Living with: 2019 Ducati Supersport S – by Maja Kenney

This January it’s been three years since I picked up my Ducati Supersport S from the dealers. Why did I decide to get this particular bike? It was purely down to its looks and the brand. A pretty uninformed decision then, but after running it for three years and racking up 39,000 miles on the clock, it seems I struck lucky. I opted for the white one even though a Ducati ‘should’ be red. I really like the satin finish. Just the right amount of sheen to really stand out in a row of parked motorcycles.

The sleek DLR LED headlight gives it that distinctive Ducati look despite the monobrow effect when lit. The red wheels are a nice touch and provide a great contrast that make the white really stand out. The Supersport is classed as a sport-tourer, but what does that mean in real life? I’ve toured on it quite a fair amount. Twice around Europe, each time covering over 3,000 miles. Many trips to Wales and Scotland. And a few days on a track at Cadwell Park. Each time the bike delivered everything I asked from it.

The 113bhp liquid-cooled 937cc V-twin engine delivers plenty of power for a fun ride and it doesn’t protest too much when crawling through 20mph speed limit areas. Maintaining a steady speed on a motorway, however, is a bit of a battle. It just doesn’t like it and you are constantly adjusting the throttle. In the three years of owning the Supersport and putting a significant amount of miles on it, a few things have gone wrong. The starter solenoid unit disintegrated and had to be replaced. The garage where I store my bike isn’t completely weatherproof which means water comes in on the ground and the air can be damp. I have since acquired a bike dryer and I make sure I never put the bike away wet. The clutch cable snapped. I’ll put this down to wear and tear. One minute I was riding happily down the road then the next minute the clutch went. The quickshifter is pretty good from the second gear onwards but not so smooth between first and second gear.

Sometimes it protests switching into third too, and so I tend to use the clutch at lower speeds/revs. I changed the standard sprocket to a Renthal one. My advice? Don’t. It was eaten up by the chain quicker than I could spin it around Europe. It looked pretty. It’s not worth it unless you are racing, which you probably won’t be doing on the Supersport. As you’d expect with 39,000 on the clock the Supersport has met with a few mishaps. It’s faired well, nothing that a new set of levers didn’t sort out; bent back the gear shifter and popped the exhaust downpipe back in at the side of the road. All in all quite robust when dropped. Build quality of the side panels are a bit suspect, though. Two plastic brackets had to be glued back as they came away from the main fairing, but everything else is in tip-top condition with no signs of rust or paint flaking.

Ducati launched the new Supersport in 2021 and I was tempted for a brief moment. Apart from the slightly tweaked fairing and the lights, making it look more Panigale-esque, it actually has slightly less power than mine (Euro 5 compliant), it is A2 licence friendly and a couple of minor tweaks that, for me, do not justify the extra cost.

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