Swimming Successfully Against the Tide

Lighter, sportier, and powered by the all-new V2, is the Ducati Streetfighter V2 S truly a naked Panigale V2 sports bike?

- Adam Child 'Chad'

FOR A MOMENT, IT LOOKED AS IF DUCATI were swimming against the tide with the all-new 2025 Panigale V2 sports bike. While its monocoque frame and class-leading electronics were undeniably spot on, its new 90-degree V2 powerplant, as also seen in the new Multistrada V2, made just 120 hp, some 33 hp lesser than the outgoing bike.

Many will have seen this as a backward step, but the new Panigale also arrived no fewer than 17 kilograms lighter than the older model and, on test last month, proved exceptionally rapid and easy to ride on a racetrack. Those missing horses were barely noticed.

And now we have the Streetfighter V2 S. Like the new Streetfighter V4 S, which is essentially a naked Panigale V4 S, it is, barring the riding position and the rather obvious absence of a fairing, an on-paper, one-to-one copy of the 2025 Panigale V2. Same V2, chassis, suspension, wheels, brakes, and electronics. The only differences lie in the detail.

That means centre-stage sits the extra-light, non-Desmo V2 taken directly from the Panigale. It makes that 120 hp at 10,750 rpm and 93 Nm of torque at 8,250 rpm. The Italians claim 80 per cent of that torque is available from just 4,000 rpm to 11,000 rpm, which is largely due to its variable intake timing.