Defo Ducati over Honda every time, however!!! if I was after a blade this is the HRC colour I'd be after, still a bit in your face but a little less shell suit in my opinion (wouldn't like to have to keep it clean though, especially the wheels :-/ )
Kawasaki - Austin Ducati - Alfa Romeo Suzuki - ?? KTM - JCB?? (next time you see an RC8 look at the dash) Aprilia - Lancia This could be fun, if taken light heartedly!
I'd sooner have the Blade than the Pani. But I'd sooner have a 1098R than any other new Ducati. The Blade is an old bike but it still whips 1199's ass in WSB etc. It has greater build quality too. Even Kawasaki build a faster more competitive bike. Everyone does. But only Ducati will charge you £20k for an uncompetitive bike and bend rules to make it seem reasonable. Only Ducati owners are snobby enough to accept a 2nd rate superbike just for its badge. :Bag: Now Ive been harsh and its not as clear cut as all that. But whilst you accept 2nd rate for a premium thats what they will give you. The 1098R is the last great Ducati built (except the 899 which is great fun). The 1199 is disappointing and would not line up in anyones Ducati Hall of Fame. The 1199's badge is meaningless until its starts winning something. :Blackeye::Muted::Hurting: Now its going to be a 1299. Because thats essentially a statement from the factory that the 1199 is not good enough.ompus: I hate bike snobbery. Its fucking bollocks. How many more times will I have to repeat the above. Stop it coz it makes you look like a c***. You may as well wear leather chaps and ride a fucking harley. :Shifty::Sorry: There you buggers. You got me ranting again. A K5 GSXR750 would whip a Pani's ass. :Spam::Chicken::Cigar:
hehehe...im on the come down now. lol. But in 10yrs time. There will be a great big gap on the line of fantastic Ducati's in the museum where the 1199 should've been. Until the 1199 wins something its just another red bike.
Wow what a reaction! Personally I don't like 'gale' either I'd go for a mint 1098R every time over one, but that's just my opinion I wouldn't force it upon anyone else. For me personally if I like the look of a bike and it rides really well I couldn't give a toss if further up the food chain the manufacturer was wining or loosing races on the track, I ride on the road in the real world, although I appreciate that the development from race teams finds it's way back onto road bike eventually, but to loose a race literally for a thousands or even seconds doesn't transpose down to real everyday use - I do think that the whole electronic wizardry etc.... is a load of crap and that it spoils the raw edge of riding a beast! As for the Gixxer, great bike in any guise, however they are super common which obviously adds weight to them being really good. However they are still 2 a penny which is not something I really look for when buying a bike, I prefer something a little less common for no other reason than personal taste nothing to do with snobbery at all. Unless you had two equally capable riders on both bikes you couldn't say that the 750 would outperform the Duke. I have a mate that rides a Gixxer 750 and he couldn't keep up with me on a GSF600 Bandit! And on the other hand I know a guy that has a ER650F that will wipe the smile off most riders I've come across. I heard that the Gixxer needs the rear end shimmed to handle decent by more than 3 riders, 1 of which works for a long standing bike magazine! Having said that I wouldn't turn my nose up at one if the right one came along for good money, but it would never be instead of the v twin as they just don't put the smile on my face in the same way. Give me a 10 year old Ducati V-twin over a new GSXR750. On the same note to contradict my own words, give me a GSXR 750/1000 anything K5 onwards over a Panigale.
Pakistan Automobile Corporation (PACO) make Suzuki cars, there was just a handful of older models that came from Suzuki Japan. So should be Suzuki - Maruti lol
I'm actually looking to move house soon and will hopefully have a decent sized garage which will mean at some point, but probably in the next year or two I'll be looking at an extra bike. I'll probably buy a new'ish Kawaski ZX6R (636) for some screaming action. But the Duke is going nowhere!!
very attractive, but who would care if that was their 4 wheel ride if they have a couple of fruity motorbikes in the garage That would do me for commuting.
I love big gixxers. I only ride a 1198 due to v-twin torque. My 916 introduced me to it. Until I got that I would never have really bothered with a Ducati. I would be on a GSXR750/1000 otherwise. My rant was really a reaction to perceived brand snobbery. All bikes marques are fantastic. Just because you pay more for a bike does not make it any better than a cheaper alternative. As the 899 is superior to the 1199 in all areas. Its cheaper and more fun. Lets leave brand snobbery to the GS and Harley crew. Ducati owners dont need that.
I get where your coming from, but unless I'm loosing the plot, I didn't read anywhere within this thread a reference from anyone suggesting that any 'Duke' is better than anything else because it costs more than a Suzuki or any other brand. I agree with the comments that suggest that some paint jobs on allot of the Jap bikes look like something found on Nike shell or track suit - That's just taste and probably the result of culture in the country of origin. It doesn't make a bad bike it just doesn't wet the appetite for some people. Just in the same way a bike painted in entirely Ducati red doesn't float some peoples boat. Each to their own, one mans meat is another mans poison. Personally I wouldn't care what make the bike was if it looked a bit tacky due to finish which again is probably a direct result of the culture in country it was made I wouldn't be too interested in buying that bike myself. I like Jap bikes, I think they are great especially the durability and bang for your buck, you can't beat them on those points, they just don't seem to have the heart and sole of the Italian bikes, but that again is just a personal opinion.
As much as I loved my old 2005 ZX6R 636 it got boring quickly as all of the performance was at the top end of the revs and it always felt like I was killing the engine to get anywhere at a decent speed! Also having to go up and down the gear box was a pain after the novelty wore off. Also having owned a 954 Blade which was a great bike, (they say the best blade ever) that bored the pants off me too because it had no character. Of all the Jap bikes I've owned the Suzuki Bandit was the bike with the most character I rode an SV650 first and although down on power and not the most attractive of bikes (in my opinion) the experience for me was good enough to make me want to seek out the Aprilia RSV and the 1098. I just haven't looked back since, the power delivery and character of the 1098 is like nothing else I have ever ridden or owned and I'm one fussy bugger! Yes the low speed ride is terrible due to the engine/gearing but I live with that because everything else is just so amazing on the bike asides from the tank size So it's either a 1098R next or possibly an Aprilia RSV4 Factory (If I can build up the courage to face the problems that come with the APE RSV4) NON APC (I would want the unrestricted 09 bike)
For 'heart and soul' read 'breaks down and falls apart'. Its the same myth the british bike industry perpetuated until its death and followers of these bikes still maintain it to this day. The TL1000S had 'character' because it shook its head and tried to kill the rider. Anything that departs from the ruthless efficiency and high build quality of a typical Jap IL4 is deemed 'character'. Its like the Ducati having 'electrical issues'. Sure some do but that myth has all but departed these days. (Although I note the electronics has now become the ducati 'character'). For the most part Ducati's are as reliable these days as any other Jap bike really. The RC30/45 the SP1, The GSXR750 k5, the R1, etc. The 'heart and soul' argument is as old and irrelevant as it always was. Heart and Soul is always where you look for it and where you apply it yourself. Its a subjective feature applied by a person using their own judgement and based upon their own prejudices. Its meaningless in an objective world. Please note this is only an opinion and bears no reflection on reality as we all have differing realities. Neither is it an argument against ducatis. Nor one thats pro IL4's. Its one that loves all bikes for all their diverging foibles and oddities and one that just thinks all bikes are fucking ace. I'm a bike socialist.
