| I just love the fact that in all the comparative tests I've read, the Ducati whups the R1's ass...and by god the front end of the new R1 is feckin ugly.
I guess with the Duke costing 4K more than the R1 you'd have a right to expect it to be better, but the fact that nearly everyone thinks that it's a much better bike is good for any Ducati nutter to hear.
As to the issue about whether there is any real difference between top end superbikes on the road (or track). It was only as recently as 2001/2 that BSB and WSB bikes were making around 180 bhp, the same ballpark that these bikes are making now. It goes without saying that yer average rider won't be able to exploit any of these bikes to the full either on the road or the track (unless they have BSB level rifing skills). But, the way that each different make of bike handles and delivers the goods will still be clearly felt by even a novice rider to make their mind up on what they prefer.
For me, I've got an irrational need for an 1198S even though I know it's far more than I'd ever need, that I would only scratch the surface of what it could do and that I would be far better off with a 749 or 848 |