Ducati Streetfighter V4 S: Definitely not lean, but surely a mean machine

Boosted with power, after a point, you will find yourself leaning over the handle bar not just fighting windspeed, but also the feel of being left behind by the bike

With 208hp, this is the world’s most powerful production naked bike (on par with the MV Agusta Brutale 1000RR), and it packs a power-to-weight ratio of over 1,000hp/tonne. That, with no wind protection and the added steering leverage of a wide handlebar… Good lord!

It is not as if the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S looks like some gentle, approachable thing either. We are riding the higher-spec S model, which comes in this mean shade of matte black called Dark Stealth. With those big bi-plane wings sticking out the side, the Streetfighter looks wicked, and not in the neo-cool way the word is now thrown around on social media. It is the motorcycling version of a heavyweight MMA fighter that will beat the living pulp out of you if you so much as look at it funny. The bike arrived the night before our first day out shooting and I recall the few hours of sleep that followed not exactly being the most peaceful out of sheer excitement.

Previous experience with this engine in the Panigale encouraged me to walk the bike well out of my society early next morning before firing it up. There was a possibility that the now Euro 5/BS6 compliant engine might be a little quieter, but no. Thumb the starter button and the 1,103cc V4 explodes into life before settling into one of the loudest idles I’ve heard on an emissions-compliant motorcycle.