Pizza, bratwurst, and beer are here to stay. This may be the final reason to get me to lay off the bratwurst and pizza, though, on second thought, I’m never going to be Valentino Rossi. The only thing that hampered the Ducati’s pivots was my own slowness to slide and hang my ass from port to starboard. Directional changes occur like lightning. 2018 Monster 1200 S Image used with permission by copyright holderĪs each successive curve streamed through the small shield slit of my AGV Carbon Modular helmet, the most comfortable helmet I’ve ever worn, I leaned on the SuperSport S’s fabulous Öhlins front forks more and more. The Ducati SuperSport S gives you the necessary boost in confidence to not just navigate the Crest’s pavement, but to rail through its mountain’s passes, flying from turn to turn. Not just in your own skills, but also in the machinery you bring. It can make the most seasoned riders think twice, thrice, or even take the day off after only a handful of turns. It is, as many find out each year, a widow maker.

Blind corners, sheer drops, off and on camber turns, and light crests are all harbored within its confines. A twisting, winding, curvy, convoluted path, the Crest climbs through just one small part of the mountain range that’s housed in Angeles National Forests. My time in the concrete jungle is complete. The Jekyll and Hyde switch begins when you flip it’s ECU to Sport and the raw intensity bubbling under the surface furiously vents, unleashing the 113 horsepower encased inside the 937cc V-Twin engine.Ĭoiled like a sitting adder, Angeles Crest Highway laid before me. You can feel the locked up potential energy of this motorcycle, especially when just pluckily piloting the SuperSport S in its less powerful Urban mode. A motorcycle ready to eat Porsche GT3s given the chance and the right rider. Something comfortable, but also wildly wicked.

Somewhere between the more docile Monster and the neutron star explosion that is the Panigale V4. The SuperSport S is another beast altogether. That’s not to say the rest of the SuperSport S is anything like the naked, upright, more daily-centric Monster.

2018 supersport bikes