My st4s ain't perfect but I don't care.
My BM is more comfortable, better panniers, better protection, pulls easier from lower revs and far quieter in the wind noise stakes.
But the Duke makes me happy every time I ride it.
I don't care about other bikes, they may have bigger willy extensions attatched to them, but at the end of the day they don't sound like my bike.

MY duke gets called a penis extention all the time :(

Very true. I long for the days of my first 900ss, I remember with absolute clarity the day I picked up my 916, I love my current 900sl (especially the rear 3/4 view), and the little DD racer is an almost perfect trackbike. :D

I had a zx6r for 18 months, it was great, but all I remember was that it was bloody quick and built like a pizza box.....

If I need to spank a jap bike then I'll hire one for a day or two, but for the moment I'm a feeling seriously italian. :D

Ali

So what we could all do with a little more.lol

I say...just ignore the uninformed and quietly enjoy riding something that is a little more special than the mass-produced alternatives. If they don't want to listen, one has to merely feel sorrow rather than frustration! You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink, as they say...

Very profound Richard

The funniest thing for me was going into my local dealer (before it closed!) and ordering some simple parts which they had in stock - shear bolt, seat pins, those kinds of things.

There was a guy in there picking up some parts for his Kwak (it was a dual dealer) and was signing a receipt for over £150, for not much really.

They rang up my parts and it came to about £3.

He looked astounded and said "I thought Ducatis were expensive!"

I just laughed politely and walked off.

The thing with Jap bikes is that they need servicing half as often, but cost twice as much when it does need doing. The average Jap bike owner never sees this because they don't put enough miles on it or keep it long enough to reach the big services. They are very much a consumable bike - throw it away when you're done - and don't get kept and cherished like a Ducati does.

Obviously there are exceptions, but you're more likely to find that Ducatis are owned for many years compared to one-or-two years for a Jap bike before it gets replaced by This Year's Superbike.

I wouldn't turn my nose up at a Japanese bike, I've owned them before and may even own them again one day. I would love a Gixer 750 (probably my favourite), wouldn't mind a big retro naked like a CB1300 or GSX1400, so I don't see myself as being superior to owners of Jap bikes.

It's just that once I'd ridden my first Ducati I was totally smitten and have been ever since. I might get my leg over a little Japanese number one day, but my smouldering Italian beauty still makes me go all goose pimply...

Time for a cold shower I think....NURSE...

People get that all back to front, you know.

A penis is simply a Ducati-substitute. No more, no less!

let the non-believers hate ! that what I say
I've always had Jap stuff before the duke,
RD50, AR125, 125LC, 350LC, 250LC, 350YPVS, CBR600, R6 & now the 749R

some love 'em.....guess most are on here LOL
some pooh pooh 'em......I'm just content in the knowledge that they obviously never rode one !

whenever I get to ride my Duke it makes me happy, thats enuff for me !!

no harm in being a little more exclusive either ! LOL