Rennie Scaysbrook | December 12, 2021
Ducati takes its supersport contender, takes its clothes off and presents it stark-ass naked for 2022.
It would be rude not to throw it up for the camera, wouldn’t it?
When the Ducati Streetfighter V4 came out last year, it was heralded as a new era in performance naked biking.
Essentially a stripped Panigale V4 S, the Streetfighter was and still is one of the most voracious naked rides ever conceived. It’s genuinely difficult to hold onto an SF V4 at high speed due to the lack of wind protection and the sheer speed the machine is capable of producing.
It’s fair to say the V4 is an expert-level machine, which leaves a gaping hole for something a little more manageable to fill. Enter the Panigale V2, Ducati’s now-supersport contender. A machine that’s been lurking in the sport bike wilderness since it came out in 2016 in 959 form, the V2 serves as the basis for not just Ducati’s return to the WorldSSP grid but also as the Streetfighter V4’s little brother.
Just as they did with the Panigale V4, Ducati has taken the V2 and stripped it of the racer boy bodywork to create the $16,995 MSRP Streetfighter V2, and with a claimed 153 horsepower compared to the V4’s claimed 208 horsepower (at the crank), we’re all the better for it.
Attitude to boot in a more approachable package than the V4. The V2 is a bit of a gem.
2022 Ducati Streetfighter V2 Review | Less Is More
Despite Ducati’s proclivity for choosing V4 motors for its sports machines these days, the company is firmly rooted in V/L-twin motors and the Streetfighter V2 comes with Ducati’s most powerful sub-1000cc twin to date.
The six-speed Desmodromic Superquadro 90° L-twin’s 153 horsepower is more than what Ducati had for any of Carl Fogarty’s four WorldSBK crowns in the 1990s, and when you consider this is now the junior motor in Ducati’s sport lineup, it shows how far the game has moved on.
LED lights make for a minimalist but menacing front end.
Compared to the Panigale V2, the Streetfighter delivers more torque to the rear wheel between 6-10,000 rpm via a shorter final-drive ratio, with a claimed 78 lb-ft on offer at 9000 rpm.
The motor’s performance can be metered via the three maps of Sport, Road and Wet, each with its own ride-by-wire setup. Sport and Road give you the full 153 horsepower, but the delivery is softened somewhat in Road mode. Wet mode limits the power output to 110 horsepower, but keeps the same ride-by-wire map as in Road mode.
On top of this you get the usual six-axis Bosch IMU, eight-stage traction control, four-stage wheelie control, up and down quickshifter as standard, three-stage Cornering ABS and three-stage engine brake control. The three stages of ABS also include the slide by brake mode in level two, which helps you back it into a corner if you’re that way inclined.
Unfortunately, cruise control is not part of the electronic lexicon for the Streetfighter V2, which is an oversight from the company.
Showa’s Big Piston Fork is par for the sub-1000cc Ducati course these days.
2022 Ducati Streetfighter V2 Review | Just a stripped Panigale?
The bones of the Streetfighter V2 are close to what you’ll get on the Panigale V2. The same aluminum monocoque that acts as the airbox with the engine mounted as a stressed member joins to a new steel trellis subframe, and a new 16mm longer swingarm has been employed for better stability under acceleration.
Showa provides the front suspension in the 43mm Big Piston Fork (BPF) and Sachs have fitted their fully adjustable monoshock out the back, along with their steering damper mounted on the top triple clamp.
The Panigale’s noted as being pretty hard on the wrists, but the Streetfighter designers have given plenty of thought to the rider triangle. A wider, flatter and thicker seat has been fitted for the rigors of road riding (a good thing because the Panigale’s seat feels like it’s made out of paper mâché), and the rider is given plenty of space between the seat and the pegs to get the blood flowing and not cramp up.
As for the brakes, you’re getting Brembo M4.32 radially mounted four-piston calipers up front clamping on twin 320mm discs, with the power coming from an 18mm Brembo radial master-cylinder. The rear brake is a single-piston caliper gripping a 245mm disc.
Aesthetics-wise, the V2 is a close replica of what you get on the V4, although the winglets that come as standard on the V4 are an optional extra on the smaller bike. LED lights in the Joker face adorn the front just like the V4, and there’s a similar 4.3-inch TFT dash display capable of running the Ducati Data Analyzer for the racetrack and the Ducati Multimedia System that allows the rider to answer calls, play music, etc, but not to mirror navigation from their phone.
The dash brings the V2 into line with the V4 range.
2022 Ducati Streetfighter V2 Review | Road & Track
The first hit out we experienced on the SF V2 was at the Monteblanco circuit, about 45 minutes west of the stunning city of Seville in southwest Spain.
The 2.6-mile circuit has a good mix of fast sweeping corners but many tight, 90° angle bends that put a lot of stress on the front end under braking. This track is used by many a BSB team for preseason testing as they escape the British winter.
Initially we ran with the settings jacked up on traction and wheelie control, with the electronic intervention quickly stopping the Streetfighter from getting even remotely out of shape. Once the settings were reduced, the Streetfighter’s potential as a track weapon really showed through.
The agility of the chassis matched to 150-odd horsepower make for an exceptional track weapon.
Agility is the name of the naked-bike game and the V2, with its minus two cylinders compared to the V4, will dart from corner to corner with incredible ease. Like many a supersport bike, you feel more in control of the V2 compared to the V4 in everything from braking at high speed with less weight to stop, to getting on the gas and leaving fat black tire marks in your wake.
With the engine mode set to Track, the standout factor was how much of a power kick the motor would deliver at 6000 rpm. Similar to a two-stroke power band, the power would be almost absent at 4000 rpm, labor through 5000 rpm and rush in at 6000 rpm, continuing apace until the 11,000-rpm limit was found.
Running street gearing didn’t help as Monteblanco’s slow and tight corners meant I was almost always out of the correct rev zone for the initial opening of the throttle, but the bite of the motor at 6000 rpm was still eye-opening.
Under brakes, the chassis would remain neutral, although it did have a propensity to back in a bit more than I’d hoped. Slowing the rebound down helped here, but there’s still a lot of weight transfer to the front which takes all the weight off the back of the bike.
The neutral ride position is comfortable for long distances.
However, such is the balance of the chassis that when the back end started to come around, it did so very progressively and wasn’t at all intimidating. The V2 wants you to push, it wants you to get after it, and won’t scare you quite as much as the V4 if you do so.
A solid track performer the V2 may be, but I had more fun with the motorcycle on the road. This is where the fun and forgiving nature of the motor really shines, as well as the suppleness of the suspension.
Switching over to the Road mode, much of the kick experienced at 6000 rpm had disappeared from the rev range. In its place was nicely metered torque spread over 5000 rpm or so, allowing me to surf from one corner to the next without having to dance up and down on the shift lever excessively. The Road mode’s throttle map was more enjoyable than the Sport mode’s, simply because it took out that initial jolt when opening the throttle from fully closed.
The suspension, likewise, was better suited to the road than the track. The Showa BPF was sprung too lightly for my 190 pounds on track, but on the road it soaked up the many bumps in the Spanish countryside with ease without transferring an undue amount of shock to the rider.
Wings don’t come as standard but are part of the accessory catalog.
You’re sitting high on the SF, its wide bars and fighter stance giving you a near-perfect view of the road without feeling like you’re being contorted like on a sport bike. As such, miles disappear with surprising speed as you can crack on for hours without getting tired. The original superbike was a naked bike, and it’s nice to see the old recipe still rings true.
The Streetfighter V2 is a worthy addition to the lineup and far more suited to the rigors of everyday riding than the V4. It’s got all the power you’ll ever need in a street bike, but it’s the lack of weight that makes it a real gem in my eyes. I’ll take a nimble bike over a powerhouse any day, so the V2 is right up my alley. Plus, it’s nearly $10K cheaper than a V4 S so that alone is worth mentioning.
A more track-focused Streetfighter V2 with Öhlins front and rear would be nice, but for now, the standard V2 will do just fine. CN
2022 Ducati Streetfighter V2 Specifications
| MSRP: |
$16,995 |
| Engine: |
Superquadro, 90° V2 4-stroke |
| Valvetrain: |
Desmodromic 4 valves per cylinder |
| Cooling system: |
Liquid |
| Displacement: |
955cc |
| Bore x stroke: |
100 x 60.8mm |
| Fuel injection: |
EFI, twin injectors per cylinder, full ride-by- wire, fixed length intake system |
| Compression ratio: |
12.5:1 |
| Power (claimed): |
153 hp at 10,750 rpm |
| Torque (claimed): |
74.8 lb-ft at 9.000 rpm |
| Exhaust: |
2/2/2001 |
| Transmission: |
6-speed with Ducati Quick Shift (DQS) up/down EVO 2 |
| Clutch: |
Hydraulically controlled slipper and self-servo wet multi-plate |
| Electronics: |
Riding Modes, Power Modes, Bosch Cornering ABS EVO, Ducati Traction Control (DTC) EVO 2, Ducati Wheelie Control (DWC) EVO, Engine Brake Control (EBC) EVO, Auto tire calibration, Ducati Quick Shift (DQS) up/down EVO 2, LED lighting with Daytime Running Light (DRL) |
| Chassis: |
Aluminum monocoque |
| Front suspension: |
43mm Big Piston Fork, fully adjustable |
| Rear suspension: |
Sachs fully adjustable monoshock |
| Front-wheel travel: |
4.7 in. |
| Rear-wheel travel: |
5.12 in. |
| Front brake: |
Dual 320mm semi-floating discs, radially mounted Brembo Monobloc M4.32 4-piston calipers, radial master-cylinder with Bosch Cornering ABS |
| Rear brake: |
245mm disc, 1-piston caliper with Bosch Cornering ABS |
| Front tire: |
Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV 120/70 ZR17M |
| Rear tire: |
Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV 180/60 ZR17M |
| Rake: |
24° |
| Wheelbase: |
57.7 in. |
| Seat height: |
33.3 in. |
| Fuel capacity: |
4.5 gal. |
| Weight (curb, claimed): |
441 lbs. |
