At least, that’s how famous “gonzo” journalist Hunter Thompson described it. Like an impossibly fast sports motorcycle. Whacko! Bashed on the concrete bottom, flesh ripped off, a Sausage Creature with no teeth. I was hunched over the tank like a person diving into a pool that got emptied yesterday. Because that’s what he feared, riding the 900SS, in prone position flying along at 90 mph.

It turns out that the “Sausage Creature” is what you’re reduced to if you crash your motorcycle. I mean, what’s with that title “Song of the Sausage Creature”? What even is a “sausage creature”? Is it a reference to the motorcycle? To its crazy internals? No…

It was a review of the carburettor-fed Ducati 900SS, the predecessor to the Ducati 900 SuperSport that I bought. Thompson, published in an old edition of Cycle World. There’s an old article called Song of the Sausage Creature (here’s my archive copy), by Hunter S. Careful eyes will see the odd mis-matched panel. Sorry I’m a couple of decades late on this motorcycle. This is my review after a couple of thousand kilometres on the new-to-me, but somewhat old, 1998 Ducati SuperSport 900 i.e.

Ducati supersport