The 999 Testastretta is a bit of a departure from the classic 916 design - some love it, others hate it. There's no doubt that the new bike's handling is an improvement and suspension is better, but that fairing ... and that exhaust?

The 999 retains the trellis frame, 90° V-twin engine and Desmodromic valves we all know and love, but in real world use there are a couple of drawbacks which limit appeal.

Minor they may seem, but they do really detract from the bike. Firstly the mirrors - absolutely useless, all you can see are your elbows. No good for road use where you need to know what's behind.

And secondly, no way can you fix any luggage to the 999, so that rules out any trip lasting more than a day, which is pretty terminal when the best roads are in mainland Europe.

The model range includes the billy basic 999, the 999s and the more exotic 999R. The R is a limited production run with power boosted to 130 bhp, lots of carbon and tricky race bits plus a race kit. £20,000 to you, squire. The race kit includes a noisy cat-free exhaust, new CPU, nice paddock stand and a bike cover .... er, bike cover? In a race kit? Wot about spare wheels, gassed heads, pistons, all the bits you usually get?

We've had a couple of quick blasts on the bike but the experience was not enough to tempt us to buy one. Apart from the practical limitations for serious road use, we didn't fancy spending days digging all the stones and dead flies out of the multi-faceted front fairing after every ride. Shame, as the ride quality is much improved over the 916 range and handling is better, with quicker steering, something the 916 needed.

The back end of the 999 is decidedly odd. The tail unit seems to stop too soon, leaving the ungainly end can poking out uncomfortably, not helped by the fact that it looks like a modified biscuit tin.

Let's not be too unfair here. The bike does have a certain charm, and I can see that the design might slowly grow in appeal. But we've not seen many on the roads. The 916 arrived at a time when the market was ready for a distinctive design icon with a dollop of Italian flair. But Japanese bikes are looking better all the time now (Gixer 1000 excepted) and the new Duke is a bit of a hotch-potch of slits,slots and sticky-on panels.

Having said that, there are worse looking bikes ....

(Pics nicked from ducati.com and motorcyclenews.com)

Re-designed for 2003 in the stylee of the slightly iffy 999, the 749 gains the narrow head Testastretta top end from it's big bruvver to give around 100bhp. Handling of the stock bike has been softened for the less hardy but this is arguably counter-acted by the odd looks.

This one is based on a 749R but pretty much everything that can be changed has been. Factory kitted engine, big pipes and all manner of expensive trickets adorn this particular example. Oh, and the soft handling has definitely been replaced with well stiffened Ohlins kit front and rear, so it bounces about on rough roads like a proper Ducati.

Power output is claimed to be 135bhp at the back wheel. It certainly shifts once it has a few revs on the tacho. The bike is mainly used for European track days so really isn't set up for the road, as evidenced by the shortage of mirrors and indicators ... and, er, lights. And number plate. But bloody handy for parking in this land of Stasi traffiksvordens.