The exhaust system is largely under the engine; its integration with the fairing panels is sleek. But the engine’s delicious roar now exits under your feet rather than back at the rear axle. Combined with a very high sound level, it makes for a bike you won’t want to ride without earplugs. (It also makes for hideous routing of the rear cylinder’s plumbing and an awkward placement of the shock absorber. I’m not sure it’s all worth the gains.)

Coming to terms with the Panigale took me some time, even though I have always preferred sport machines with the tucked-in riding position. My first exposure, in Friday night traffic approaching the Lincoln Tunnel, was memorable for heat coming from the rear cylinder that threatened to par-bake my left leg.

On a longer Sunday ride in the hilly farm country of western New Jersey, the Panigale and I could not come to terms. The engine always felt as if it wanted a lower gear; I did not find a rhythm, even on roads I know well.

The next time out — a Monday, with far less traffic — it all clicked. I held the lower gears, revved the engine higher and pushed harder; the Ducati and I quit fighting. Its stability and precision, even when pushed hard, inspired confidence. The clutch pull is light, and the brakes, as staggeringly powerful as the engine’s urge, added to the feel of the Ducati’s sky-high limits.

In the regular upheavals that roil the motorcycle market, one of the most significant was the 2009 release of the Aprilia RSV4, which introduced a new 1-liter 4-cylinder developed by the company to supplant a V-twin previously used in its sportbikes. For the Tuono, a streetfighter-style machine derived from the RSV4, that well-mannered 167-horsepower engine brings a total transformation.

In simplest terms, the streetfighter class is populated by bikes that started out as pure sport models but were later stripped of bodywork. The Tuono fits that description to some extent, but goes considerably further. It carries a small cowling and teensy windshield around the headlight — almost unseen when you’re on board — and has a conventional low-rise handlebar rather than the racing style clip-ons of bikes like the Panigale and RSV4.