| Well, you're going to think it's dog slow coming from a Gixer Thou. There is no way that a 749 twin is going to be anywhere near as fast in a straight line as a 1000 cc in-line four. The thing is that twins also deliver their speed in a deceptive way, somehow they don't feel fast until you look at the speedo and realise that you're flying. When you combine the deceptive pace that makes twins feel slower than you're actually going with the actual fact that it will be slower than a Gixer Thou and it might feel a bit tame.
Nothing wrong with the 749 on the road though, they'll outhandle almost everything once set up right (as will a 999) and they've got more than enough power for the road where, let's face it, you need to be a rider with superhuman talent (or conversely, one with far less talent but no brain causing you to ride like a complet nutter) to use more than a 749 can give you on the road. If you mainly ride trackdays, again you might want to look at a 999 for a bit more poke after the Gixer.
I would take a bit of issue with posiden about the cost of ownership, because without any disrespect he would get more value out of the bike if it was ridden a bit more. Ducati service intervals are 600 miles for the first 'oil change' service then there is one at 12 months or 6000 miles (whichever comes first) then 24 months or 12,000 miles (whichever comes first) so it's time as well as mileage related. Sorry, posiden old chap, but if you'd ridden it a bit more you could've done three times the mileage you've actually done between each service interval and got a bit more bang for your buck, and a bit more fun out of the cost of depreciation as well. If you think about it, most Japanese bikes service intervals are around 4000 miles now, so if you ride it for 6000 miles a year you'll only need two services to the jap bikes three - sort of levels the playing field a bit.  |