Quote:
Originally Posted by shreddr
The last time I looked Ducati was running a bike that looked a lot like the 1098 in WSBK.
It is an interesting ride report, it reminds me a lot of my R11S vs R12S ride report, in that there seems to be no downside to ownership of the more racier model, even if it is purely used for the street. The release of the SKRR will surely get a lot of ink, and in the meantime the hype seems justified when compared to the other I4 offerings.
The 1098 is a lovely machine, and hits a lot of the motivational buttons for me: big bore twin, liquid cooled, upside down fork, Ohlins, anaconda exhaust, trick wheels, etc. If the new BMW SKRR was of a similar nature (big bore twin) I would be first in line for 1. If I had to list my top most desirable bikes they would probably be:
HP2S (a lot of my bling would bolt straight up, but I wouldn't expect much of a performance gain)
KTM RC8 (for all the reasons i mentioned above)
SKRR (the Roundel is the only reason, because I don't think I want an I4)
Ducatis are nice, but they seem so obvious, its almost the top layer of sport bike posing (no offense to anyone here) I guess I like a little bit of exclusivity to my machines, which I am afraid to say may be a component of the SKRR. Time will tell  |
Your last two comments are pretty funny; roundel is the only reason for buying the SKRR but Ducati's are the height of posing...
In some ways my mindset is the same, give me a boxer/twin superbike over an I4 any day and yes the roundel would likely be the only reason I buy the SKRR but I prefer the boxer. Sadly the HP2S may be too focused for me given I already own an HP2 and am also looking at buying a two-up bike to take the missus on.
KTM and Aprilia still have some network issues in Canada and not a big network to begin with and Aprilia's price (est. $30K CAD) stings. Ducati may seem obvious but then so is a Ferrari or Porsche and with good reason. I understand the desire to be different, hey I ride a 100 hp dirtbike
, but Ducati's are not at the top without reason. Ducati reliability has increased and I think if it was left well enough alone, stock with minor upgrades, it's all that is needed for many moons. Prices are more in line with the Japanese as well. Does anyone really need more than the base model.