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| Originally Posted by Jools Just a question, hence the three question marks, since it wasn't clear to me from the original post. It's good to have 996 confirm that he would not take any pleasure in somebody taking a financial pasting through their choice of a 999. On the other hand, ever since the 999 was introduced it has had many detractors, many of whom have made it perfectly clear that they can't wait to see it's demise, will not buy another Ducati until the 999 is shelved and would rub their hands with glee the day that it was taken off the market. Nearly all of these detractors have been owners of.....well, 996's and the like, so I thought it was a fair question to ask. Personally, with my ST and my 'antique' 888, the issue doesn't really affect me, but if I had the money for another bike I wouldn't baulk at a T9 since I have always considered them to be a bold and very striking design that I like a lot. Love them or hate them, they can't be accused of being bland and if Ducati means anything to me it's about being brave enough to stand out against the herd and make their own statements. If it were not so, Ducati certainly have the technical savvy to have competed in the marketplace with an IL4 of their own to compete against the Japanese but all Ducati would be then is a 'me too' manufacturer with no distinguishing characteristics, and I believe it is the distinguishing characteristics of the big twin, desmo valves, dry clutch, trellis frame etc that we all so admire. The other thing that I still don't get is the rush to have the latest, greatest. We all know that there are very, very few people on this board (perhaps one or two racers amongst us) that can use anywhere near the potential of a 999. Effectively most of us are only about half as good as the bike - so there is plenty of performance potential sitting there going to waste on a standard 999. I've never understood the Japanese inspired thing that dictates something is obselete as soon as something that is a kilo lighter and a few bhp more powerful comes along, and yet each year, driven by this marketing hype, people rush off to buy more and more of something that they can't use  |
like what you say Jools. having seen the new Kawasaki ZX6R, it will interesting to see how that sells,given its a 599cc not 636cc (slower possibly)and it looks awful IMHO. tough job for their marketing people!
06-Oct-2006, 18:37 
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