I just took the new 2017 Brutale 800 out to give it the beans for the first real time since the break in period has finally passed. Living in the desert with monsoons and 110 degree temps have prolonged the break in period on the B3, but finally it was time to light her up in the canyons and scratch away the chicken strips.

Trading in my Ducati SF848 for a Brutale would seem somewhat like a lateral move, or even a bit of step down in power if one assesses only a spec sheet. But these two bikes couldn't be more different if they tried and a step down in power never once crossed my mind.

If I didn't know better, I would have guessed the B3 has 15 to 20 hp on SF, weights 40 lbs less and has a 10 inch shorter wheel base. It's night and day. The canyons I run through really expose suspension and fueling problems on any bike as the road is paved but has a lot of washboards, some gravel and quick frankly is very unforgiving. So I put the Brutale in Normal mode since it was her maiden voyage. Without any tune of either suspension or fueling the B3 was smoother, faster, easier to dip into turns than my Ducati was (which had an ECU flash, 14t front sprocket, tuned suspension, raised fork tubes, Pirelli supercorsa's, and nearly 25 lbs removed from the weight of the bike).

I really expected the B3 to be a bit twitchy prompting me to think hard about a steering damper, but that was not the case. The bike kept it's line through the turns on a road that has so many ripples in it most people don't even take their bike on it anymore. Never once did she shake her head and 3rd gear clutch up wheelies were something the Ducati couldn't seem to pull off, so that was a nice surprise. I know all of this old hat to most of you, but to a guy that just came from a SF, I must say this bike has an edge to it that I didn't know about.

Shhhhh..everybody will know now!

From everything I've read, the 2017 B800 sounds like a winner. The 2012-2016 B3 is a bit twitchy due to the shorter wheelbase. I think the refined geometry of the 2017 model is winning a lot of people over.

Went from a 848SF to a Dragster RR - not one single regret other than I like twins

Yeah I love me some Ducati, having owned 3 of them so far I really grew accustomed to the low end grunt and high quality. But having this Brutale in the garage has really opened my eyes.