymore but this is this is the poster bike this is the bike that when you open the garage door

07:44and you see those wings you go oh you know what i mean so you have got that appeal and this is the

07:50moto gp winning the world super bike you know this is ducati and that's what you expect when you

07:54buy a ferrari you pay a lot of money but i don't know if some people are going to go well that's

07:58thirty thousand dollars and the competition is considerably less but then you're not going to

08:03get the power and the torque you know that kind of like i've got 180 well we've got 215 yeah exactly

08:08well 205 in the us but are you only got five yeah if you do unleash it it is a beast you know if

08:15you want a ducati v4 s street fighter with over 200 horsepower you want it to feel like you've got

08:20more than 200 horsepower you want to you want to get tingly you want to feel like a little bit like

08:24i was getting like muscle pull and like you know we're going to have a few shandies tonight and we'll

08:28be like in bed by 10 o'clock we'll be all knackered and i think that's that's what you want you know

08:33like some cars you know have got amazing horsepower but they don't feel like you're driving them you

08:37know yeah and some bikes are so amazing it doesn't feel like you're doing anything yeah but this feels

08:42like i've been in a fight like if i if i go to full power and i turn the rider heads off i'm in a fight

08:47but then equally you know you can turn it down and just have a few nice yeah it's it's it's a

08:51passionate motorcycle we'll leave it at that

08:54okay time to hit the road on the v2 120 horsepower lighter than before less power than before

09:10so it'll be interesting they say it's the best street fighter v2 ever built because of the

09:17lightness even though there's less hps under the hood interesting quote from one of the ducati bosses

09:24he says on this bike physics is in your favor so that's we're going to find out see how she sounds

09:32well immediately he can feel the lighter bar quite low too actually i would prefer the bar to be a bit

09:48more upright

09:49bike is pretty compact ergo wise i would say it's more comfortable than a panigale but in the foot peg

10:06to seat setup it's it's pretty tight which would make it maybe a challenge for some people for long

10:12long rides shorter leg people probably enjoy it long leg might be a little crimp

10:17engine wise vibes like down to like 4 500 rpm there's some engine vibration it's kind of chunky

10:24and bumpy feeling like bump bump bump bump bump but when you get up in the higher rev range around

10:29six to seven it's super smooth but when you're riding up down you're going to notice the vibration

10:35it's not an annoying vibration it's vibration lets you know there's there's some power sitting

10:42underneath you we just got done with day two of the street fighter event riding the street fighter v2

10:51which is the smaller but i wouldn't say the lesser of the street fighters no no definitely definitely

10:57no on those roads that we rode today on those all those switchbacks up in the hills the v2 made

11:02kind of perfect sense yeah it had just the right amount of bottom end ground and torque to be fun

11:09and then it had enough legs when the road opened up yeah but it wasn't bonkers crazy fast no because

11:14some of those corners were like first gear hair pins and if you've been on the v4 you'd be trumping

11:18up to those like not panicking but you'd be like everything would be rushing towards you yeah it was like

11:23it was brisk but manageable fun yeah you know we didn't have to double the national speed in it to get the kicks

11:29no yeah the the street fighter like warps time right and everything happens so fast and it's

11:36frantic like in star wars when they hit lights yeah everything turns to a blur where this yeah it feels

11:42like you're in control of the bike even when you have it to the stop yeah yeah right yeah you're not

11:48along for the ride like the v4 when you put it to the stop yeah you're kind of holding on yeah until

11:53you see a beam of light in the sky and you go okay and you let off it's interesting because there is a

12:00lot more induction noise from the air box slash front frame yeah yeah that you know comes through

12:06these these scoops here it sounds really good yeah but then when you hear a bike go by it's not

12:11obnoxiously loud or no no no no when you guys set off i was like oh but when you ride it it feels

12:17evocative it feels evolving it feels like you're doing something and if you're in like a if you're in a

12:21high gear and you request a lot of power you get that ball you get that real nice induction there

12:26it just feels like you're more involved with it the engine is is great it's got a lot of torque down

12:31low really yeah a lot like i was saying to you at lunch like almost like a big sink you know that

12:35you can feel like in second gear you know i mean you're obviously far better than me off-road but it's

12:41like you know that crawl up a rear sprocket kind of yeah you can almost feel each piston pulse

12:47yeah and it just like crawls up the rear sprocket and just pulls itself up the hill

12:51yeah and then equally you get it above 8 000 and it'll rev yeah and it and it's enjoyable at that

12:57end and the quick shifter is really dodo quick shifter we need to stop making noises to describe

13:03no that's how you speak that's how you speak in moto but it's like you know you go into a corner

13:07you're fourth and second gear hairpin it's like dodo you're into second and then you can either like

13:12right it back out or you can go into in third and get that airbox noise and just ride it out in third

13:18in the mid-range it's a lovely balance it's a really nice engine and in it being less horsepower

13:23than the 955 it's replacing yeah i don't feel that it's missing it because the bike is thinner and it's

13:29smaller and it's lighter yeah and the torque is there at the bottom like yeah i don't feel like this is

13:34any bit slower than that bike yeah i'm quite surprised by the suspension because we've been riding

13:39the semi with the ec3 yeah and everybody's talking about semi and this is obviously manually

13:43adjustable but it's it worked on the freeway even when it was quite bumpy it worked in town

13:48and then it worked when we upped the pace yeah it worked for my size it worked for your yeah i mean

13:52and it was the front and the rear both very communicative yeah with the tires and with the

13:57suspension action like you could really feel where you're at and what you were doing the entire

14:03time front and rear but even feeling like when we went up into the hills the temperature dropped

14:07the grip dropped some of the corners didn't have grip some had grip yeah and you could only know

14:12that by a chassis telling you yeah you know there's no signs that says low grip yeah you know what i

14:16mean diesel here yeah yeah but there was a few places you know you go in and you'd be like oh yeah

14:21that's that's not quite there and then there was a few you could just rail it yeah like it was a berm

14:26and just throw it on its side handling the chassis is great i think ergonomics the only very small

14:31miss for me is the bars yeah they're quite wide yeah which can't you forward a bit more than maybe

14:38i would like i'd like to be up a little bit more when you're in the city and moving at six tenths

14:44seven tenths yeah once you get you want them highly yeah but once you get really moving yeah the bars

14:50make sense yeah yeah yeah i kind of like the wideness it reminds me a little bit of old monsters

14:54yeah you know you remember you like you know you got on a monster you had that like yeah and also

14:59that you know the the airbox noise of an old monster it's got some of that and to me it feels

15:05you know 10 year old monsters with a with wide bars yeah and they're what 30 mil the 30 mil wider so

15:1115 on each side on the freeway i was like moving my hands in and grabbing here in here and i was like

15:16oh that's the right spot oh okay and that was it ergonomically for you because i'm a little bit

15:20shorter oh yeah i mean it's it's compact ish reach the bars was fine you know my knees are moto

15:27dirt bike knees so they get sore quickly and and i i didn't need to really stretch my legs until

15:33the very end of the day so i would i would classify that as a success cool yeah these are these are

15:38meters and they have a they have like a countdown

15:40electronics super easy system to use yeah the menu we could just run right through it figure it out

15:55yep and the changes are pronounced in each area it's really intuitive you've got the three different

16:01dashes you know so you can have the race dash you have the road and road pro so you got if you're

16:06touring you can see your trips and your mpg and your mileage and then you can then you've got that

16:10nice kind of dash where you can see which rider edge you're using and not using that's really

16:15intuitive the only thing for me is like when you change some of the higher modes because you've got

16:19120 horsepower you're more changing how much a common ads you want and then it's quite easy to make

16:25your own personal mode we have no wheelie control but we still have traction yeah which is really

16:30awesome yeah yeah yeah because you can't do that with a lot of bikes and these roads in places are

16:33really dusty quite slippery so you want that bit of traction if you've run wide or a zebra crossing

16:38yeah but you don't really control yeah it's nice and it does really effortlessly it really does

16:43because the old one didn't the old one was really hard because when you clutched it it'd be like

16:47you just didn't like it it was like no it was like trying to trying to take an angry dog for a walk

16:52yeah this one you didn't want to do it you can you can just flick the clutch barely yeah in like

16:58at the top a second and just goes up and it just rotates to the spot and then it just likes to just

17:03sit there you feel like you're always in control of it so even when you're doing something like

17:07a wheelie or you're trying to back it in or you're having some fun or you're hitting a road you don't

17:11know you never feel too intimidated no it's not scary even though it's a ducati street fighter

17:17yeah it should be called maybe the ducati comfy panda or street tickler street so we've ridden both

17:25bikes the v4 is for who the v4 for me is probably somebody who's used to super bikes so somebody's

17:34coming down from a super bike but they don't want to dress like a power ranger they're occasionally

17:38going to ride on the road that may be our age and they don't want to you know get all cramped up on

17:43a race bike and they're going to occasionally ride on the road the street fighter v4 is you've got

17:47the performance of a super bike but you can go to work on it you can take you know you can go to your

17:53mate's house and go to a bar on it you look cool on it yeah but you can if you want it to go to a track

17:57hang on to anything yeah i mean it's easy to control the power linear really fun but it is for

18:03the people looking for the most extreme exactly yeah yeah yeah this bike is for who it can do

18:08everything there's no reason why you can't put some good tires to this to take it to the track

18:12there's no reason why you can't put in some serious miles optional cruise control there's no reason why

18:18you can't commute in it no reason why you can't hit the canyons on it so for me i've always enjoyed

18:22this kind of middleweight 110 140 horsepower friendly class yeah and in the real world

18:28when you've got speed cameras you've got police and you have to explain to your wife what you've

18:32just done then this bike just makes so much sense because it it's kind of like sensible in some ways

18:38but then you know it's just got like an evil little dark side yeah exactly i agree with everything you

18:42said this bike is the more sensible choice of street fighters yeah and a lot of people would be

18:49more happier on this than the v4 just because you can you can exploit it all you feel like a hero on

18:54it yeah yeah it definitely makes you feel like a hero and it's so light yeah it's super light like

18:59we've ridden it like six sessions yesterday on the v4s and i i had muzzle pump i had blisters

19:04you know we are not athletes by any stretch of the imagination but speak for yourself actually okay

19:10but we could ride this on the road for another 50 60 k oh yeah

19:14so then the last and final question of the two what's your pick surprise me

19:20honestly if it was my money my money then i would go v2 i agree i would go v2 i would

19:28look across at v4s and go oh yeah you know that is a thing but the majority of my riding

19:338% of my riding is on the street yeah and when i want to do my kicks then i go racing

19:38same thing for me this bike would be my choice it's more sensible

19:42but it still has the ability to go do bonkers things

19:46yeah to nine tenths of what i could do on the panegalli v4 and that's good enough

19:51yeah yeah yeah yeah 100 so there you have it v2 for the win between the two

19:56both are excellent thanks for watching and we'll see you on the next one

Category

Transcript

Recommended