It's personal preference. Lots of bikes that offer something different. I can't agree on the sound though - a Triumph triple with sweet exhaust is pretty awesome as is a Honda RC51 with twin Sato pipes. Ducati, like HD, sells an image along with the bike. Nothing wrong with that. I would also argue that describing a Jap 1K bike as *bland* is not really accurate. Sure they stamp them out by the thousands but they indeed have their merits. YMMV.

I came off a Triumph 955 Daytona - I wont argue that they sounds amazing as well.

You can also buy many Japanese products that are supposedly better than German or Italian products, and yet people lust after the Euros. Products like, oh......I don't know.....sports cars.

Heh heh. The sound of a dry clutch can take a little time for others to get used to. I rode into a local Honda dealership for an annual inspection sticker. The mechanic (an older guy), came over and asked me what was wrong with the bike. I just pointed out to him that it was the dry clutch. He took a step back, looked at the open clutch cover, and nodded in understanding.

Had another time that a guy pulled up to me in his car at a red light and asked me what the noise was. Huh? It's a Duck. They make noise. WTF was he asking about? He pointed down to my right knee. Oh, that's the clutch. It's a dry clutch, I explained. Oh, he nodded.

Loud clutches save lives.

Some thing ought to be dry, and some things ought to be wet

http://images.cafepress.com/jitcrunc...Jlc3Npb249OTV8

Buying a Ducati after years of wanting one and riding Japanese bikes instead is like coming home, they are fantastic.

I didn't find the maintenance any more on my Monster than my 600 Suzuki, and the Ducati stayed looking better for longer (better quality bits).

Mmmmm roast Duc.

I'll take a 1098 thx, and a Multi-Strada...

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Since "static" has not chimed in yet. Get a Aprilia, the non poser Italian sport bikes

Heh, I was close to getting an Aprilia Futura 1000 a couple months ago.

get the duc. get a late 90's 748 in good shape but make sure you have a ducati mechanic local. i like the dry clutch sound and V-twin sound. my ninja however sounds like a screaming formula 1 car compared to any duc ive heard and is basically maintenance free. im all for the ducati though...

Forget the Italian stuff... Everyone knows Austrian bikes are where it's at. :)

http://bp1.blogger.com/_Mvhjidbvdzc/...690%2BDuke.jpg

oh, and ill plug my jap bike.. ninja zx7r. the 750 is perfect. tons of torque all through the power band, always stable and solid and has tons of soul for japanese bike. even though i love ducatis i would never trade my zx7r for one. i simply couldnt be happy without it. check em out before you get a duc. 2003 was the last year they were made

Well, I guess... Except the new bikes have the ugliest graphics in the industry, tacky stickers all over, and an engine that is a downgrade over the predecessor (at least in the case of their superbike, RSV Mille). Overall, they don't offer very much character. Albeit, they are quite rare because everyone that wants an Italian sport bike goes for a Ducati, especially after the unveiling of the 1098.

On the plus side they're more comfortable, easier to ride, and the rotax engines are bulletproof.

Before calling me an Aprilia hater, I actually though long and hard between the RSV Mille Factory and a 999 S before I finally settled on the bike right for me.

I like that part, I have crashed the stuffing out of mine and it keeps getting up. You can get one with the trick forged wheels and Ohlins goodies, pretty cheap.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1216755155.jpg

That tells you all you need to know. Very few people need a motorcycle. Most buy it because they want one. So you might as well buy the bike (or at least something in the category of what) you want. If you've wanted a Duc for years, I submit you'll not likely be fully happy if you get something else. You'll always wonder "what if" every time a Duc rumbles by.

Certainly Japanese bikes have lower purchase costs, lower maintenance costs, better reliability, longer service intervals, yadda yadda yadda. To a certain extent, who cares? It's not as if Ducatis are unreliable or unreasonably expensive to maintain. If I was a college/grad student living on ramen, those would be (and were) legitimate concerns. But I'm not, so they aren't.

At the same time, I'd hardly denigrate a Japanese bike as having no soul. Hard to understand how someone can say a screaming inline-4 which puts out 90-180 HP out of just 600-1000 cc as being without soul. But man, do Ducatis have character in spades. Just as driving a Porsche is as much about the "feel" of the car, as it is about the speed, I find riding a Ducati to be quite similar.

I'm a fan of all sorts of sporting bikes, but it's the sound of a Ducati twin that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

you either get it or you don't. No biggie either way. Duc is more expensive to maintain but not that much worse than bmw/ktm/etc. The newer ones are pretty reliable (lots of old conventional wisdom floating around).

I love twins and dry clutches. My Aprilia is a keeper, and my duc st2 has serious rumble with the Remus pipes and pulls like a frieght train. I'm still looking to replace it with a multistrada though - a total Swiss army bike.

Fwiw I think a Mille factory would generally hand any 999 variant its lunch ;)

Quote:
"you either get it or you don't"

That applies to a lot of things too.

I'm really enjoying my 900SP.

Everybody loves Ducs. Even Barney Fife...one of Edmond's finest.

http://granitehead.smugmug.com/photo...11_HDB5G-M.jpg

How could you not?

I say go for it man, damn the torpedoes. You only live once.

I also agree that the Duc's have something special. I'll agree with what was already posted, Harley's are the same way. The Metric cruisers just don't have it. I almost pulled the trigger on a new Multistrada when I bought my GS, the year the Multistrada came out.

Lets be honest, there are a lot of different "faster" sports cars we could all be driving, but we are Porsche owners for a reason.

If I worked in town, and didn't commute 62 miles each way, and didn't already have a totally full garage, I think I'd have a Duc in the garage. I avoid the dealership for a reason.

Bill