You know it’s going to be an interesting run when two prevalent motorbike manufacturers such as Ducati and Triumph go head-to-head. Chris Northover of Bike World and his younger brother drag raced a Triumph III Rocket against a Ducati 1260S.
“Look, two bikes, and you know what the collective noun for two bikes is, don’t you? It’s called a race! But I can’t race them on my own, I need a second set of hands so, I’d like to introduce you to the younger, more successful but hopefully slower version of me,” Chris said.
Chris’ brother is a bike racer and joined him on this episode to test out the bikes. He was riding the Triumph, while Chris rid the Ducati. The Triumph Rocket III R comes with 165 hp while the Ducati Diavel 1260S comes with 162 hp.
Only Three Horsepower Separates The Two Models
The Triumph Rocket III has quite the spec sheet. It’s a completely new machine compared to its predecessor. On paper, it rules the road. It comes with a gigantic 2.5-liter engine making 165 hp. The new engine comes with bigger 110.2mm pistons compared to the older 101.6mm.
The Diavel 1260S, on the other hand, comes with Ducati’s new variable timing L-Twin engine making 162 hp. While the aggressive panache hasn’t changed, it is a second-generation Ducati motorbike with a number of improvements. It has a slight cut-out fender and beefy inverted forks. The turn signals are quite different, with a strip of LEDs.
“How much does yours weigh?” Chris asked his brother. “Just over 300 kilos with the fuel tank filled,” his brother answered. “Yeah, that’s heavy, 60 kilos heavier than this, that’s like riding a Diavel with a pillion,” Chris added.
They set up for their first race on a runway that’s about a mile long, slightly downhill, but all the same smooth.
“We have two people that weigh pretty much the same and can, annoyingly for me, launch a bike pretty much as good as each other, so we’re going to take both bikes, hit the runway,” Chris said.
Triumph Rocket III Rules The Roll Race
On the first run, the Ducati destroys the Triumph. Chris tries to keep up at the beginning, but the Ducati pulls hard. They swap bikes, but the Ducati has the edge when it comes to speed. However, in a roll-on race, the Triumph was the victor.
“We hit the runway, we’ve done a ton of different launches, a ton of different starts, what was really surprising was how similar the two were,” Chris revealed.
Chris’ brother felt the Triumph was much easier off the line compared to the Ducati. In his opinion, it was more stable, and he didn’t have to give it too much gas. However, he had trouble feeding its gears. The Ducati on the other hand was fast but had issues braking at high speeds.