[flyingbanana]

I think in all honesty the look of the bike will become less important when people start to test ride it. Yes it is an 'evolution of the 916' which is no bad thing, yes it looks nothing like a 749r which for me is how the 999 should have looked in the first place, but if we want to keep buying ducati's then the company needs to be selling bikes and they reckon this look will so let's hope it does. When the sbk bike arrives it will have moved on again design wise after a year of sales just like the 999 did and the 916 before it and we will all be wanting one. I just have a feeling the engine is going to wipe the floor with competition 'twins' let alone the inline fours. Having owned a ZX10 and a 853sps I know which was easier to ride and potentially faster so add another 40bhp to the duke '160hp' probably a rear wheel 150, up the torque in the mid to high rpm which is where the 'old' twins lost out to the R1's and gixers and we all better hope we are good enough riders to use the thing, It's going to be awesome.....Imagine a 996sps with less weight and nearly 20 more horses wow.....
I won't be buying one though. As alot of us have pointed out, ducati have shot themselves in the foot so many times with their 'exclusive' pricing I would have thought they would have learned by now. Why they can't keep the price to say £10'700 and just charge more for the accessories that everyone will be buying because they want their bike to look and sound like troy's seems like a missed oppertunity to me. And I say all this impartially as I now own a BMW K1200R. Which is really my point, ride it first stare at it later, it will grow on you, and be happy it doesn't look like a teapot and go like a mobility buggy : )